Balanced Diets Best

Vegetarians at risk of brain disorders

IANS, Oct 28, 2010, 02.36pm IST
TimesOfIndia.com

Vegetarians are at an early risk of mental disorder such as dementia and alzheimer's as they develop a Vitamin B-12 deficiency, doctors said here Wednesday.

Fish, shellfish, meat, eggs, milk and their by-products are some of the biggest sources of Vitamin B-12.

"Deficiency of Vitamin B-12 can reduce working capacity of the brain and result in progressive memory loss that has an impact on day to day activities," Praveen Gupta, consultant neurologist at Artemis Health Institute in Gurgaon, said in an Interview.

"Since majority of the Indian population is vegetarian and milk consumption has reduced considerably, they are more prone to early onset of dementia. Those who suffer from lactose intolerance are also at risk," Gupta explained.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India had nearly 3.5 million alzheimer's and dementia patients in the year 2000.

"We see at least 30 patients under the age of 40 every month -- suffering from memory loss and other manifestations due to deficiency of vitamin B-12. Once diagnosed, these patients respond very well to vitamin B-12 supplements," Gupta added.    Read More

Eating a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products has been proven time and again to be the best diet for people.  But diet alone doesn’t determine your health.  There’s a little thing called exercise that also plays an important factor.  Many critics of our food supply conveniently seem to forget that. 

Dementia in Vegetarians

Vegetarians face risk of dementia
By V NarayanaMurthi
29 Sep 2009 07:21:17 AM IST

VELLORE: As the world observes the International Day of Older Persons on October 1, here is some food for thought for you. If you are over 50, vegetarian, and experience memory loss, you are more likely to have dementia than others.

Dementia is a disorder of the brain that affects areas of cognition such as memory, attention, language and problem solving. A recent study conducted by the Department of Geriatrics attached to the CMC Hospital here, considered to be a breakthrough, has found a link among vegetarianism, deficiency of Vitamin B12 and dementia.

The study has found that the deficiency of Vitamin B12 was one of the major reasons for dementia. Ten per cent of the persons with dementia had B12 deficiency and most of the sample group was vegetarians where as a similar study in USA had revealed the percentage was around one. “A pure vegetarian diet is very poor in Vitamin B12 and the same should be supplemented in the form of tablets by all vegetarians,” Dr Prasad Mathews, HoD, stressed. Read More

The debate over what is the perfect diet for people will probably never be settled. What we are told today is the food to avoid, will be tomorrow’s health food. So unless you want to constantly try keeping up with diet fads, your best option is going to be to eat a balanced diet that includes meat and dairy products. This study suggests that a vegetarian diet may cause even more harm to your brain health than previously believed. It’s more proof that extreme diets aren’t good for you.