Vegetarianism and long-term mental health trajectories Original paper

In this prospective cohort study, vegetarians and nonvegetarians had similar self-reported mental health statuses between ages 30 and 48.

The effects of vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets on mental health trajectories during adulthood.

A total of 11,261 participants who were enrolled in the 1970 British Cohort Study.

This 16–18-year prospective cohort study assessed the mental health status of the participants from age 30 to age 46–48 using two versions of the Malaise Inventory, a 9-item self-reported questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 (not distressed) to 9 (fully distressed).

At baseline (enrollment) the participants indicated whether or not they followed a vegetarian diet.

The analyses were adjusted for a number of potential confounders including (at age 10) sex, intelligence, health limitations, family social class, meat consumption, and country of residence, and (at age 26) cohabitation, economic/employment status, educational attainment, BMI, self-rated health, life satisfaction, and psychological distress.

There were no meaningful differences in mental health status at age 30 or between age 30 and 46–48 between vegetarians and nonvegetarians.

These results were reproduced by the researchers in a sensitivity analysis when they used self-reported red meat consumption instead of vegetarian status. There were no differences in mental health status at any time point between the participants who never ate red meat compared to those who reported eating red meat.