Who’s the Happy Vegan?
Just this year, Nutrition Journal published a report that vegetarian diets are associated with healthy mood states. Huh? That’s right, vegetarians and vegans are apparently happier than omnivores. Hmmm . . .so that’s why meat-eaters are so groucy. . . 😉 Well, what the researchers found is that vegetarian diets exclude fish, the major dietary source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), critical regulators of brain cell structure and function. Omnivores diets low in EPA and DHA are linked to impaired mood states in observational and experimental studies.
It was thought that meat-eaters would be less prone to depression and low moods because of the consumption of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, but veggie-mites scored lower on the tests for depression. So really, they have no idea why. Fascinating. Perhaps its what VegNews theorized in their latest issue: It was the “knowledge that a vegan diet does not contribute to the unnecessary suffering of animals” that contributes to the participants’ good moods. I’ll go with it.
I Love You, Jamie Oliver
I have had quite a crush on British cutie, Jamie Oliver ever since I watched his Food Revolution. I love what he has done to instigate change in school lunches. Even though his meals include animal products, I still have that “bad-boy-I-know-he’s-no-good-for-me” crush on him. He is, after all, the one person who has taken on the daunting challenge of overhauling the atrocious excuses for school lunches.
Well now. . . I have even more reason to drool over him. He’s going to launch a vegetarian/vegan cookbook! Oliver said that 60-65% of his recipes have been vegetarian or vegan but that fans have pushed for a meat-free cookbook.
“Often I get cornered out by vegetarians who are going to knock me out with a cucumber,” said Oliver. “I’m like “dude, look in the back of the book. Open up the index and there’s all these little v’s.” And they’ll go “Oh, right, but we want out own book.” For many years I just felt like, “C’mon, stop being so sensitive.” But actually this year we’re going to bundle all of my vegetarian recipes and vegan recipes into one big massive, mammoth book and give ‘em that book. Because it’s right. You know, in the old days there wasn’t so many vegetarians and now there’s many. Vegetarian as a general concept is a brilliant thing,” Oliver added. “We’ve got to stop eating so much meat. We are eating too much meat.”
I hope he truly feels this way and is not out to just cash in on the growing numbers of vegetarians he’s talking about. Maybe in the end, it’s all about making a buck. However, in the meantime, I will give my British cutie the benefit of the doubt and be first in line to buy his new cookbook (I know. . .so blinded by my foodie crush).
Check out an interview with Oliver discussing this new and highly anticipated venture at Mother Nature Network.
“We don’t need to eat anyone who would run, swim, or fly away if he could.”
-James Cromwell
Great news! I’m a big fan of Jaime too. I think more and more people are becoming aware of how unhealthy it is to eat such a meat-based diet (both for our bodies and for our planet). I hope that his cookbook can introduce more people to the wonders of vegetarian and vegan cuisine!