New Research Suggests That The Ability To Stick To A Vegetarian Diet Might Be Tied To Your Genetics
For some, going vegetarian is a breeze, while others really struggle to give up meat. But, the success of your diet switch might not be fully dependent on willpower.
Instead, new research conducted by scientists at Northwestern University suggests that your genetic makeup could actually play a significant role in how easy it is for you to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle.
At the start of 2022, about 10% of American adults labeled themselves as either vegetarian or vegan, according to Kansas State University surveys.
The reasons for choosing a plant-centric diet differ from person to person and can range from health benefits and animal welfare to religious beliefs and environmental factors.
Interestingly, prior research indicates that nearly 50% of people who consider themselves vegetarians still consume meat on occasion.
“This suggests that many people who would like to be vegetarian are unable to stick to a strict vegetarian diet,” said Nabeel Yaseen, an author of the study.
“Given that several prior studies have shown that food choices are strongly influenced by genetics, we wanted to see if adhering to a strict vegetarian diet is influenced by genetics.”
Utilizing the UK Biobank, which houses comprehensive genetic and health records from half a million participants in the UK, researchers singled out 5,324 individuals who strictly followed a vegetarian diet, as well as 329,455 who consumed meat.
Afterward, the team compared strict vegetarians’ genetic profiles against the genetic profiles of meat eaters via a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The goal was to pinpoint genes that could be linked with vegetarianism.
Photo 96936542 © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz – Dreamstime.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
A genome-wide association study is a technique used in scientific research to quickly scan the DNA of a population to identify specific markers linked to a particular condition– or, in this study, a lifestyle choice.
Through this approach, the researchers discovered three genetic variations that appeared more frequently in individuals who strictly adhere to a vegetarian diet.
“Our study is the first fully peer-reviewed and indexed study to address the genetics of vegetarianism,” Yaseen detailed.
“We identified three genes that are significantly associated with vegetarianism as well as 31 other genes that are possibly associated with vegetarianism. As it turns out, several of the genes we identified have important functions in lipid metabolism and brain function.”
According to Sylvain Charlebois, the scientific director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada, who was not involved in the study, it is suspected that people whose genes favor vegetarianism might be able to synthesize certain lipid– or fat– components that are found in meat.
This would then suggest these individuals don’t experience the same cravings for meat-related components as other people and ultimately make them more inclined to follow a vegetarian diet.
Still, Charlebois claimed that there are still many other factors to consider.
“We need to be careful with how we interpret the result of this study. Food is culture, it is about traditions, and most importantly, it is inherently personal,” Charlebois explained.
“While genetics may play a role, it’s important not to oversimplify the complexity of human dietary habits based solely on genetic markers.”
It’s also crucial to note that genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are designed to identify patterns and correlations among a set of individuals. However, these correlations don’t necessarily mean that a particular gene is the direct cause of the observed behavior.
So, Yaseen agrees that more research with larger participant pools is needed to fully understand the biological mechanisms at play.
“Our data suggests that the ability of some people, but not others, to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet may be related to genetic differences in lipid metabolism and brain function,” Yaseen concluded.
“However, more research is needed in order to further examine this hypothesis. A better understanding of the genetics and physiology of vegetarianism may allow us to provide better personalized dietary recommendations and perhaps enable the production of better meat substitutes.”
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in PLOS One, visit the link here.
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