Adherence to a vegetarian diet is associated with a significantly higher risk of depression, but it remains to be confirmed

 Vegetarian diet refers to the dietary habit where food is mainly derived from plants.

In recent years, people’s attitude towards vegetarianism has become more scientific, and people have begun to pay attention to the physical and mental health risks behind it.

A number of previous epidemiological studies have explored the correlation between vegetarianism and the risk of depression, but the positive and negative evidence is mixed, and many studies lack meaningful subgroup analysis, which leads to this subject to be further clarified.

In this context, Nutrition Reviews, a well-known journal in the field of nutrition, recently published a systematic review and meta-analysis online to discuss the relationship between vegetarianism and the risk of depression.

Studies have shown that although on the whole, vegetarianism may be associated with an increased risk of depression, the above conclusions are not accurate after comprehensively considering the results of subgroup analysis and depression scores.

Researchers pointed out that vegetarianism may be the result of a series of intrinsic motivations, including religion, health concerns, socio-economic factors, environmental views, views on killing, and so on.