Turnips over tuna could affect your intelligence

By Rachana Ramesh | NT

Many scientists  believe that  there was a lot of  meat and bonecrunching that led to the  making of this 1.4 kg organ  -- the brain. Some have even  gone to the extent of saying  that meat made us human.  One of the reasons behind  this argument is the fact that  intelligence is expensive. Although the brain only accounts for two percent of our  body weight, it devours about  20 percent of our daily calories.

What better way to find  this massive requirement of  fats, amino acids, vitamins,  and minerals that this greedy  organ gobbles than by feasting on animals that have already painstakingly collected  or made them.

Several worrying headlines concerning the nutritional gaps in plant-based diets have made people sit up. Alarmists even warn that a  lack of poisson and fillet can  stunt brain development and  cause irreversible damage to  the nervous system. Because several important brain nutrients do not exist in plants  or fungi. And those, if found,  are in meagre amounts.

Picture this: To get the  minimum amount of vitamin B6 that your body needs  every day, you would have to  eat about five cups of potatoes -- this vegetable is one of  the richest plant sources of  B6. Sounds scrumptious but  not very practical. Though  the body can synthesize these  vital brain compounds from  other ingredients in our diets, this ability isn’t usually  enough to make up for all  that’s missed out. If not all,  in most cases, deficiency is  not an exception but a norm.

One of the most popular  challenges for vegans is getting enough vitamin B12,  which can only be sourced  from animal products such as  eggs and meat. Most species acquire their B12 requirements from bacteria that live  in their digestive tracts or  faeces; they either absorb it  directly or ingest it by snacking on their own faeces.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how  you look at it), humans can’t  do either. Vegans, who choose  not to consume any animalsourced food are at risk because plant-sourced foods do  not contain all the vitamins  in sufficient portions. Dr  Rashi Tiwari, a nutritionist  at Ananas Nutrition Consultancy, says vegans should be  aware of their nutritional  requirements and how these  deficiencies can be covered.  She advises vegans to eat fortified foods, like cereals, or  take prescribed supplements.  Lack of B12 can lead to nerve  damage, and takes three to  four years for symptoms to  show.

Another nutrient that is  missing in a vegan diet is  iron. Though it is often associated with blood, iron plays  a significant role in brain  development and is essential  for keeping the organ healthy  throughout our lives. A 2007  study found that giving young  women iron supplements led  to significant intellectual  gains. “Green leaves are the  richest source of iron. If your  gut is healthy, the absorption of whatever the body  requires will happen,” syas  Dr Rashi. Other common deficiencies among vegans include D3, omega-3, selenium,  folate, and iodine.

Of course, some of these  essentials can be easily provided to the body via supplements. But there exist others that are so obscure, it is  unlikely for vegans to even  have heard of them, let alone  realise that they could be  missing out on them. For example, taurine is an amino  acid, present plentifully in  the brain where it’s thought  to underpin several important operations, like regulating the number of  neurons. No one has  yet looked into how  its deficiency might  affect a person’s  cognitive  ability. “It  is impossible to  comprehend  the entire  mechanism of  how the body works from  head to toe. The supplements  will keep changing as there is  new discovery of elements,  while this is not sustainable,  there are so many things that  the body balances”, says Dr  Rashi.

The fact that there are  holes in our current understanding of what the brain  requires to be healthy  has the potential to be a  problem for vegans. Because it is hard to artificially  add a nutrient to your diet if  scientists haven’t discovered  it’s worth yet.