Everyone knows that nutrition affects health. But how do animal products change our personality? The Max Planck Institute examined 9,000 people – with an interesting result.
Vegetarian or meat eater: How are diet and character related?
It turned out that vegetarians had a lower average body mass index than people who consumed animal products. So they were usually slimmer. There can be many reasons for this: On the one hand, the plant-based diet is richer in fiber. This means that vegetarians get full faster, even though they consume less energy. Another reason could be that vegetarians, in general, pay more attention to their diet and fitness, or physical well-being.
It is also interesting that the body mass index also differs within non-vegetarians when it comes to the type of animal products. A distinction is made between primary (mainly meat, sausage and fish) and secondary (eggs, dairy products, cheese and butter) animal products. People who ate more primary products, or even both, had on average a significantly higher BMI than people who ate less or nothing at all. On the other hand, people who still consumed animal products, but mainly secondary ones, had a lower BMI value.
But the personality of the subjects also seems to be influenced by their diet. The study found that people with a vegetarian diet appear significantly less extroverted. “It’s hard to say why that is,” says Veronica Witte, who headed the study. Maybe the vegetarian eating behavior goes hand in hand with a social demarcation or it comes about because introverts in particular tend to have a rather restrictive eating behavior. All just guesses. This is where the study reaches its limits. Because even if she has shown that a difference can definitely be observed, she cannot explain why this is the case. A follow-up study would be needed here.
Diets – which is the best?
While the list of diets continues to grow, the basic principle should be to listen to your own body and find out for yourself which diet works best for you. A familiar body feeling is ultimately still the key to a healthy body.
