If you’re a devoted vegetarian, thank your ancestors. They may have made it easier for you.
Recent findings by Northwestern University researchers have shown that a person’s genetic makeup plays a role in sticking to a strict vegetarian diet. To determine that, they asked a provocative question: Are all humans capable of subsisting long term on a strict vegetarian diet?
Surprisingly, it’s a question that has not been seriously studied. And it’s not just the grumbling — and stomach rumbling — from the carnivore crowd. Between half and two-thirds of self-proclaimed “vegetarians” report eating meat or fish. That, the researchers said, suggests biological or environmental factors could be overriding some vegetarians’ determination.
From there, the hunt was on to learn whether genetics contribute to adherence to a vegetarian diet. To do that, the researchers compared the genetic data of more than 5,300 vegetarians in the United Kingdom with the same data from more than 325,000 people who served as controls for the study.
The study found three genes strongly linked to devout vegetarianism. Another 31 genes were identified as potentially associated with vegetarianism. Two of the genes play key roles in brain function and fat metabolism.
The researchers said differences in fat metabolism and the way it affects the brain may make some of us more “hard-wired” for vegetarianism than others.
Next, the researchers want to understand the compounds in meat that make some people need it and crave it. Fat is expected to be part of the equation.
So, if you there are times you can’t live without a burger, there might be more than a simple craving working against you.