Vegetarianism and veganism are concepts that are growing in popularity
nowadays. Simultaneously, the prevalence of mental health disorders, especially
depression and anxiety disorders, is rapidly increasing. While meat abstention
has numerous health benefits, i.e. lowers the risk of civilization diseases and
mortality from cancer, its impact on mental health is controversial. This review
aims to summarize the current knowledge on the association between plantbased
diets and mental health disorders, focusing on depression and anxiety. We
searched through the PubMed database and analyzed the results. Meta-analyses
show that following a plant-based diet either has no effect on mental health or is
associated with higher depression rates; results on anxiety levels among meat
abstainers are heterogeneous. The studies published so far are primarily
observational and have a lot of limitations. Additionally, we outlined possible
explanations of worse mental health among vegetarians, including the impact of
vegetarianism on gut microbiota, nutritional deficiencies, but also personality
predispositions to depression and anxiety among people deciding to limit meat
consumption.
Keywords: Mental health, depression, anxiety, diet, vegetarian, vegan