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"Vegetarians take their place at the head of IQ"

THE elite high-IQ group Mensa has more than its fair share of
vegetarians.

That might be more than coincidental, according to new research which suggests that people who choose the vegetarian path are smarter than their carnivorous counterparts.

The study, published in the medical journal BMJ, traced 8000 people from birth and found those who became vegetarian by 30 had an IQ five points above the average at the age of 10.

They also tended to be better educated and of higher social class, but even after adjusting for this, they were still more intelligent, the University of Southampton study showed.

It's only logical that smart people are more likely to spurn meat, said Trish Kennett, chief executive of Mensa in Australia and a non-red meat eater.

"Smart people consider all aspects of their life very, very carefully. People who think about the ethics of killing animals will naturally choose vegetarianism, and variations of that, more often."

The nutritionist Rosemary Stanton said a vegetarian diet could not enhance intelligence, especially if people eschewed the brain-building qualities of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.

But people with high IQs were likely to be thinkers, "and thinkers are probably going to realise the ethical and health-related benefits of not eating meat", she said.
(SMH)