Eat Vegetarian and Raise you IQ - This is no joke!

It's true. A study at England's Southampton University found people who adopted a vegetarian lifestyle before they turned 30 recorded IQ scores that were on average five points higher than when recorded ten years later.

The study, which was reported in the British Medical Journal,looked at 8,179 people who had their IQs tested in 1970. Twenty years later, researchers examined the IQ scores of the 366 participants who said they were vegetarian. Vegetarian had an IQ score of 106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians.

Now how is that for an interesting argument to go vegetarian!

It's been found that people with higher IQs are generally healthier, with lower heart disease and obesity rates. The researchers think that while the findings of this study are partly related to better education and higher occupational social class, the difference in IQ is so great that it's far more significant than just schooling and finances.

The study's lead researcher was quoted as saying, "The finding that children with greater intelligence are more likely to report being vegetarian as adults, together with the evidence on the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may help to explain why higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life."

In response to the study's findings, a member of the UK Vegetarian Society, said: "We've always known that vegetarianism is an intelligent, compassionate choice benefiting animals, people and the environment. Now we've got the scientific evidence to prove it. Maybe that explains why many meat-reducers are keen to call themselves vegetarians when even they must know that vegetarians don't eat chicken, turkey or fish."

My personal experience since I became a pure vegan (no meat, poultry, eggs, fish or dairy): I think much faster and clearer. I am much more upbeat and don't have those 2:00 pm blahs. Your mind is a beautiful thing that you need to nourish it correctly.

Here's a quote from Henry Ford who, by the way, was a vegetarian:

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

Forget about all the food experts and especially the false information by those that claim they know what you should do to lose weight. All the diets that are out there don't work and are just that "D-I-E ts" that will kill you. I have nearly 60 years experience in health and fitness and have tried them all. What you need is a lifestyle change. That lifestyle change is to become a Vegetarian.

by : Rodney Erb
Source : www.articlesfactory.com

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I.Q. Harmed by Epilepsy Drug

Pregnant women who took a popular epilepsy drug, also widely used to treat migraines, pain and psychiatric disorders, had children whose I.Q. scores were significantly lower than those whose mothers took a different antiseizure medication, a new study has found.

The drug, valproate, sold generically and under the brand name Depakote, remains the second-most-popular antiseizure medication used for epilepsy, but earlier studies found that use during pregnancy also increased the risk of developmental delays and major malformations.

The risks that other epilepsy drugs may pose are not clear, experts say. While some are likely to be safer than others, there have not been enough studies to guide patients and their doctors. About half of the women who take valproate are not epileptics.

The new study is to be published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Three-year-olds whose mothers had taken valproate during pregnancy had I.Q. scores that were nine points lower on average than children whose mothers had taken a different antiseizure medication, lamotrigine. The I.Q. scores of toddlers whose mothers took valproate were also lower than scores of children whose mothers took two other antiseizure medications, phenytoin and carbamazepine.

Physicians involved in the study warned that valproate should never be the first choice for use in women of childbearing age, though exceptions may be made if a woman’s epileptic seizures cannot be controlled with other available medications.

“My thought is that if I make a mistake and the patient has a breakthrough seizure, I can change the medication and switch the patient to valproate,” said Dr. Kimford J. Meador, professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and first author of the new report. “If I put the patient on valproate as a first choice and the baby has cognitive impairment or a malformation, I can’t repair that.”

Dr. Meador and his colleagues enrolled 303 pregnant women who were each using an antiepileptic drug and were treated at 25 epilepsy centers in the United States and Britain from October 1999 to February 2004.

Cognitive assessments were conducted in 258 2- and 3-year-olds born to 252 mothers, of whom 53 had taken valproate.

Over all, children’s I.Q. scores were strongly related to mothers’ I.Q. scores, except among the children of mothers treated with valproate, the study found.

At age 3, children exposed to valproate in utero had a mean I.Q. of 92, compared with 101 for children exposed to lamotrigine, 99 for those exposed to phenytoin, and 98 for those exposed to carbamazepine, the study found.

Some 13,000 to 21,000 babies each year are born to women with epilepsy, and the vast majority are healthy, researchers and advocates emphasized.

Experts warned that women should not stop taking valproate without talking to their doctors.

“It’s important to stress to readers that if they become frightened, they should not simply stop taking the drug, because that can be even more dangerous,” said Eric Hargis, president of the Epilepsy Foundation in Washington.

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