Genetic Differences Between Vegans And Meat Eaters

The researchers at Cornell University found that 68 percent of people in India but only 18 percent of people in the United States have the variation of the FADS2 gene that allows their bodies to make arachidonic acid from plant fats. This gene codes a series of enzymes that convert not just linoleic but other fatty acids into arachidonic acid for normal health. People who do not have this gene can make some arachidonic acid, enough to avoid death, from the linoleic acid in plant seeds, but to be truly healthy they need to eat the beef, eggs, and other kinds of red meat that provide arachidonic acid in a easily digestible form.

The fact that 32 percent of people in India do not have the variation of the FADS2 gene that permits health on vegan diets may explain why some diseases are more common in India. The fact that 18 percent of Americans do have the FADS2 gene explains why some people get really good results on vegan diets, but others do not respond.

Certain ethnic groups tend to have the vegan diet gene, including:

• 68 percent of people in South Asia,
• 53 percent of people in East Africa,
• 29 percent of people in East Asia,
• 17 percent of Europeans, and, as previously mentioned,
• 18 percent of Americans (about half of whom are not of European ancestry).

What is the importance of these findings? For nearly a generation, experts have been telling us that Americans and Europeans consume too many omega-6 fatty acids, the kind of fatty acids the body can turn into inflammatory hormones. They get too much fat from meat, eggs, and plant seed oils that are rich in the precursors of arachidonic acid. What Americans and Europeans need to do, experts say, is to eat a diet closer to that of East Africa or South Asia.

Now we know that for the overwhelming majority of Americans and Europeans, meat, specifically red meat, along with eggs, is an essential part of the diet. Deprived of meat and eggs, people with their variation of the FADS2 gene suffer weakened immunity, weakened brain function, muscle deterioration, and liver problems.

No one should be told their diet is inferior because it does or doesn't include meat.

What should you do if you believe you probably have the gene that makes your body require arachidonic acid but you don't choose to eat animals for moral reasons? First of all, your choices are valid. You have chosen the health of animals over your own. The issue is that you need to take extra measures to make sure you get the fatty acids you need.

READ Pros and Cons of the Vegan Nutritional Style

There are arachidonic acid supplements made from the fungus Mortierella alpina. You need to get a product labeled as arachidonic acid, not a product labeled as gamma-linoleic acid or GLA (which provide the fatty acid plant foods that your body can't use well enough to keep you well). Arachidonic acid supplements are not especially expensive, and they give your many of the advantages that your genotype would normally get from eating meat. For most Americans, vegan diets actually aren't the healthiest option, but they are still possible.