Researchers have said that being to a strict vegetarian diet may be partly dictated in a person’s genes and not just a matter of willpower, a new study has found.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, identified a set of genes in people who stuck to a vegetarian diet for at least a year.
A large proportion (about 48–64 per cent) of self-identified ‘vegetarians’ do report eating fish, poultry and/or red meat, which corresponding study author Dr Nabeel Yaseen said suggested environmental or biological constraints override the desire to adhere to a vegetarian diet.
“It seems there are more people who would like to be vegetarian than actually are, and we think it’s because there is something hard-wired here that people may be missing,” said Yaseen.
To determine whether genetics contribute to one’s ability to adhere to a vegetarian diet, the scientists compared UK Biobank genetic data from 5,324 strict vegetarians (consuming no fish, poultry or red meat) to 329,455 controls.
