New evidence suggests genetics may influence vegetarianism

From Impossible Burger to “Meatless Mondays,” going meat-free is certainly in vogue. But a person’s genetic makeup plays a role in determining whether they can stick to a strict vegetarian diet, a new Northwestern Medicine study has found.

The findings open the door to further studies that could have important implications regarding dietary recommendations and the production of meat substitutes.

Reference: Nabeel R. Yaseen ,Catriona L. K. Barnes,Lingwei Sun,Akiko Takeda,John P. Rice, Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ponae.0291305