Comment Re: First Post! (Score 1) 263
Not so simple. A lack of essential nutrients in the diet will obviously have consequences, but thankfully it is possible, with supplements, to avoid that situation. That's why people can stay healthy vegans for years and years.
As for the claim that there may exist some "vitamin X", that is not yet on the scientific list of essential nutrients, that has become increasingly unlikely as the years of research go by.
The two candidates mentioned by the article, creatine and taurine, are considered non essential because the human body can create them itself.
The article fails to mention that the same authors who published an article saying vegetarians who supplement with creatine may see a small increase in intelligence (two iq points) also did a study that showed the two groups has statically the same iq levels initially, before supplementing. That's right, the added iq points were on top, better than the omnivores.
As for taurine, I'm not aware of any research showing differences in health or cognitive abilities between the two groups.