Einstein ate his vegetable

"I have always eaten animal flesh with a somewhat guilty conscience. So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore...Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." -Albert Einstein. By adopting a vegetarian diet, we can all be smart as Einstein! Not really, but diet quality does affect our academic performance.

Researchers at the UofA surveyed around 5000 Canadian fifth grade student and their parents regarding dietary intake, collected heights, weights, and BMI, and conducted a literary assessment. Students with an increased fruit and vegetable intake and less caloric intake from fat (just like Einstein) were significantly less likely to fail the literary assessment. " We demonstrated that the above and beyond socioeconomic factors, diet quality is important to academic performance," the author conclude. "These finding support the broader implemenation and investment in effective school nutrition programs that have the potential to improve diet quality, academic performance, and, over the long term, their health."

Source: Diet Quality and Academic Performance, Michelle D. Florence, MSc, PDt, Mark Asbridge, PhD, Paul J. Veugelers, PhD.