Give me five minutes and I’ll give you one fantastic reason to become vegetarian.

While fish can serve as the most important dietary way to obtain the long-chain Omega-3s eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, which has been shown to be crucial in supporting brain health, low intake of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in vegetarians doesn't adversely affect mood, as stated by a new research (Nutr J. 2010;9:26. DOI:10.1186/1475-2891-9-26).

A study team from Arizona State University conducted a cross-sectional study that compares the mood of vegetarians who never eat fish with the mood of healthy omnivorous adults.

A total of 138 healthy Seventh Day Adventist adults living in Arizona and California (64 vegetarians and 79 non-vegetarians) were enrolled in the study and completed a health history questionnaire, food frequency questionnaire and a couple psychometric tests, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Profile of Mood States..

Vegetarians had significantly lower mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and also the omega-6 arachidonic acid; they had higher intakes of the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and the omega-6 linoleic acid.

"Seed oils are the richest sources of _-linolenic acid, notably those of rapeseed (canola), soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed (Linseed oil), clary sage seeds, perilla, chia, and hemp."

However, the vegetarians also reported even less negative emotion than omnivores in psychometric tests. Mean total psychometric scores were positively in connection with the mean intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid , and inversely related to alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid intake.