Humans are natural plant-eaters. Arguments for natural vegetarianism

SilosighbinSilosighbin Regular
edited January 2011 in Life
I'm a meat-eater myself, however I came across this quite in depth article that is almost making me consider cutting out meat altogether, or at least cutting it out as a large portion of my diet. I know it's long guys, so if it doesn't interest you, don't read it :P. He brings up some awesome points about eating meat, and why it's probably not what humans should be doing. Why should I not become a vegetarian?!


I always presumed meat was an absolute requirement, with required nutrients not found in a more plant-based diet. Such as vitamin B12. However, the author goes through some common arguments of meat-eaters and pretty much pwns them.
"Vitamin B12. End of story."

I'm not joking when I tack on "End of story" to the sample counter-arguments. People actually make them that way, literally.

B12 isn't made by animals, it's made by bacteria. It's found where things are unclean. (And meat is dirty.) This easily explains why historically it's been easy to get B12, because until recently we didn't live in a sanitized environment. Pull a carrot out of the ground and don't wash it properly, and there's almost certainly some B12 there. Vegans should take a B12 supplement, not because veganism is unnatural, but because the modern diet is too clean to contain reliable natural sources of dirty B12.

Also, consider that chimpanzees' main non-plant food is termites, and termites are loaded with B12. (More on Vitamin B12 from John McDougall, M.D.)

Incidentally, our need for B12 is tiny -- 3 micograms a day. Not milligrams, micrograms. The amount of B12 you need for your entire life is smaller than four grains of rice.




Another extract:
A fair look at the evidence shows that humans are optimized for eating plant foods, according to the best evidence: our bodies. We're most similar to other herbivores, and drastically different from carnivores and true omnivores.1,2,3 The science shows that the more meat we eat, the sicker we get -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and every other major degenerative disease. If eating meat were so natural, it wouldn't destroy our health.

Since this is a long article, here's a condensed version:

* Our so-called "canine teeth" are "canine" in name only. Other plant-eaters (like gorillas, horses, and hippos) have "canines", and chimps, who are almost exclusively vegan, have massive canines compared to ours.

* Our early ancestors from at least four million years ago were almost exclusively vegetarian.

* Our omnivorism means we're capable of eating meat (useful from a survival standpoint if that's all that's available), but our bodies aren't geared for it to be a normal, significant part of our diets.

* The animals most similar to us, the other primates, eat an almost exclusively vegan diet (and their main non-plant food often isn't meat, it's termites).

* Our teeth, saliva, stomach acid, and intestines are most similar to other plant-eaters, and dissimilar to carnivores and true omnivores.

* Among animals, plant-eaters have the longest lifespans, and humans are certainly in that category (and yes, this was true even before modern medicine).

* We sleep about the same amount of time as other herbivores, and less than carnivores and true omnivores.

* The most common cause of choking deaths is eating meat. (source) Real carnivores and omnivores don't have that problem.
Source: http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html

Comments

  • edited January 2011
    This is very insightful. I don't think I'll be cutting meat out of my diet but this is still interesting none the less. Carnivores and true omnivores eat raw meat because their internal organs are equipped to deal with it. If we eat raw meat we get sick and can even die.

    Cool stuff to think about. Thanks for the article.
  • RemadERemadE Global Moderator
    edited January 2011
    Listen. Sums up my views on people who go all Hippy on me.



    I just wish I could eat, but no, I have a Chorinic disease. I would fucking murder to be able to eat a Bacon sandwich. If you can enjoy it, then go for it! Why deprive yourself of something and have a constant chip on your shoulder? Goddamn.
  • MayberryMayberry Regular
    edited January 2011
    If we weren't meant to eat meat, then why is it so delicious?
  • thewandererthewanderer Regular
    edited January 2011
    Part of that article is saying that eating meat destroys our health and doesn't do that to carnivores. Another part says that herbivores live longer than than carnivores...So wouldn't that mean that eating meat destroys a carnivore's health as well?

    Also Humans eat meat and still live longer than most (if not all) herbivorous mammals.
  • edited January 2011
    Part of that article is saying that eating meat destroys our health and doesn't do that to carnivores. Another part says that herbivores live longer than than carnivores...So wouldn't that mean that eating meat destroys a carnivore's health as well?

    Also Humans eat meat and still live longer than most (if not all) herbivorous mammals.

    The reason for this is 1. The way we are designed and function - it's not because of our diet that we live longer, its because of our biochemistry compared to other animals. 2. Our medical technology. And most humans have an omnivorous diet as well. Do you know anyone who is a true carnivore? They wouldn't live as long as us omnivores or vegetarians.

    Also, true carnivores' internal organs are designed to process raw meat. We have to cook it or process it in some way before it's safe to eat.
  • GallowsGallows Regular
    edited January 2011
    Let's see. I can read this drivel spewed from a pro-vegetarian site with articles like "Why be a vegetarian?" or I can read articles by evolutionary biologists at the world's leading universities.

    Oh, and let's take a look at the author's credentials:

    "I went to college on and off but dropped out because I didn't like it. (Not really what you'd expect for high school valedictorian and Most Likely to Succeed, but whatever, I've done okay.) I got nearly 80 credit hours, and studied accounting, nutrition, sociology, and Japanese."
  • thewandererthewanderer Regular
    edited January 2011
    The reason for this is 1. The way we are designed and function - it's not because of our diet that we live longer, its because of our biochemistry compared to other animals. 2. Our medical technology. And most humans have an omnivorous diet as well. Do you know anyone who is a true carnivore? They wouldn't live as long as us omnivores or vegetarians.

    Also, true carnivores' internal organs are designed to process raw meat. We have to cook it or process it in some way before it's safe to eat.

    Humans can eat raw meat. They did long before they acquired fire. However, cooked food is safer to eat because it is easier to digest and it just so happens to kill any unwanted organisms living in it as a bonus.

    I never said people were true carnivores, just that it's not unnatural to eat meat.
  • edited January 2011
    Humans can eat raw meat. They did long before they acquired fire. However, cooked food is safer to eat because it is easier to digest and it just so happens to kill any unwanted organisms living in it as a bonus.

    I never said people were true carnivores, just that it's not unnatural to eat meat.

    The point is that was long before they acquired fire. We've evolved since then. I doubt very much you or I could eat raw meat over a period of time without getting sick nowadays.

    I still don't agree with the article. Like you said, we've been eating meat for a long, long time. It's still interesting to think about though.
  • thewandererthewanderer Regular
    edited January 2011
    The point is that was long before they acquired fire. We've evolved since then. I doubt very much you or I could eat raw meat over a period of time without getting sick nowadays.

    I still don't agree with the article. Like you said, we've been eating meat for a long, long time. It's still interesting to think about though.

    The article is an interesting piece, there's just some things in it I'm not buying into.
    And yes, our digestive systems have changed a bit since before we've had fire. Eating raw meat isn't something you or I are going to jump into without becoming ill but it may have something to do with conditioning as well. I'm sure man could become accustomed to it again if he had to.
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