Arguments for eating meat
- Humans have eaten meat throughout history, evolution & culture.
- Some humans societies have subsisted solely on meat.
- Humans have 4 canine teeth among 32. These are used for tearing meat. Hence, humans are omnivores.
- Vegans suffer from Vitamin B12 deficiency which is available in meat.
- Meat eating helped develop the larger brain of humans.
- Meat provides the protein that humans need.
The counter argument
- In human history, most of the diet consisted of plants through gathering. Hunting was difficult. Meat was rare. A lot of people would share meat & would get only a little.
- In societies where farming was difficult, such as Eskimos on icy lands, yes, they subsisted solely on meat. However, they have a lower average life span & suffer from meat eating ailments like arteriosclerosis & internal parasites.
- Per Harvard university researchers, humans lack the gut flora to digest meat. In a study group eating only meat, their gut had an explosion of Bilophila, while the plant eating group was fine. Meat inflames our intestines & intestinal walls.
- Meat eating increases risk of atherosclerosis, colon cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol levels, higher BMI, obesity, lower life spans & lower overall health.
- Yes, humans have canine teeth. But so do herbivores such as gorillas & hippos. It is postulated that the canines were originally for displays of aggression within the species but are now vestigial.
- Are humans omnivores?
- Carnivores don't chew; they gulp down meat. Carnivores have highly acidic stomachs. Meat has high levels of bacteria & spoils quickly. The highly acidic stomachs destroy the bacteria in even the rotting meat. Their gut is relatively linear & short.
- Herbivores have primarily incisors & molars. They can chew sideways. Their saliva has an enzyme called amylase that helps in pre-digestion. They chew their food before swallowing. Their stomachs are less acidic. Plants typically have less bacteria. Their gut is long & winded where the fibrous plant matter passes through slowly.
- True omnivores like bears have characteristics similar to carnivores.
- Humans exhibit the characteristics of herbivores & not omnivores.
- Vitamin B12 comes from bacteria in the soil. In the pre-pesticide past, humans would typically not clean their produce thoroughly & end up consuming some B12 from the soil. Herbivores consume the B12 from the unclean produce that ends up in their flesh.
- The brain needs a large amount of energy. Consuming carbohydrates helped humans develop the large brain, not the protein & fat.
- Plants provide all the protein that a human needs, without needing to go to meat. There are elite vegan athletes who get their protein needs fulfilled completely from plants.
Sources
Are humans natural herbivores? - Hinduism Today (Jan/Feb/Mar 2019)-Pg 34-Mayuresh Visswanathan
Diet for a new America - John Robbins
The Omnivore's Dilemma - Micheal Pollan
Forks over Knives - documentary
Food Inc - documentary
Cowspiracy - documentary
Fat, sick & nearly dead - documentary
