Is the human body designed to eat meat?

[GeordieSkydiver 0]

After a discussion with a friends about non-meat eaters, she claimed that the human body isn't designed to eat meat.

I've always thought different, you know, K9's, incisors etc.

Whats the verdict?

Any evidence?

Lee _______________________________

In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy?
http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk

[billvon 3,049]

>she claimed that the human body isn't designed to eat meat.

We've had this discussion before.

Humans started out as herbivores; they have some fairly recent adaptations so they can eat meat (i.e. they are now omnivores.) Once we got smart enough to hunt successfully, this was a great advantage, since meat is a much more concentrated food source than, say, leaves. So the herbivores that could handle meat just a little bit better than their kin survived. After many millions of years we have Homo Sapiens which has a fair number of adaptations (canine teeth for example) that allow him to eat meat.


In general you will be healthier eating a primarily vegetarian diet than a primarily meat diet, because we are better equipped to deal with that sort of food. But that doesn't mean we're 'not designed to eat meat.' I mean, you could claim that since we have feet with somewhat prehensile toes instead of hoofs, we're not designed to walk. But feet are partially adapted hands that do OK with walking, and the rest of our skeleton is 'designed' (i.e. has adapted) to walk upright.

[pajarito 0]

What's her basis for that argument?

[Vallerina 2]

I don't think it's "designed" to eat aspartame, but almost everyone has that!

Oh, and I don't eat meat anymore. I've replaced meat with bean foods. I haven't noticed any changes in myself except I don't puke up red meat anymore!

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[shropshire 0]

We must be, cuz cows taste nice and vegies... well, you can live off 'em but they taste like shite.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[GeordieSkydiver 0]

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What's her basis for that argument?

She's a Vegan. She doesn't need a basis.

Its the lack of protein.

Lee _______________________________

In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy?
http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk

[Kris 0]

If we were true herbivores we wouldn't have canine teeth and our tooth enamel would be a hell of a lot thicker than it is now.

We also wouldn't have easily developed a tolerance to meat and the ability to deigest and harness that protein either.
Hmm...now I'm in the mood for a steak.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[beowulf 1]

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>she claimed that the human body isn't designed to eat meat.

We've had this discussion before.

Humans started out as herbivores.

I would like to see the evidence of this. Off hand this looks like bullshit to me.

[Buried 0]

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I don't think it's "designed" to eat aspartame, but almost everyone has that!

eww aspartame and nutrasweet. I can feel the headaches now.

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I haven't noticed any changes in myself except I don't puke up red meat anymore!

That's b/c you've toned down drinking

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[karenmeal 0]

"Designed" is the wrong word.

Perhaps, long ago on the evolutionary chain of pre-hominids our ancestors ate only plant life.. but our ancestors also began to change over time to an omnivorous diet, as evidenced by the dentition in modern humans.

Also, the human body cannot produce all of the essential amino acids on its own, so it needs to get these from an outside source. It is true that you can get these from beans and what not. But basically, the fact is, the way humans have evolved, we are best suited to have an omnivorous diet.

-Karen

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[beowulf 1]

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"Designed" is the wrong word.

Perhaps, long ago on the evolutionary chain of pre-hominids our ancestors ate only plant life.. but our ancestors also began to change over time to an omnivorous diet, as evidenced by the dentition in modern humans.

Also, the human body cannot produce all of the essential amino acids on its own, so it needs to get these from an outside source. It is true that you can get these from beans and what not. But basically, the fact is, the way humans have evolved, we are best suited to have an omnivorous diet.

-Karen

Evolution is still just an unproven idea. No one actually knows anything about how humans evolved. Everything is just best guesses from very limited information. I wouldn't call any of that fact quite yet. Having said that I would put a lot of probably and possiblys in front of anything having to do with human evolution.

[Vallerina 2]

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That's b/c you've toned down drinking

Either I had a reputation as a lush, and I disappointed you this past weekend, or you just drink a LOT more than I do!

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[Buried 0]

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That's b/c you've toned down drinking

Either I had a reputation as a lush, and I disappointed you this past weekend, or you just drink a LOT more than I do!

probably all three

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

[billvon 3,049]

>>Humans started out as herbivores.

>I would like to see the evidence of this. Off hand this looks like bullshit to me.


A carnivore's jaw is like a simple hinge, so it can open wider (to eat lots of stuff quickly.) It doesn't have a compound angle like a herbivore does. This makes it harder for a herbivore to eat a lot quickly, and makes it hard to tear meat, but makes it easy to chew up tough plant material. We have a compound jaw angle.

Carnivore's jaws just open and close, while herbivores can also move left and right to chew plant matter well. Our jaw moves back and forth.

Carnivores have pointed molars to tear meat. Herbivores have flat molars to grind plant matter. We have flat molars.

Most carnivores don't chew much; most herbivores must chew a lot. We chew a lot.

Carnivores do not produce amylase in their saliva (to digest starches.) Herbivores do. So do we.

Carnivores have short, simple, smooth small intestines to gather nutrients from highly concentrated food sources. Herbivores have long, comvoluted, sacculated small intestine to get as much benefit from limited concentrations of nutrients as possible. We have long, convoluted, sacculated small intestines.

Carnivores have no problem detoxifying vitamin A, since some food sources (livers) have lots of it. Herbivores cannot. We have trouble, too - eating certain meats will sicken us because we cannot rid ourselves of the excess vitamin A.

[billvon 3,049]

>Evolution is still just an unproven idea.

I'd advise you to do a Google search on MRSA and VRE. Two microorganisms that HAVE evolved in our lifetimes.

>No one actually knows anything about how humans evolved.

We know quite a bit. Many people who do not believe in evolution use the classic "argument from personal incredulity", which can be summed up as "I don't understand evolution, therefore no one actually understands evolution." Oddly they do not apply the same standards to, say, astrophysics.

>Everything is just best guesses from very limited information.

Tons of information from about thirty different fields, all of which support evolution as the means that life developed into all its present forms. Molecular biology, epidemiology, medicine, paleontology, geology - that's an awful lot of fields to all be wrong.

[karenmeal 0]

You probably need to do some more research on evolution then.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[gjhdiver 0]

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After a discussion with a friends about non-meat eaters, she claimed that the human body isn't designed to eat meat.

I've always thought different, you know, K9's, incisors etc.

Whats the verdict?

Any evidence?

We're not particularly adapted to meat, but we can eat it. We're essentially omnivorous, but not obligate carnivores like felines.

What we are not[/url] adapted for is eating the meat that we eat now. We are built to eat fresh game on the hoof, lean and low in fat. We don't have the physiology to eat the hormone stuffed, fat laden, over processed meat that we do now.

That's why we have an explosion of cancer, diabetes, and obesity in our populations.

That's really the issue with meat, not the fact that we can chew it or digest it.

[Zenister 0]

designed? by? moving to SC in 3....

can it? yes

is there a more accessible, more efficient source of nourishment? no.

is it very tasty? absolutely.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[billvon 3,049]

>is there a more accessible, more efficient source of nourishment?

Peanut butter.

[Slappie 9]

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>is there a more accessible, more efficient source of nourishment?

Peanut butter.

PB rocks! and it was man made!

"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them."

[SpeedRacer 1]

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Carnivores have short, simple, smooth small intestines to gather nutrients from highly concentrated food sources. Herbivores have long, comvoluted, sacculated small intestine to get as much benefit from limited concentrations of nutrients as possible. We have long, convoluted, sacculated small intestines.

As has been pointed out by others, we are meant to be omnivores, leaning more towards herbivorous.

That said, we can do pretty well eating a wide variety of diets. otherwise we wouldn't have this debate, as meat just wouldn't taste good to us. eskimoes & people in Siberia traditionally would go for months eating almost nothing but meat (freshly killed meat actually does have a lotta vitamins in it that we normally associate w/ plants), and there are plenty of groups of people that eat nearly all vegetarian diets.

Anyway, re. the intestine thing. Our intestine is intermediate in length. Our closest relatives, the chimps & gorillas, have about 30% longer intestines than we do (assuming equal body size).

That suggests that we are farther into the carnivorous end of the spectrum than they are. That said, even the chimps & gorillas do eat a small amount of meat when they can get it.


Australopithcus africanus was smaller & more carnivorous than Australopithecus robustus who lived at the same time. And we are more closely related to A. africanus.

The first tools were used by Homo habilis, and they were simple pebble choppers. basically baseball-sized stones with a simple edge whaked into one side. They were probably used by H. habilis to break open large animal bones to get the marrow out (bone marrow is very nutritious & high in calories)

The rapid development of the human brain is also indicative of hunting as being an important element in our development.


Probably the reason that the healthiest diet is mostly plants is because meat is a highly concentrated nutrient source. So therefor, you only need to eat (and should only eat) meat in small amounts in order to gain its benefits.


One other thing to think about: A diet with some meat in it(during your growing years) seems to lead to an average overall increase in height.

Speed Racer
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[Zenister 0]

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>is there a more accessible, more efficient source of nourishment?

Peanut butter.

nope. not by weight,, or when you calculate the amount of effort and time it takes to create it... how long can a human sustain a high exertion rate on peanut butter alone vs salted meat... how much peanut butter can you carry? how much salted meat?

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[billvon 3,049]

>nope. not by weight . . .

Steak - 60 cals per oz. PB - 190 cals per oz.

>or when you calculate the amount of effort and time it takes to create it...

Steak and peanut butter takes an equal amount of effort to pick up off a store shelf.

In terms of creating it - to make peanut butter you grow peanuts and grind em up. To make cow you grow grain and grind it up. Then you feed it to the cow. Then you wait for the cow to grow up and get fat. Then you kill it and eat it. For every ten pounds of grain (or peanuts) you grow you get about a pound of beef.

>how long can a human sustain a high exertion rate on peanut butter
>alone vs salted meat... how much peanut butter can you carry?

About 40 pounds if that's all I was carrying on a hike. On a calorie basis that would last me about 40 days. As I rarely hike more than about 3 days at a time, and I eat other things, PB works great.

[justaflygirl 0]

Thats why God gave us animals.....

[tweak 0]

The human body needs Vitamin B-12 to perform some very vital bodily functions. The only source of B-12 is from animal foods (or non-animal foods that are fortified with B-12). This being said, without the capability of humans to engineer vitamins and fortify other foods with them, the human body needs meat to stay healthy and function properly.

According to the article in the link below, when a deficiency of B-12 occurs a " reduced cognitive function" is one of the symptoms...

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12.asp