Help my knowledgeable friends!

[singing4every1]

I need a reminder about why and how we were/are meant to be vegetarian and vegan. I still believe that vegans are the healthiest, only because it's been shown in several studies I have read/seen. But am I being biased? Am I not looking enough to the other side? I worry about that sometimes. I tried checking the tags here for evolution, etc. and

Comments

[art_junkie]

IMO our biggest evolutionary assets are the big brain (both a blessing and a curse of course), the opposable thumbs, and our flexibility of diet. We CAN obviously be omnivores for the sake of survival. Evolution doesn't particularly 'care' about morality so I think the whole argument is a moot point, really.

[singing4every1]

Yes but my point is if it were proven that we were/are meant to normally have an omnivorous diet, then would it still be immoral? Is it immoral for the carnivorous animal to kill? They have to of course.

[art_junkie]

I think being 'meant' to do something is entirely different than being able to. I don't have a god (and I would say neither does anyone else lol if I wanted to be obnoxious - I guess I am being obnoxious) and so do not necessarily think we are 'meant' to do anything. You nailed it - other animals killing isn't a moral issue as they do not have a choice, or, more accurately, do not know of their choices. Same would go for other animals mating with a female against the female's will. It happens. And for us it's rape.

[singing4every1]

Arg. I need to stop using the word meant. Again, I am not talking from a religious perspective at all. I am saying meant as in what's best for US, for our health, etc.

[affectionjunkie]

Evolution wise, humans are where they are now in the food chain because of meat according to Dr. Richard Leaky, the top scientist on evolution. This is because going back to the early forms of man who were primarily forgagers, began to eat meat, which due to its high fat content, it increased the brain capacity, which eventually led to the human's higher developed brain. I can't say scientific facts, but when I saw him speak it made sense

[art_junkie]

*thumbs up*

[mindfulness]

We have evolved enzymes whose only role is to digest gelatin and does not digest any vegetable matter. That suite101 article doesn't mention gelatinase and thus I think it gives an inaccurate impression of the science.

However I still think there's many great reasons to be vegan of course and that includes health as animal products cause inflammation due to their proteins that set off our immune system. I wish I could find the article about that. It was great.

And then there's animal rights and the environment. Pick what you want, there's many great reasons to be vegan.

[bitspike]

Something I thought I'd add:

Even if our brain size increased due to the consumption of meat (I haven't read enough on the subject to have an opinion on the accuracy of that statement yet) it does not mean that eating meat can help us evolve further intelligence. Natural selection can't work effectively with such a large population as we currently have as a species - besides, any mutation giving a slight increase in intelligence, if selected for, would unlikely be due to diet, save for a major catastrophe which limited certain foods available to us.

But I agree with everything you said about 'design'.

And my comment gives no assistance to the OP as it says nothing about health =)

[mysterybabalon]

You can be unhealthy and vegan. My SO calls them "junk food vegans".

However:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zhL1YUd8Q

[quabazaa]

Personally I have to say, I don't believe we were "meant" to be anything. Or if you're wondering that perhaps it's between you and your god(s).

My take on our situation is that as very generalised omnivores, we actually can choose what we want to eat. IMHO there isn't really one "best-suited" diet. It's more that you can get the particular nutrients we need from whatever you choose. And if you wish it to be from vegan sources, then you have no reason to worry, you can be perfectly healthy! I suggest reading a nutrition textbook. The ones we have at my (very agriculture focused) university which I read state clearly that omni or vegan, can either be healthy or unhealthy. As long as you get the required nutrients, it doesn't matter so much for us which food groups they come from.

Try veganhealth.org for some nutrition info from vegan outreach

[etomlef]

"Personally I have to say, I don't believe we were "meant" to be anything. Or if you're wondering that perhaps it's between you and your god(s)."

this is a great quote. i always wonder when people say, "well, we were meant to do xyz!" we weren't MEANT to do anything, unless one believes in a higher being with a purpose for us. without faith in the equation, we've just evolved to be what we are through habit and environment... and if habit and environment change, we'll evolve to be something else.

[bitspike]

". . . and if habit and environment change, we'll evolve to be something else."

Hmmm. I wonder if this, then, is a strong argument that we should, given the environmental state of the world as it is, evolve to be vegans? It's a logical phenotypic adaptation to our surroundings, after all.

[singing4every1]

Yes good points. I'm not looking from a religious perspective though, I am interested in what's best for us naturally.

[dudewhatthefuuu]

I think that people find veganism so strange in general because it's completely or mostly natural foods, and people aren't used to that. Many people consume a lot of fake flavors, man-made chemicals created to produce different tastes, etc, so that's why a lot of people find natural or raw foods to be "bland" or "boring"; they're just used to all the fake shit. When I went vegetarian, I re-trained my tastebuds to enjoy more natural flavors again, and when I went vegan and cut out all the crap, I was able to fully enjoy a bowl of unseasoned mixed vegetables for all that it is.
Obviously there are other reasons and arguments but this is just one point that I thought about. If it comes directly from the earth, I take it as a sign that nature intended for us to eat it or it's generally okay for us to eat it. If it wasn't meant for humans alone, it was meant for some other animal out there.