Any Vegans on the Board? (page 5)

inkling

primates share characteristics with herbivores such as type and form of teeth

Teeth like these?

Damn, those veggies don't stand a CHANCE!

Seriously though, here is a good link with an scientific take on the question:

"Are humans vegetarians or omnivores?"

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-05/959372412.Ot.r.html

First you can look at the teeth.

Molars are broad flat teeth that are useful in grinding up tough fibrous
material - such as plants. Animals that are primarily plant eaters have
very large molars with six pairs (three uppers and three lowers) on each
side. Animals that do not specialize in eating plants tend to have a
reduced number of molars. Humans are equipped with six pairs of molars.
Although they are not very large, this would suggest that humans have the
ability to process fibrous plant food.

Premolars (bicuspids) are the slicing teeth. Mammals originally had eight
pairs of premolars, although most mammals alive today have fewer. Premolars
are the primary teeth used by meat eating specialists, and are frequently
missing in animals that specialize in plant foods. Humans have four pairs
of premolars, which suggests that humans have the ability to process animal
food.

Incisors are grasping teeth, that change shape depending upon how they are
used. The broad flat surfaces of human incisors is most associated with
animals that specialize in eating fruit.

So, if we just look at our teeth - humans are clearly built to be
omnivorous. But, of course there is more data. We can look at how nutrients
are processes and absorbed in the body.

Meat and fruit are high quality foods that are not difficult to assimilate.
Animals that specialize in these types of food tend to have a short
digestive tract, with a very short large intestine. Plant foods can be
nutritious, but take longer to absorb. Therefore, animals that specialize
in plant eating tend to have long and elaborate digestive tracts. Humans
are clearly intermediate here. We have a long large intestine (more common
in plant eaters), but we lack the elaborations that would allow us to
digest and assimilate nutrients from high fiber plant foods (such as
grass or leaves). So, again, the human digestive tract can be used to argue
that we are omnivorous.

Finally, you need to look at nutritional requirements. There are some
B-complex vitamins that are available only by eating other animals. The
human body requires this nutrient, but does not synthesize it the way some
other animals do. Therefore, if humans truly ate no animal foods, and had
no artificial vitamin supplements, they would sicken and die. In nature,
there are no true "human vegetarians."

Humans are omnivores. The order of mammals that includes humans (the
primates) are all omnivores. To be sure, the modern American diet includes
a lot more meat than is healthy. And the human animal can be very healthy
by being a lot more vegetarian.But to never eat meat is both unnatural and
unhealthy.

Finally, you ask about my credentials to answer this question. Well, I am
employed as an anatomy professor (and am therefore a specialist in human
anatomy). I teach at a college that specializes in training health care
workers (so I am familiar with issues of human health an nutrition).
Finally, I earned by Ph.D. in Physical Anthropology (which sort of makes me
an expert in how humans adapt both biologically and culturally to the
environment).

beksbks

I love to cook Dave, and I love a challenge. Don't worry, no sheep or bats in my recipes.

Oh by the way, it's not dairy per se that interferes with iron absorption, it's calcium. I have to take iron, and I have a yogurt smoothie every morning, I wait until afternoon for my iron. I try to take it with some orange juice, because Vit C helps with absorption.

PrimateDave

inkling, that was good information. We are omnivores.

Do you think we are better off eating a largely plant based diet with small amounts of animal derived food? I am not a fanatic about this. I simply have compelling reasons from various angles to change my behaviors.

I have grave concerns about industrial scale animal "farming." I think there is substantial evidence that animal derived foods cause atherosclerosis in proportion to the amount consumed in one's diet. I am disturbed that by purchasing animal derived products I am financing the vested interests of corporations that do not have my best interests (nor those of the animals they use) at heart.

I love to eat. Like I said before, I am not doing this with weight loss in view. I am more concerned about my health and fitness. I am choosing to eat more fiber and less fat. I am trying to reduce or eliminate manufactured foods from my diet. It has been very difficult to give up soft drinks. I used to love Dr. Pepper. Then I moved down to Coke and Pepsi. Finally, I was buying diet 7-UP. Now, it is water or iced tea, although I may fix up some cold brewed coffee from time to time. I'm trying stevia as a naturally derived sugar substitute. I am thinking I can do this, with some occasional allowances.

Dave

PrimateDave

beksbks, they are not so easy to find down here, but I would appreciate some recipes that feature green leafy veggies.

Dave

llbh

Btw the biggest mistake people of all dietary proclivities tend to make, is to not enjoy the food for what it is, something experiential.

Some of my most lucid memories involve food. I can remember eating a juicy sweet nectarine in SW France. the sweet juice running down my cheeks as i ate it. Then eating wonderful, perfectly cooked pasta on the side of Lake Garda - Italy. Food is more than a fuel, it should and can be memorable too.

David

jaguarbass

Hello Dave, I agree with your concern. I currently eat meat, because it is convenient .

People can say what they want.

Eating meat and fat is correlated with heart disease and stroke, cardiovascular disease.

I take cholesterol medication. Have been since I turned 55.

The medication says to eat sensibly along with taking the medication.

Eating sensibly means low fat under 30% a day.

There are a lot of factors that lead people to be unhealthy.

Lack of exercize for one. When most folks were young they were very active and could eat

a lot of food and burn it up. As you get old you are more sedintary and your body doesnt burn

the food up and the poisons stay in your body longer.

Meat takes like 3 days to pass through your digestive system. Where as vegetables pass in like 8 hours.

The people of cuba have one of the longest life spans currently. Some say because their diet is

mainly rice and beans.

Rice and beans would also be cheaper to eat than meat. But you want to spice it up.

I have read Paul McCartney is a vegetarian.

Good luck, keep us posted on your endeavors.

teela(2)

I was a vegan for 2 years, I started the vegan lifestyle because of servere pains which seamed to be caused by certain foods. By eating this way I did not get any pains. Eventualy they found and removed the 30 toothsize gallstones I had. I continued eating this way for another year or so. BUT I read all the information I could find on what was required to stay healthy. It required a lot of work and planning. It also required eating a lot to get the quanities of protein and some vitimans. Its not just about vegtables at random, Planned meals with nuts and substiutes eg vegan yogurt.

SacrificialLoon

vegan yogurt.

Bacteria are animals, that's cheating.

beksbks

What about tofu Dave? Hey where are you? Costa Rica or something like that? What 's the (grocery) shopping like?

Any Vegans on the Board?

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