ARE WE DESIGNED TO BE VEGAN?

BY: FITZ-GEORGE RATTRAY

Many arguments have been put forward over the years for why humans should maintain a vegan lifestyle (not eating animals or their products, milk, eggs). I will examine a few of these here. Proteins are the building blocks of all known life, as such, any plant or animal source will provide some measure of this essential nutrient, we will find however that many cultures have a strong affinity to animal source proteins, and, this makes sense.

Humans require a full range of amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), foods with all the essential amino acids are considered a complete protein source. Most plants, however, do not contain all the amino acids for human consumption and will not quality as complete protein sources for humans. Some plant such as soy beans, quinoa, hemp and a few others can be considered complete protein sources as they contain all nine essential amino acids (essential amino acids must be obtained from foods and cannot be made by our bodies) required by humans

Animal food sources, however, contain all nine essential amino acids, Meat, fish, eggs, dairy are all complete protein sources. As animals eat, they combine the proteins in their diets assembling muscles, fluids and tissues filled of essential amino acids, all ripe for the devouring, not to mention yummy energy giving fats. It is certainly more efficient for us to kill another animal and eating it for protein instead of grazing all day as they do.

This is a no brainer, if you want all the collected materials and nutritional energy, while having time for yourself, eat the animals that spend all their days collecting and assembling the materials, of course, nothing is quite that simple. There are several arguments against eating other animals, and some are more valid than others.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST EATING OTHER ANIMALS AND ARE THEY VALID?

Argument: We know we can get all our protein from plants BECAUSE large, muscular, strong herbivores only eat plants.
Flawed: This argument doesn’t correlate. We also need to be very clear of the fact that these animals are big and muscular because of genetic and physiological differences. Interestingly baby mammal herbivores all grow to be big and strong ingesting an animal source food (milk) long before they are strong enough to feed on plans. Let us also be clear that since the concentration of protein per mouthful is considerably lower per mouthful in plant source, than in animal sources, these animals spend THEIR ENTIRE DAY eating/grazing/furrowing. Even a smaller herbivore such as the deer will eat thousands of pounds of vegetation every year.

Argument: providing animal source foods for billions of humans is damaging our climate and environments.
Highly valid, increased vegetable farming and reduced animal farming can significantly lower carbon levels, reducing the 80% of agricultural lands which are being used solely for producing animal feed to 20%, regaining land for forestry.

Argument: Primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas, our genetically close relatives only eat vegetables in nature.
Invalid:primates will eat anything they can catch with reasonable ease, insects, rodents, even the young of defeated enemies.

Argument: The animal food industry is filled with unnatural and cruel conditions, hormones and antibiotics.
Valid: This is well documented and recorded.

Argument: Animal source foods such as milk cause allergic reactions and even damage in humans.
Flawed: This is true in some cases, but with large groups of humans there is no evidence supporting it, simply put, it varies. Plus, intolerances, allergies, and deadly reactions to food types is in no was unique to animal source foods.

Argument: Our digestive systems are constructed as herbivore and we can’t consume animal meat without technology i.e. cooking
Invalid: Sushi, sashimi (fish), oysters, baby octopus, insects, steak tartare and others are all modern meat dishes eaten raw. In fact, barring the risk of infection, and it is a very high potentially deadly risk, any truly fresh meat can be eaten raw, but this it is no way advised. Eskimos for example often eat their kills raw, they even have special dishes made from rotting (well, more like fermented, but still) meats. However, just to be very clear, please do not eat random raw meats.

THEN, THERE’S THE, ANATOMICALLY, HUMANS ARE HERBIVORES (PLANT EATERS) NOT OMNIVORES (PLANT AND ANIMAL EATERS), LINE OF ARGUMENTS

Argument: The human jaw and teeth are not that of a omnivore
Inconclusive: Many herbivores have a large gap between their front and back teeth to allow space for repositioning plant material as it is chewed, which humans do not have. Omnivores have narrow chisel like teeth in the front followed by sharp pointed teeth for cutting and biting off chunks of meat and plant food, followed by flat broad teeth in the side and back for grinding up various types of food, which humans do possess. However, most omnivores do not have small mouth openings as humans do. Humans do not have uniquely omnivore or herbivore jaw and dental characteristics.

Argument: Canine teeth do not mean you are an omnivore
Valid: there are many herbivores with canine teeth, including hippopotamuses, camels, fanged deer and more.

Argument: The human digestive tract is not that of a omnivore
Irrelevant, the human digestive tract may not have all the characteristics of an omnivore but it certainly does not have all the characteristics of a herbivore either. There are different types of herbivores, ruminants for example have multiple stomach chambers and possess a special compartment in the stomach called a rumen, which hosts bacteria for breaking down of plant materials such as cellulose, they then regurgitate their foods in a cud chew and swallow into the next chamber and so on until the cud has made its way through all the chambers. Other herbivores have a functional caecum, with a notably enlarged large intestine filled with bacteria, all specifically for the digestion of cellulose.

The guts of carnivores are shorter and simpler (as meat is easier to digest) than that of herbivores, whereas the gut of an omnivore is relatively more complex and has a functional caecum, however it is not as complex as a herbivore’s.

ARE HUMANS OMNIVORES OR HERBIVORES?
Human anatomy displays many but not all characteristics of a herbivore, lips, mouth size, intestine lengths are all similar, and this is not surprising since we can get all our nutrients from plants, however our gut bacteria and other anatomical features, such as our vestigial appendix and the lack of a functioning caecum, make us poor herbivores, being unable to feed on the abundance of leaves, branches and grass, and only capable of feeding on the less available vegetable, fruits, berries, nuts and such. I strongly suspect that if all our human ancestors only attempted to graze and gather, none of us would be here no to have this discussion.

So, are humans omnivores or herbivores? Most people quickly answer omnivores, but this is mostly based on observed cultural eating habits and not on our physiology. If the only cats you ever saw lived in a vegetarian’s household and only ate plant materials (and yes, I have seen a 19 year old cat living under these conditions) you would assume cats were herbivores, and you would be wrong, the proper method of evaluation would be to examine the cat’s anatomy. So, no, humans are not omnivores. But are humans herbivores? We do have many characteristics in common, but not being able to break down cellulose would make us very poor herbivores. We are clearly not carnivores, so what are we?

I would propose that in along the same pattern that omnivores are a class nestled between carnivores and herbivores, humans are a class between omnivores and herbivores. We have developed a pattern of CHOOSING what we wanted to do, it is this, intelligent will, which allowed us to partake in everything we observe being eaten, frightfully even each other. It is this ability which has allowed us to thrive in the widest ranges of climatic conditions in every corner of the planet.

We are in fact, then, physiologically not herbivores, nor true omnivores. However behaviorally and biologically human populations have thrived throughout the millennia as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. Perhaps a more accurate description of humans is multivores.

ALL THAT BEING SAID IS VEGAN LIVING HEALTHIER?
The big difference between many other organic molecules and protein is nitrogen, and only plants can extract nitrogen from the atmosphere and combine it to produce proteins. Plants are the origin of all nutrition on the planet, protein included. Clean natural plant source foods are generally healthier, there are, however a few drawbacks of living a plant source only lifestyle (aside from challenges of dining out).

• There is no plant source which provides a reliable supply of B12 a highly essential vitamin, the deficiency of which can result extreme fatigue, impaired neurological function, nerve damage and worse. However, vitamin enriched food products, supplementation, and the worms, bugs, larvae, eggs and dead animal materials in vegetables can be very useful in providing B12.

• Other helpful nutrients easily, mostly and only available from animal sources are:
o Creatine – stored in muscles and give greater strength and endurance
o Carnosine – an anti-oxidant only found in animal source foods
o DHA – an essential omega-3 fatty acid, needed for normal brain development and function, but can also be made from ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseeds, walnuts and chia seeds.

In the end when it comes to nutrition the proof of the pudding is in the testing. In our observation of the longest living communities on the planet we see clear patterns, the healthiest and longest living groups have a diet consisting of:
• Solely of plant source foods of vegetables, fruits, grain and nuts
• Primarily of plant source foods plus eggs and milk (goat’s)
• Primarily of plant source foods with some eggs and seafood and poultry

The evidence is mounting that a diet with 0 to 5 percent of calories derived from animal sources, with little to no red meat and without processed meats is healthiest for humans. It is recommended that you consider incorporating a few meatless days into your meal planning.