The number of vegans and vegetarians has grown over the past few decades. There are hundreds of personal trainers pushing ideas about ethics, health and human anatomy without having a Ph.D. For sure, chickens, cows and pigs raised for their meat have a tough life. For some people, this is the main reason to have a lifestyle change. They simply do not want to be involved in slaughtering animals for satisfying their own needs.
Other people think that human have evolved eating leaves and berries like gorillas. Most of the vegetarians’ arguments are that meat clogs your arteries, causes cancer and that the man is actually a herbivore. What vegetarians tend to forget is that the primates and the chimps are omnivores, of course, most of their diet consists mainly of plants but male chimps are also very good hunters.
You are free to eat whatever you want but what bothers me is that the majority of veganism supporters believe that humans should not eat anything different than plants and raw vegetables and seeds. However, none of these people can provide reliable sources as a proof of their statement. They refer to old charts, dieticians and a handful of doctors who agree with them. On the other hand, omnivore theory supporters are real scientists like the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
We all know the saying: “Dumb as a bunny” and “Smart as a fox”. The reason why all carnivores are and will always be much smarter than herbivores is that they have to use their brain in order to get some food. All animals that hunt have to worry about stealth, strategy, anticipation, psyching their target, camouflage, etc. Have you already noticed that all carnivore characteristics are deep into the human nature? After all, human is the smartest organism on the planet.
First of all, let’s see why humans have started eating meat. Scientists believe that some early humans became meat eaters 2 million years ago in order to create their own ecological niche. Scientists from the University of Stanford observed the gorillas and chimpanzees in the African jungles. What they found is that these two species were able to coexist in the same habitat because chimps eat meat and gorillas do not.
Humans are the only bipedal mammals and the only one who produce sweat to regulate the body temperature. Walking on two legs is what makes us human. In this BBC video, you will find the answer of this question. A marathon runner can outrun a horse. Probably that was the first hunting tactic humans had before the invention of the projectile weapons like the bow and the spear.
Back 2 million years ago, humans ran after their pray for hours during the hottest part of the day. Because of the sweat glands all over the body and the loss of the body hairs, humans were able to regulate their temperature and avoid a heat stroke. That is how after a long chase the prey collapses from sheer exhaustion, but humans are still running. You can see some African tribes using this ancient hunting technique today. It turns out that walking and running on two legs is burning much fewer calories than running on four.
Another human characteristic is the size of the brain. Although the average brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, which is about 2% of the total body weight, it requires 20 % of our resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is the total amount of energy our bodies expend when resting. In this case, humans would not be able to feed their big brain without eating high-calorie meals. In order to meet the demands of your body, the consumption of meat and root plants such as potatoes, is recommended.
Humans are believed to have evolved from Africa and started migrating all over the world. The reason why they migrated is because they were hunters and probably they were trying to find new hunting grounds. For example, the Eskimos tribes’ diet consists exclusively of meat and animal fat because in the cold climate there are not any plants at all. When early humans migrated from Asia to North America, they were hunting and eating meat along the way. Their survival would not be possible if they were eating berries and leaves.
The human mouth is smaller and the jaw is much weaker as compared to our closest relative’s - the chimpanzee. The reason why the chimpanzees have big strong jaws is that they eat raw food. Fire enabled humans to cook their food, making it softer and having a strong jaw was no longer necessary. At the same time when you cook something, you make it easier to digest which means your body burns fewer calories for metabolic processes. If you look at the cows, you will see they are spending most of their time chewing to break the fibers of the grass.
Now think about it, you spend about 15-20 minutes in eating your breakfast, 30 minutes for lunch and dinner, which makes only an hour and a half eating a day. Consider all the free time you have that you can spend learning something new, travel, practice your hobby or just play video games. Humans would not have been able to become the dominant species of the planet Earth if they were chewing leaves all day.
I do not have anything against vegetarians; you can do whatever you like. However, there are scientific proofs that humans evolved to be omnivores, which includes eating cooked meat.
If you agree or disagree with me, feel free to put your comment below.
Extra information (add more if you find):
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/FAE/MFT.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_gastrointestinal_tract
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0218_050218_human_diet.html
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2013/aug/05/countries-meat-eaters-compared
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/
