Humans are natural meat eaters (or are they)

Love-it

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You enjoy the taste and don't get sick only because you cook the hell out of that meat. Try eating some raw meat if you want to talk natural.

I ate raw antelope meat when I lived in Montana, it was the most incredible meat that I have ever eaten, California antelope on the other hand tastes gamy in comparison.

Twice in my lifetime I have been in situations where I had to eat vegetarian fare for 3 days in a row, no meat in sight, both times I thought I was going to die of hunger. I also can't eat white meat only for three days in a row without it having an affect on me, I need red meat on a daily basis.

One summer when I worked trails in the Sierras we had a cheapskate foreman who insisted on saving money, if he had it his way we would have nothing but oatmeal for breakfast and peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Yuk! We wound up compromising which was a mistake, every third day we had oatmeal for breakfast, with brown sugar, powdered milk and raisins and if it happened to coincide with a peanut butter sandwich lunch day, with a small box of raisins and an orange, the other trail crewman and I had severe hunger pangs, after all we might have hiked 20 miles that day and done trail maintenance work besides. The foreman however did well on oatmeal, go figure.
 

rob_just_rob

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Who cares what is "natural", anyway? It's been a long time since I changed my habits (eating or otherwise) due to someone telling me that what I was doing wasn't natural.

Presumably homosexual sex, BDSM, riding around in cars, drinking fermented vegetable or fruit juice, and working under fluorescent lighting aren't natural either. I've participated in all these activities and I'd be willing to bet that everyone on this board has participated in at least one of them. I'm not prepared to give up activities I enjoy based on someone else's say-so.

(And I realize that's not what this thread is about. I'm just saying that all of us are living a completely "un-natural" lifestyle anyway. Why single out food?)
 

dong20

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Who cares what is "natural", anyway? It's been a long time since I changed my habits (eating or otherwise) due to someone telling me that what I was doing wasn't natural.

No one's suggesting anything of the sort. Or at least I'm not.

....I'm not prepared to give up activities I enjoy based on someone else's say-so.

No one's suggesting anything of the sort. Or at least I'm not.

(And I realize that's not what this thread is about. I'm just saying that all of us are living a completely "un-natural" lifestyle anyway. Why single out food?)

I'm glad you realise that.

I'm not singling out food, just posing a question. The first paragraph of the thread explains it's existence.:smile:
 

earllogjam

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Humans are obviously omnivors. Whether we are "naturally" inclined or designed to be herbivors is moot. Our ability to eat pratically anything has served us well - our diet changes according to where we live, what grows there, or doesn't, what is available. We'll eat anything - look at a Chinese food market - insects, eyeballs, chicken feet, fermented eggs. That is how we as a species have been able to live in every climate and ecosystem imaginable - something unique to our species. The gene pools of man probably have differences in what their ideal diet should consist of- many Asians I believe are lactose intolerant, some folks don't have the enzyme to break down alcohol, others don't do well with protien rich diets and are prone to gout, diabetes...etc. and it probably holds true whether or not you can easily digest meat. To have a blanket statement that ALL men are "natural" herbivors or carnivors is ridiculous. People's digestive systems are not all the same.

I traveled throughout India for about 2 months and adoped a vegitarian diet to avoid getting food poisoning and it worked but what I didn't expect was that I would feel as healthy and energetic as I did. Didn't miss meat at all and it was so easy because the society there is set up to be vegitarian - that is the norm. So my personal experience leads me to believe that being vegitarian agrees with my constitution. When I did start eating red meat again I got really sick to my stomach.
 

dong20

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Humans are obviously omnivors. Whether we are "naturally" inclined or designed to be herbivors is moot. Our ability to eat pratically anything has served us well - our diet changes according to where we live, what grows there, or doesn't, what is available. We'll eat anything - look at a Chinese food market - insects, eyeballs, chicken feet, fermented eggs. That is how we as a species have been able to live in every climate and ecosystem imaginable - something unique to our species. The gene pools of man probably have differences in what their ideal diet should consist of- many Asians I believe are lactose intolerant, some folks don't have the enzyme to break down alcohol, others don't do well with protien rich diets and are prone to gout, diabetes...etc. and it probably holds true whether or not you can easily digest meat. To have a blanket statement that ALL men are "natural" herbivors or carnivors is ridiculous. People's digestive systems are not all the same.

I traveled throughout India for about 2 months and adoped a vegitarian diet to avoid getting food poisoning and it worked but what I didn't expect was that I would feel as healthy and energetic as I did. Didn't miss meat at all and it was so easy because the society there is set up to be vegitarian - that is the norm. So my personal experience leads me to believe that being vegitarian agrees with my constitution. When I did start eating red meat again I got really sick to my stomach.

Yes, we are but what you're doing is what I did, confuse omnivorism by choice with omnivorism by design. I know you say it's moot and I suppose in a real world everyday sense it is, but that wasn't the thrust of the thread and doesn't change our evolutionary makeup, not yet anyway. Of course everyone's digestive systems are unique at an individual level but there's sufficient commonality for a species wide categorisation I think.

I agree with you about vegetarianism, I seldom eat meat these days and was a committed vegetarian for many years. I had a great time in India too though I also never got sick in any way either I ate anything that came my way. That said, very little meat, I did have lamb burgers at Wimpy's in Delhi though, for the novelty.:biggrin1:
 

earllogjam

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Of course everyone's digestive systems are unique at an individual level but there's sufficient commonality for a species wide categorisation I think.

On a purely biological level I think that our bodies healthwise were not meant to have a predominantly meat diet but there are societies that have trived on that kind of diet - Eskimos, Inuit, and Icelanders. I think the populations with the longest lifespans in the world all have predominantly plant based diets but that is only one part of the longevity equation. Quest Network Blue Zones - Home

I skipped Wimpy Burger - did I miss out on Indian cuisine? A cook once asked me at a restaurant if I wanted to have "lady fingers" which sounded grosse. It turned out to be okra - bindi. The cook only had one arm too. I didn't eat there knowing the toilet customs. :wink: - But otherwise the food was fabulous most everywhere.
 

dong20

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On a purely biological level I think that our bodies healthwise were not meant to have a predominantly meat diet but there are societies that have trived on that kind of diet - Eskimos, Inuit, and Icelanders. I think the populations with the longest lifespans in the world all have predominantly plant based diets but that is only one part of the longevity equation. Quest Network Blue Zones - Home

I think you're right...

I skipped Wimpy Burger - did I miss out on Indian cuisine? A cook once asked me at a restaurant if I wanted to have "lady fingers" which sounded grosse. It turned out to be okra - bindi. The cook only had one arm too. I didn't eat there knowing the toilet customs. :wink: - But otherwise the food was fabulous most everywhere.

No you didn't miss much. It was my first meal after flying in from Hong Kong. I didn't return. I can't abide Okra unless it's roasted until crispy, often it's boiled and reminds me of frog spawn.:redface:

I spent most of my time in Ladakh and then blagged or rather bribed (airline strike - flights 'full') my way to Kashmir. I was in Kashmir when the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya was pulled down - the army went nuts and started rounding people up at random and shooting some of them.

Gangs where stopping the little taxis, dragging people out and beating them senseless, it was ugly. No one could leave the district for days. I almost got caught in a lock down once and escaped over a wall and down a load of alleys. I'm sure I would have been fine, but wasn't taking any chances. I got totally lost and eventually found my way back to Nageen where I was staying with a family on their boat. Ice on the lake each morning but once melted there were plenty of shikaras for snacks!

I eventually caught a bus to Jammu then a train back to Delhi and onwards from there.

I digress, yes great food without an exception I can recall, I had yellow fingers for weeks!!
 

HUNGHUGE11X7

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I would have agreed that humans are by nature carnivores being a southern -bred man where we are known to fish it trap it shoot it and eat it LOL , But after having several yrs of painful IBS then FINALLY finding out after many trips to the hospital that it was due to my consumption and lack of ability to digest red meat I challenge that assumption.
Since I stopped eating red meat over 10 yrs now I digest very well and no longer have a problem with IBS .
If someone is having problems with chronic constipation I recommend limiting or cutting out red meat from your diet.
Eat more ruffage too.


:banana:
HORSE
 

earllogjam

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I had yellow fingers for weeks!!

Haha, I am assuming they were your fingers on your right hand. :redface:

Yeah a bomb went off in Varanasi when I was there about 100 yds away from where I was. There was a definite Muslim/Hindu underlying friction there. Even though I didn't speak the language I always sensed that antagonism. Muslims eat meat which is not esteemed in Hindu culture.
 

Ethyl

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The only problems vegetarians face is the lack of zinc and B-12 in their diet. B-12 is found only in animal protein, but zinc can be found in sources like nuts, fruits, etc. I tried vegetarianism for a few years in my early twenties. I was sick with cold all the time and had absolutely no energy. But I was anemic as a kid so that might explain the need for animal protein. I might be able to tolerate a meat-free diet more easily now.
 

rob_just_rob

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No one's suggesting anything of the sort. Or at least I'm not.



No one's suggesting anything of the sort. Or at least I'm not.



I'm glad you realise that.

I'm not singling out food, just posing a question. The first paragraph of the thread explains it's existence.:smile:

I suppose I missed the relevance of the question. Sorry.