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fiend
May 17, 2002, 5:25 PM
Post #51 of 56
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I believe in vegetarianism (is that a word?) on the standpoint that humans tend to over-consume everything they use. Because some people feel it is necessary to eat meat at every meal every day. If there are those who are willing to go without to compensate what little they can then I applaud their efforts 100%
Personally I don't really like meat all that much and only eat it once or twice a week these days.
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c_plante
May 17, 2002, 9:13 PM
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The way I see it, if we were meant to eat only plant matter, our entire tooth structure would be molars, and we wouldn't need those nice and sharp front teeth right? So if we've got those nice and sharp teeth, that means that they're for tearing and rendering and cutting of flesh. Hmmm, meat.
Christian
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jt512
May 17, 2002, 9:24 PM
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The way I see it, what we were "meant" to eat, might not be the healthiest diet.
-Jay
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climberstephen
May 17, 2002, 9:55 PM
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A short lesson in Anthropology:
Humans have clearly evolved to be Omnivorous, meaning we eat "all," both meat and plant. The two facts clearly supporting this are:
1) Our teeth. Herbivores (cows, deer and other animal vegetarians) have all flat teeth, sort of like all molars, which are used to grind the fiberousness of plant matter. Carnivores (cats, dogs, t-rex) have long K9s for griping food, sharp incisors to cut flesh, and the "molars" are sharp, again to grip and tear flesh. Omnivorous, such as us humans and pigs, have both K9s and incisors for meat consumption, but we also have flat back teeth to grind up plant fibers. Thus we have a clear mix of meat and plant eating teeth, which are clearly differently evolved from herbivores and carnivores.
2) Our digestion track. Herbivores have long, involved digestion tracks (cows have 7 stomachs) to be able to digest the long fibrous plants they eat. Carnivores have very short tracks and extremely short intestines so they don't have meat matter rotting inside them. If you've ever seen wild cat poop, it's easy to see how fast the food went through them since it's one package of bones, hair, and some flesh. Again, us humans, being omnivorous, have a track somewhere in between. It gives the length we need to digest some plant matter, but is short to digest meat without it "going bad" while inside us.
Thus, we humans are evolved to be both plant and meat eaters. Of course, this has no bearing on what one thinks is right or wrong. That's for you to decide.
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sharmagod
May 18, 2002, 12:29 AM
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There is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian.I say "go for it" if thats the way you want to eat.Nothing wrong with it whats so ever!!!
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bulldog
May 21, 2002, 7:38 AM
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Wow, long thread.
First, dogs are not strict carnivores - tooth structure or not (this is directed toward the arthropology lesson a few posts up from this one). Cats, however, are. This is my area of expertise.
And when the heck did cows evolve to having 7 stomachs??? Unless things have changed dramatically since I was in Vet School, cows have 4 - rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum.
Second, I feel key to this discussion is the degree of attention most Vegetarians and Vegans pay to their diet and lifestyle. I'm not convinced that strict avoidance of meat products is the specific key to a healthy body, Instead, I would argue that most people who are dedicated enough to become vegans or veggies pay more time and attention to not only what they ingest but also to their overall health (exercise, lifestyle, etc...).
I really don't think I'm unhealthy because of the carcasses I ingest. I'm unhealthy because I work crazy hours, sleep very little, and ingest whatever passes my way whenever I possibly can. This coupled with a steady diet of caffeine and simple sugars to keep me awake and working. Perhaps if I ate only a vegan diet under these same circumstances I'd be better off. But when I compare myself to the 2 vegans I work with - who essentially work the same hours that I do and have the same eating habits (ie, stuff your face when you've got 2 seconds to do it), I'd say I'm vastly healthier. Definitely not pure research going on there, but a neat anecdotal observation.
Maybe, someday, if I get a regular job and change my whole lifestyle, I'll have enough sense and dedication to make the big change to vegetarianism and make it count - somehow, I doubt I'll live that long.
Bulldog
[ This Message was edited by: bulldog on 2002-05-21 00:44 ]
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