Question:
do you know anything about human being a vegan or maybe a vegetarian in the very past centuries?
?
2012-01-08 00:25:38 UTC
well all i mean is that were early humans vegetarians and also is the human body designed to be a vegetarian?
Ten answers:
Akash
2012-01-08 06:18:43 UTC
The human body is designed to be vegan.

Reasons:

Meat-eaters: have claws

Herbivores: no claws

Humans: no claws







Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue

Herbivores: perspire through skin pores

Humans: perspire through skin pores







Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding

Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding

Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding







Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly

Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.

Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.







Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat

Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater

Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater







Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.

Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits

Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits







Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains
?
2012-01-08 15:21:06 UTC
Some ancient Greeks were vegetarian. Check out Pythagoras at this link. He was apparently pretty much a nut, but perhaps a math genius: http://www.thebigview.com/greeks/pythagoras.html



In human history, there has never been a vegan society, tribe or country. Vitamin B12 is not found in any plant. B12 has only been available in pills for about 30 years. If humans don't get B12, they die.



From an online vegan registered dietitian:



"...Contrary to rumors, there are no reliable, unfortified plant sources of vitamin B12, including tempeh, seaweeds, and organic produce. The overwhelming consensus in the mainstream nutrition community, as well as among vegan health professionals, is that plant foods are not a reliable source of vitamin B12, and fortified foods or supplements are necessary for the optimal health of vegans, and even vegetarians in many cases...."



So, no, the human body is not "designed" to be vegetarian. As far back in our evolutionary history as we've been able to research, there's proof we used animals. We evolved as omnivores....meaning we can get nutrients from both plants and other animals. Though today many nutrients are available in pills and supplements, we still get some nutrients (heme iron, protein, zinc, calcium, omega3s to list a few) easier/better from animals than plants.
?
2012-01-08 14:17:58 UTC
Before grocery stores and world wide shipping, humans had to eat what was available (within walking distance) People back then ate to survive. When put in a situation where if you don't eat you die, people will eat anything. Humans were opportunistic. If they found an opportunity for food they took it. Whether that food was plant or animal, and remember there are Many animals humans can catch with there bare hands and even eat raw. Humans and earlier hominids have been eating meat for millions of years.



Humans are not vegetarians, we are omnivores and have always been so.



EDIT





Straw man



And just because humans have always eaten meat doesn't mean I think people today "should" eat meat. I think its every-ones right to eat what they want. And I even think a vegan diet can be very healthy if done correctly.



And although I normally don't agree with the straw man, at least he doesn't deny science and hard evidence like Akash and friendofchip.



Just curious straw man, do people like Akash and friendofchip who (in my opinion give vegans as a whole a bad name by ignoring facts) upset you, or could you care less what other vegans think?





EDIT



And its funny to read Akash answer. He compares carnivores to herbivores, and then tries to place humans in one or the other categories. He puts humans in the hebivores category everytime. This is false. Humans don't have all of the same traits as hebivores. We don't chew cud.



The correct way to make your little comparisons would be to compare carnivores to herbivores to omnivores, and then compare humans to all three. Blind ignorance is what you prefer Akash.





EDIT



Australopithecus africanus were not vegetarians. To say they would pass up an egg or insect is ignorant. Sure no one really knows, but we have to go with the most logical choice. That being omnivores.

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-africanus





As far as gladiators being vegetarians, know one really knows. We do know the people as a whole of that time and region were not vegetarians.

http://praguestepchild.blogspot.com/2011/07/were-gladiators-really-fat-vegetarians.html



But if the "theory" of gladiators being fat vegetarians is true. Then why do most people say meat makes you fat? If they wanted them to be fat, then why not feed them meat? Lol
dreamsme11
2012-01-08 08:32:44 UTC
no i dont but i don't reckon there would have been. the population would have been a lot smaller if there was. back then it was hard to just come across meat, let alone having enough food to pass it up. the human body just isn't designed to be a vego. thats why some vegetarians are really tired and unhealthy from not getting enough protein or iron. very early humans (cave people!) spent a lot of their time hunting animals for meat and conditions back then were very tough (especially in the cold months) and not eating meat would pretty much be a death sentence. in some ways humans have become more considerate and thoughtful (not eating or killing animals) but in other ways they have become more careless and inconsiderate (polluting the earth and animal abuse).
friendofchip
2012-01-08 13:53:07 UTC
I believe yes. We're built like all plant eating animals- teeth, intestines, fingers, chewing, digestive tracts, stomach acid- all the smae as plant eating animals.



Early humans- what do you mean?



People have killed animals foryears in order to eat them. Humankind cultivated crops hundreds of thousand years ago too. Natural design is one thing- what you can't ignore is human desire. We constantly do things to defeat nature- flying, eating meat, smoking, loving someone too much. It's part of what a human is, you can't ignore that.

In a sensible ideal, humans know that plant foods are out natural foods and would eat them. But humans have chosen to live in the arctic and desert where our natural foods are around. We know that. The longest living people have all been vegetarians.
2012-01-08 08:56:16 UTC
We evolved from herbivorous ancestors, but humans have eaten meat for the entire time the species have existed. The earlier hominids began eating meat a few million years ago, humans (Homo sapiens) have only existed for 400 thousand years and our species (Homo sapiens sapiens) has existed for about 150-200 thousand years. However we are not obligate omnivores in that we must eat animal products to survive, we can survive in perfect health on a plant based diet. At least that is the opinion of health professionals everywhere (eg the members of the professional society for dieticians in the US, the American Dietetic Association: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562864/ ).



So what happened in the past is not really relevant, it is the future which is important. But FYI, there have been vegetarians for more than 2500 years. The ancient greek mathematician Pythagoras was vego and lived between 500-400 BC (living until age 75 or so). Until the word vegetarian was invented in the 19th century, people who abstained from meat and fish were called Pythagoreans. However there is some doubt that he was all that strict with his abstinence: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pythagoras/#PytWayLif



That comment about the canine teeth is nonsense, canines are present in ALL primates and have nothing to do with eating meat. Strict vegetarian species like Mountain Gorilla have BLOODY HUGE canines because they are used for fighting. We don't use our teeth for fighting, so we don't need large canines. WE have reduced canines because of low levels of male-male competition in humans compared to our nearest relatives.



Here is a chimpanzee skull- chimps eat meat and have high levels of male-male competition: http://skullduggery.com/images/0208.jpg

Here is a gorilla skull, vegetarian and have high levels of male-male competition: http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_images_n300/0210-0910-1213-1234_gorilla_skull.jpg

Here is a human skull, omnivorous with low levels of male-male competition: http://www.topnews.in/files/Human%20Skull.jpg



more on primate anatomy: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~bramblet/ant301/seven.html



@D*** Hunter yes those answers do upset me since they are unscientific. I pointed this out earlier this week in this question: https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20120103160632AAeqIgB

I don't use the same kind of invective language I use when someone like Daisy posts stuff that is unscientific because I think they mean well, but it really is unhelpful maintaining that position in light of the evidence.
?
2012-01-08 16:00:53 UTC
Our first ancestor, Australopithecus Africanus, was herbivorous and had a diet consisting of hard, brittle foods like nuts and other foods such as tubers and grasses which dominated their diet.

http://www.physorg.com/news175415022.html

After that, the earliest records of vegetarianism as a concept and practise amongst a significant number of people concern ancient India and the ancient Greek civilization in southern Italy and in Greece. Jain and Buddhist sources show that the principle of nonviolence toward animals and vegetarianism was an established rule in both religions as early as the 6th century BC. The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (304 BCE – 232 BCE) was a vegetarian and a determined promoter of nonviolence to animals. He promulgated detailed laws aimed at the protection of many species, abolished animal sacrifice at his court, and admonished the population to avoid all kinds of unnecessary killing and injury.



In Ancient Greece and Rome, people such as Pythagoras, Plato, Plutarch, Socrates and many others were vegetarians and have many quotes relating to their disgust at the treatment of animals.



Many gladiators were vegetarians as well. They were referred to as hordearii which translate into "Barley Men" because their diet consisted of barley to make them fat so that during fights, fat could be sliced off and entertain the crowd but the gladiator could still fight. The strontium levels in their bones, as well as confirming reports from lunista's from that time period (lunista's are the men who ran the gladiator training schools) about their diet, confirms that many were vegetarians.

http://www.archaeology.org/0811/abstracts/gladiator.html



Humans are not designed to be anything. We have evolved as advanced scavengers that can consume different types of foods and non foods and still derive nutrients from them. Some choose to eat meat, some choose not to, either way a human being can still be healthy and meat is not necessary for the human body.



Deer Hunter: My mistake, I was referring to afarensis (The Lucy species)

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/australopithecus-afarensis

Although it states small vertebrates may or may not have been consumed, their teeth indicated the diet I explained above ^ and according to your link, the earliest humanoid was still a vegetarian:

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/ardipithecus-kadabba



The majority Gladiators were vegetarian because barley was cheap and fattening food. I have taken courses on Roman history and read extensively into Roman life, as well as the Gladiator diet, and I am entirely sure I know more about the subject than you do. You are also wrong on the account of the Roman diet as well. Only the rich or well off could afford to eat meat frequently and the majority of the population only had the opportunity to eat meat at Religious festivals, where animal sacrifice occurred, or at other big events. Large meals with many different kinds of meat were only common when the rich citizens had banquets and wanted to show off their wealth. Their diet mainly consisted of wheat and wheat based porridge, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and fruit either grown in the country or imported from various corners of the Empire.



They didn't want to feed them meat because meat was expensive and because barley was an easier, and cheaper, protein option. It's really that simple.



Also, relating to a supposed point made in the blog you provided, the blog poster said: "...perhaps these soils were depleted of zinc over the last 1800 years, but if the soils are low in zinc then the animal that eat these plants are going to be low in zinc also, and the people who eat the animals will also be low in zinc." Or perhaps the people that ate the PLANTS themselves would have had lower zinc, not just the people who ate the animals that ate the plants. That is kind of a ridiculous point to make.
Kahrjsbruqodbdjd
2012-01-08 08:58:16 UTC
our teeth are meant for chewing nuts and legumes, that is why they are flat

we are the only species who need to cook our meat, true meat eaters kill it and eat it raw, we need to cook it

the acid in our stomach isnt enough to break down meat as quick as it can break down natural foods
Davegan
2012-01-08 08:27:41 UTC
Humans are most closely related to the frugivore. The frugivores diet is around 85% vegetation (mostly fruits), and 15% meat.
2012-01-08 08:27:23 UTC
Well some Hindus back then were, and no the human body was not designed for only veggies, if you notice your canine teeth you can tell that they are meant for ripping, compared to the flat teeth of herbovioirs


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