Could veggie burgers increase your lifespan? Many experts insist that switching to a vegetarian lifestyle can greatly increase overall health, leading some to ditch their pork rinds like an old smoking habit. Still others swear by an omnivorous diet, saying that occasional New York steak never hurt anyone. Is a fresh helping of tofu just what the doctor ordered, or only a lot of empty calories?
Please select the category that most closely reflects your concern about this content,
so that we can review it and determine whether it violates Civility 101 or isn't
appropriate for some other reason.
Abusing this feature is also a violation of Civility 101.
Explanation:
Biweekly updates on new debates and experts
Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
© 2008 Opposing Views, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opposing Views, Inc. is not responsible for the content posted on this website. Please view full disclaimer under Terms
Myth: The Human Body is Not Designed for Meat Consumption
- From Weston A Price Foundation
By Weston A. Price Foundation - for Wise Traditions
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
The human brain can choose a healthier option
Just because we can eat meat doesn't mean we should.
Veganism is healthier for our bodies, for our conscience, for other people, for animals, and for the planet. Go vegan!
Why vegan?
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan /
http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/index.html
http://veganic.net/whyvegan.htm
- ElaineVigneault
October 8, 2008 10:30AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
teeth, intestines and much much more...
examine a carnivore's teeth... they are like razor blades... arranged in a narrow snout. carnivores are designed to rip and tear and shred and bolt animal flesh... and yet they still love apples and eat they grass when they are ill.
examine the teeth of an herbivore... they are like human teeth. humans chew and pre-digest carbohydrates (fruits & vegetables & greens) in the mouth. when nature provides a bug or slug in the apple or leaf, no problem... but human teeth are obviously not designed to kill and digest the bodies of animals.
measure the amount of acid in the stomaches of carnivores vs herbivores... carnivores have 10x the acid in their stomaches that humans have in theirs. why? to make quick work of digesting animal flesh.
measure the length of intestines for carnivores and for herbivores... herbivores have complex digestive systems to absorb all the nutrients from their food. carnivores, on the other hand, have short digestive tracts -- to get the meat IN and OUT of their bodies as quickly as possible... why? because holding putrefying flesh in their bodies is very detrimental to their health.
imagine what happens in a human body when it takes days to eliminate animal flesh. apples and grapes do not smell all that bad as they ferment, but the odor of putrefying flesh is very offensive and it pours through the pores of our skin. no wonder the sales of medicines and de-ODOR-ants are so brisk in the USA...
if you need to use deodorants, you might want to rethink your diet.
- Patricia Robinett
October 8, 2008 11:13AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
hmm...
Logically, your points make sense.
Yet according to vrg.org , "The short canines in humans are a functional consequence of the enlarged cranium and associated reduction of the size of the jaws...... Interestingly, the primates with the largest canines (gorillas and gelada baboons) both have basically vegetarian diets."
Also, the majority of plant-eating animals fermenting sacs (part of their digestive system). Humans have no such thing.
As for intestines, "Intestinal absorption is a surface area, not linear problem. Dogs (which are carnivores) have intestinal specializations more characteristic of omnivores than carnivores such as cats. The relative number of crypts and cell types is a better indication of diet than simple length. We are intermediate between the two groups." (also from vrg.com)
Humans are supposed to be omnivores. Our bodies say so too. People shouldn't go vegan because of anatomy....
- jizu
October 27, 2008 6:14AM
Reply to this Recommend (2)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
hmm???
snouts:
humans do not have narrow jaws/snouts with razor-sharp teeth like meat-eaters. they have wide jaws with a rack of fairly tame teeth. try hunting down an animal and killing and shredding its flesh with your nails and teeth. report back to me. i look forward to hearing what happens. no fair using a dead animal and a knife and fork. :)
'fermenting sac'???:
which animals have a 'fermenting sac'? is there a more precise term for that? i can't find it when i search. thanks. do primates? we are primates.
intestines:
plants require slow absorption. perhaps you could call the intestines a 'fermenting sac'.
you use vrg.com as your sour source. i do not agree with much of the info on it. sorry. anyone can say anything on a website. having a website does not mean you have walked the walk. your own body is your laboratory. yes, experiment - but always listen very closely to its feedback. that is called 'wisdom'.
i did not become a raw vegan because my tastebuds told me to do it. i became a raw vegan because my body led me to eating simpler and simpler foods... my body didn't like meat, fish, eggs or dairy -- even tho my tastebuds wanted it to... my tastebuds would love to live on chocolate ice cream, steak tartare and escargot with LOTS of garlic butter. LOL
my body revolted. i don't like being sick or tired or ugly, so i listened.
my body is much happier now. looks better, feels better, and life is simple. when i read the data, it supported my new dietary choices. read the 25-year cornell university study that was performed in china. 'the china report' i believe it's called. its conclusion: the more animal food you eat, the unhealthier you will be. simple.
read victoria boutenko's 'greens for life'. she has done some very good research.
chlorophyll is only one ion different chemically from hemoglobin. we don't need to eat animals... we need to eat greens.
- Patricia Robinett
October 27, 2008 9:34AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
It's called a rumen.
The "fermenting sac," as it was referred to, is called the rumen. Cows and other herbivores also have multiple stomachs and have to "chew the cud." If you ever start chewing cud, let me know.
- richardsonkr
January 25, 2009 7:33AM
Reply to this Recommend (1)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
from an evolutionary standpoint
"humans do not have narrow jaws/snouts with razor-sharp teeth like meat -eaters. they have wide jaws with a rack of fairly tame teeth. try hunting down an animal and killing and shredding its flesh with your nails and teeth. report back to me. i look forward to hearing what happens. no fair using a dead animal and a knife and fork. :)"
Our ancestors were using tools and cooking their food long before they were H.Sapiens... as such our physiology has adapted to such things.
- MrBook
July 28, 2009 6:32AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Meat does not rot in the body.
That is a myth. It passes through a healthy digestie system in 1 to three days, tops. Food does not rot in the colon. The need to use deoderants stems from sweat glands that release pheremones that smell bad. Vegans stink too. Look at the teeth of other apes, such as chimpanzees. They are very similar to humans, yet have an omnivorous diet, eating plants, insects, and other mammals. The human digestive system is nowhere near that of a cow's in complexity, because we are omnivores, not carnivores, and not herbivores.
- richardsonkr
January 25, 2009 7:31AM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
how many vegans do YOU know?
how many long-time vegans do you know? and how long have you experimented with being a raw vegan? LOL
vegans -- who combine foods correctly -- will smell differently than those who still eat junk... you can still technically be a 'vegan' and eat junk and combine foods unwisely so they clash and -- like any chemicals, will smell bad. garbage in, garbage out.
my food passes through in a day or less. and it doesn't smell gross... it smells simply like food that has been broken down for nutrient absorption.
i don't use deodorants and my body doesn't smell bad -- except when i eat things that smell bad. raw garlic does not smell bad either on my breath or body or excreta. cooked onions, however, are really smelly when they discharge through my armpits.
i suspect that as long as 'input' remains simple and raw, then it smells like HEALTHY compost. when 'input' is complex and cooked -- it can't help but smell similar to what it would smell like if it was placed in a beaker with hydrochloric acid, and kept at 100+ degrees for as many days as it takes for elimination to occur... and if the food combinations were unwise -- then -- eeyuck!
we can each only tell our own story... you can tell yours, and i can tell mine. yours is limited to your experience, and mine has at least a full range of diets over many decades to compare -- everything from the SAD "standard american diet" to very simple, clean, wisely combined raw vegan diet for 5 years.
when you have been a raw vegan for 5 or more years, eat plenty of greens, and don't mix foods unwisely, check back with me... let me know if you still subject your poor armpits to aluminum deodorants. :) let me know if you still have headaches, back aches, foot aches, or any other dis-ease. :)
you are presently speaking from a certain amount of experience... but not the full range... obviously. in other words, opinion, not knowledge.
- Patricia Robinett
January 25, 2009 12:41PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
Trust me, you stink.
Having grown up in California, I have known many hippy-types who don't shave, shower often, use deoderant, or eat animal products. Most of them have claimed not to stink, but I could smell them across the room. I highly doubt that you are any different. Most people don't smell themselves, especially if they've smelled for a long time, but trust me, you do stink, it's just that no one who knows you has had the heart to tell you.
- richardsonkr
January 25, 2009 3:05PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
how ugly of you
how very ugly of you.
why have you hung with people who
don't take good care of themselves?
i would never hang with people like that.
why would you?
and why would you connect that to me,
who you do not know? how ugly of you.
how hateful. how rude. how unkind.
my nose is quite acutely tuned to odors.
when i eat cooked food or eat unwise
combinations that clash, i can smell it in
my own body and elimination.
i am quite aware.
was not always -- used to just eat the
SAD diet and was always ill.
now i eat well and am never ill.
i am not a hippie type and never was.
i am a fortune 500 company and legal type.
and i am very, extremely intelligent and wise.
i have learned what works in many
areas of life, including my body.
how is YOUR health? i hope you are well.
but i suspect you are not.
when people advocate for the SAD, even
tho there are so many millions of people
suffering from diabetes, heart disease and
cancer -- i have little faith in their wisdom
or compassion. people don't have to be ill.
but degenerative disease is rampant in the USA.
i hope you are young enough that it has not
hit you yet. i am 62 and have been through
it and come out the other side, much healthier
and much stronger than i ever was when i ate
either SAD or cooked vegetarian food.
- Patricia Robinett
January 25, 2009 3:27PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
The Truth ain't Pretty
While I try not to be "ugly," sometimes the truth isn't pretty. While I generally try to avoid personal attacks, and generally call out those who use them, in this case, it is not ad hominem, a logical fallacy, because you claimed to not need nor use deoderant because of your diet, while vegetarianism can contribute to, not detract from, body odor, and body odor is also caused by glands completely unrelated to diet.
http://www.health911.com/remedies/rem_bodyo.htm
The following quote is from the above link:
"Because of a person's body chemistry, some people who eat LARGE QUANTITIES of meat or who ARE VEGETARIANS have a very distinctive body odor which can be quite offensive." (emphasis added)
Also, "Sweat glands (apocrine glands) under the arms and in the groin secrete a substance that is the major non-food/drink related cause of body odor. This substance, which contains protein, carbohydrates, and lipids, often secreted by a surge in sex hormones caused by tense moments or emotional stress, is quickly attacked by bacteria, causing odor." Basically, everybody smells, though stressed people or those who eat either too much or too little meat smell worse. I apologize for attacking you, but it was necessary. The above is saying it more politely.
And just to clarify, I do not "hang" with, nor have I ever "hung" with people who don't take care of themselves. I have known them, (not in that way) but have never been friendly. My health is excellent, and requires a large amount of both animal and plant protein to keep it so, if you must know, though you are correct in your assumption that I am still young, and in that I probably will have health problems when I get older, not because of meat, but because of all the other abuse I put my body through. I do apologize for calling you out so harshly. A bit of tact may have been called for.
- richardsonkr
January 25, 2009 10:12PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: No
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
thank you for your apology
thank you for your apology. i wish you a long and healthy life. and i appreciate the article you linked to at health911.com -- excellent.
i find it interesting that the author of that page says that body odor is a result of toxicity... imbalance in metabolism... and recommends a thorough detox program to cleanse the liver, kidneys and colon. i know of no better detox program than a raw food diet -- and i was a personal friend of robert gray who wrote 'the colon health handbook' and developed that cleansing program 20 or 30 years ago. 'detox' is my way of life. :)
in fact, that author states it is the 'person's body chemistry' that causes the problems of body odors: breath, foot, sweaty hands, etc... he/she even spells out which foods are especially troublesome and states that there are remedies to odors -- eliminating foods that cause those odors.
my diet consists nearly 100% of fruits and greens, plus carrot juice, ginger and garlic. i have some pet chickens now and they started laying eggs a month ago, so i am also now eating very fresh eggs from very healthy chickens.
no body -- and nobody -- naturally 'stinks'... this is an acquired ability thanks to habits... eating, drinking, smoking, using drugs -- in an unwise fashion. if your body is clean, you will smell like what you eat. if you eat fish, you will smell like fish; if you eat brussels sprouts, you will smell like brussels sprouts; if you eat grapes and raisins, you will smell like wine; if you eat apples and greens, you will smell like apples and greens. the author of the article you refer to says that 'dietary imbalances resulting in constipation or a deficiency of magnesium or zinc may be other causes of body odor'. greens are an excellent source of magnesium. chlorophyll is used as a deodorizer.
thanks for the great link to a great website. i will bookmark it and refer to it as i do my research... i love to learn new things.
again -- i wish you well.
- Patricia Robinett
January 25, 2009 11:03PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
I would never have believed it...
But as my southern cousins would say, I have just "met" someone who honestly in their heart believes "their sh*t don't stink".
- locavore
February 25, 2009 5:35PM
Reply to this Recommend (1)
Side: Uncommitted
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.
poop et al...
when my poop smells bad, i know why and i know how to correct.
it usually begins to smell bad when my diet becomes acid-based:
too many artificial sweeteners and heavy proteins.
so when it smells bad, i know to return to eating more fresh,
raw fruit & greens.
if you pay close attention to your body, it will tell you what you need.
illness doesn't 'just happen'. you never need to be ill.
- Patricia Robinett
August 3, 2009 5:53PM
Reply to this Recommend (0)
Side: Yes
Thank You for your Comment
We review all comments before they're posted. For more on our comment policy, please see our FAQ.