Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fabio on July 11, 2010 at 4:52pm

Debatable. Studies on the average longevity of vegetarians and vegans have produced ambiguous results at best. Although it appears that vegetarians under 65 are less likely than meat eaters to suffer from heart problems, after 65 they are just as likely as anyone else to die of a heart attack. Also, none of the studies carried out so far showed any statistically significant difference in the average life span of vegetarians, vegans and meat eaters.

On the downside, an overwhelming number of vegetarians too proud, from the height of their self-righteousness, to consult a professional as far as planning goes, will improvise a vegetarian diet that will result in B12 deficiency. Also, vegetarians almost universally display far higher rates of protein glycation due to lack of carnosine, the most powerful antiglycator in the human body. Protein glycation is a serious problem, implicated at several levels in cardiovascular conditions, Alzheimer's, cancer and neuropathies.

It's about time we dispelled the myth of absolute vegetarianism as the healthiest lifestyle around. The only healthy eating lifestyle is a balanced diet meeting all nutritional and biological requirements the human body has. No vegetarian diet can do that. Ever.

Permalink Reply by Daniel on July 18, 2010 at 2:12am

Great point.

So have you ever thought about needing to draw a line on where to stop eating biological life genetically speaking or is it just a question of availability and flavor?

Permalink Reply by Jared Lardo on July 18, 2010 at 7:36am

If someone doesn't eat "biological life" there are no options left for eating except rocks. Oh, and mud.

Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on July 11, 2010 at 5:47pm

Nutritionists now know that our bodies store and combine what we need.
That's true. But the fact still remains that a combination of vegetables has to be consumed to obtain a full complement of the essential amino acids.
Think of early foragers. They ate what was available.
Also true, but then, I know of no foragers that were vegetarians - if it was edible they ate it.
I do recognize that we consume far more meat than our body needs and that the excessive consumption causes some serious ecological problems as well as contributing to the shortage of food world wide.
Personally, I eat very little meat and even less red meat many of our family meals are meatless.
Where is the information on the longevity of vegans because I'm doubtful that's valid.

Permalink Reply by Alex Catgirl on July 12, 2010 at 12:36pm

Nutritionists now know that our bodies store and combine what we need

Er we went down the essential amino acid rabbit hole, which over simplifies the human digestive system. The human body can manufacture what it needs from simple organic molecules...if it has too, but it's not like the digestive system breaks everything down into basic amino acids only to reassemble all the complex organic molecules it needs from scratch, that's horribly inefficient, we would be eating all the freaken time just to sustain our digestive system.

It's why I can't survive on a vegan diet. I run year around and play volleyball in the summer, muscle tissue burns fat, if I'm not getting enough fat, not oils, in my diet, my body will cannibalize itself. It will build up the layer of fat underneath my skin, only to cannibalize it latter....end up looking very odd, some people say sick =/

Permalink Reply by Alex Catgirl on July 11, 2010 at 3:06pm

I realized the mistake later, I meant omnivore, it's kinda clear in the context when I said humans could survive on an all vegan or all meat diet....neither of them being healthy.

Permalink Reply by lOS`AMIGOS on July 12, 2010 at 1:57am

should I be eating MAN BEANS...(said in a manly voice). OF COURSE I SHOULD! I'm an omnivore, and I know that a lot of men would love it if I eat their beans

Why yes of course you should.Its a modern age ,and now days there is absolutely nothing wrong with females having the balls ! to be eating man beans

Kudos to you ! you go girl !

Permalink Reply by david hartley on July 11, 2010 at 3:23pm

Ruminants convert many of the soil's nutrients not only for us but for many others at the same predatory level as ourselves. We cannot eat grass and you must admit it's in abudance, they convert it to energy we can use. It's called the food chain and it's worked for untold millions of years for the Dinosaurs and all the other Flaura and Fauna of the time were part of the same food chain. We are reasonably unusual in the fact we have an omnivore diet, although you know what this site is like if I'm wrong there they'll let you know.
I feel that it has only been with the growth of world trade vegitarianism has been able to take root because back in caveman times the exotic choices were'nt there and you would have died through various nutrient deficiences problems vegetarians and other people of restricted diet are prone to.
No tooth fairy designed the Earth if we did'nt eat the ruminants they destroy every green thing on Earth, they can be at least as greedy as we omnivores.
Food chain, always been a part of life.

Permalink Reply by Dogly on July 11, 2010 at 4:50pm

David,
Because of our growing meat diet - our meat consumption has increased hugely, we are feeding ruminants (best not mention we mean cows, goats and sheep) more grass and grains than ever in history. It takes 12 pounds of grain to 'produce' 1 pound of meat. The water use is also shocking. Animal industry causes deforestation, desertification, air and water pollution and human starvation.
The argument that humans have always done something is not useful. Humans appear to have always used ignorant superstition and religion to explain the world. We, atheists, reject this. It is time to change the way we exploit the earth and the other animals if we want to stop the destruction of our living planet. Unless you are planning to be lifted into heaven.

Permalink Reply by Fabio on July 12, 2010 at 3:37am

I agree it's disturbing and I agree the system as it is is not one we should be looking forward to putting on our resume as a species. Stopping eating meat altogether, however, is not the logical solution.

Permalink Reply by david hartley on July 13, 2010 at 5:36pm

What's with the fucking 'heaven' reference matey. It's A/N we don't talk like that on this site.

Permalink Reply by Alex Catgirl on July 11, 2010 at 4:15pm

Well we are one of the many animals. Some animals do eat other animals. Some animals only eat grass or leave or whole trees and some eat insects and take eggs and some eat dead animals that either died of age or got killed by accident or killed by other animals.

But only Homo Sapeins have a choice,we know what our nutritional requirements are, and have the technology to create an optimized diet using plant stuffs or even basic molecules/compounds, we *choose* not to, as it would require H. Sapien to change just about everything involved in what we consider, how we get, and process food for the benefit of other species.

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men." -- Leonardo Da Vinci

Da Vinci is considered among , if not thee, smartest person who has ever lived, and that day he is referring to is almost upon us....except I regard most animals orders of magnitude more highly than I regard most human beings, who just suck.

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