Carnivorous Confusion

Perhaps one of the most controversial topics in the nutrition world is whether or not we should be eating meat, and this controversy is for good reason, as there are so many different factors that affect whether meat should be, or shouldn’t be, consumed. For many, it comes down to a personal decision based upon moral and ethical values, and sympathy for the animals. Others have practiced vegetarianism for centuries as part of their religion, including many Buddhists and Hindus, or abstention from specific animal meat like pork in Judaism and Islam. And then there are those who believe that meat consumption is unnatural and unhealthy, for a variety of reasons. As there is no clear-cut answer to this “meat or no meat” question, let us take a look at this area in greater depth.

A common argument against meat-eating posits that humans, sharing our biological makeup very closely to that of vegetarian mammals such as chimpanzees and other primates, are natural herbivores. This argument, although fairly accurate, does have serious flaws. For example, chimpanzees and other large primates are not 100% plant and fruit eaters. Chimpanzees will occasionally hunt small rodents, monkeys, and wild pigs. As well, they consume insects that are naturally present on the leaves and fruits that they eat. Though this percentage of meat consumption is very small (roughly 3%), chimpanzees are NOT strict vegetarian creatures.

From a biblical perspective, there is the classic argument of the “Adam and Eve” diet in the Garden of Eden, consisting of “every seed-bearing fruit and herb” being man’s natural, intended diet. I do believe this would be our ideal diet; that is if we still lived in the Garden of Eden. Twas a “paradisiacal diet for a paradisiacal place”, if you will. Unfortunately, we no longer live in such a place, and accordingly, we cannot continue to thrive on this diet.

Throughout history, man had to survive on whatever foods were abundant and available within his ecosystem, and of all the places in the world, very few have subsisted without the inclusion of meat in his diet. Regions of India are an exception, and this is due to religious abstentions. Depending on the location, the percentage of meat in the diet varied drastically, as did the animals that were consumed. Eskimos of northern Canada have traditionally lived on a diet comprised almost solely of seafood, including seals, whales, and fish. In such a barren, frozen land where very little edible plant foods grows, it would be impossible for these people to live and thrive without meat. On the other side of the world, in the Fiji Islands, fruits and herbs grow abundantly. The climate provides fresh and readily available plant foods all year round. However, the islanders realized the importance of animal foods in the diet for those hard-to-get vitamins and minerals that plant foods lacked, and consumed quantities of fresh seafood including crabs and fish. These are just two examples of the thousands of different peoples and places of this world who have innately consumed animal flesh as part of their traditional dietary.

In this day and age, industrialized civilizations need no longer follow their “traditional diets”. The world of foods is at our fingertips. The advent of the supermarket, global importing/exporting, and modern-day food preservation technologies have allowed us to eat whatever we want, whenever we want. Here in southern Ontario, we can survive off of fruits and vegetables all winter long if we choose to do so. In generations past, this diet would be simply impossible. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not against the evolution of technology, but I do value the ancient wisdom that our ancestors have given us when it comes to natural foods for our specific ecosystems. Winter climates are unsuitable for a strict vegetarian diet. Not only are most plant foods unavailable during these cold, snowy months, but certain nutrients we require are missing too. For example, Vitamin D is plentifully supplied throughout much of the year by the sun. However, from around November to late March, daylight gets shorter, the sun’s rays are less potent, and we are generally not outdoors as much. Yes, our body can draw upon its reserved Vitamin D to carry us through a month or so, but then what? Well, long before synthetic Vitamin D tablets, we obtained this vital nutrient from animal organs and oily fish.

I feel as though I’ve taken off on a tangent, but the point I am trying to make is that a strict vegetarian diet is not our “natural” diet. It is virtually non-existent throughout history and is, in fact, a very recent dietary experiment that, in much of the world, is only possible because of modern-day technological advancements.

Ok, so next post I shall actually delve into what I was intending to delve into, some nutritional information concerning meat.