Velo Gator

Definitely not my area of expertise.

Wesley36

Designed to eat meat? Human beings are omnivores, not carnivores. While meat has carried great ritual significance in most human societies, gathering (ie plant matter) was almost always a more significant source of subsistence than hunting (ie meat), with the possible exception of the Inuit. Our digestive systems evolved to deal primarily with plant matter, but we maintain the ability to eat meat when the opportunity presents itself - occasionally.

Velo Gator

Omnivores eat meat. Humans are not herbivores.

bikerjp

Depending on the evidence you choose to look at, humans are closer to herbivores.

Herbie53

I get annoyed with othertypesofvores when they try to push their vorism on me and others.

Velo Gator

I bought some onions, green peppers, and celery at Fresh Market.

For the chili I'm making for dinner.

bikerjp

I prefer to call it teaching. With sufficient knowledge one can make informed decisions.

Velo Gator

The site you linked to says this:

"This page is a mirror of https://www.vegan-straight-edge.org.uk/taxonomy.htm (slightly adapted)!"

which leads to skepticism.

surgeonstone

80 % of a persons cholesterol is endogenous, synthesized by the liver. As such, for those with very high levels, diet can be expected to help lower it 10-20 %. If still high, medication is needed. Best to start on that at an early age as you seem to be doing.

Painful Chafe

Hey, I think you are on to something.

datlas 

I can't believe this stupid thread is still on page 1, while my "deep thoughts" are ancient history.

panamapete

protein is just another lie from the gov!

datlas 

Bottom line:

1. Your body does NOT use protein as its primary fuel. Carbo's are primary, fat is secondary, and protein is salvage.

2. Your body DOES need protein for maintenance and repair. You probably want somewhere a smidge over 1g/kg daily, I generally advise 1.3-1.5g/kg, which means approx 100g/day.

3. It's very hard to have a diet that is adequate in calories and protein deficient.

4. See my tagline, courtesy of RUOkie.

rjones28 

I like chili.

AlexZ

+1000!

Bachman

If a person wants to eat meat, fine. I think we evolved to eat both, otherwise we'd be dead by now. That said, you can get by without meat just fine. Personally, I've stopped eating meat for the most part simply because the way it is produced now by factory farms is not natural.

At any rate, it's not the protein that a body needs, but the amino acids which make up the protein. Animal proteins are broken down and reassembled anyway, so whether you get a complete spectrum of amino acids by eating meat and dairy, or eating veggies, it's all the same in the end.

achoo

Green peppers?!?!?! Green BELL peppers?!?!?!

That AIN'T chili!!!!

RUOkie

are you a voyeur?

travelerman

I agree; green peppers in chili is gross... not much of a fan of the celery, either, but I could make it work by cooking it down until very tender, almost disintegrated.

Meat, onions, garlic, one or more "hot" peppers (including jalapeno, cayenne, and chili peppers), seasonings, tomatoes + some sort of canned tomato product (usually sauce or juice - to help keep it wet), maybe a little bacon fat to get the onions started cooking, and chili beans - preferably pintos, but I have worked black and kidney into the mix, for color and variety. Serve with saltines and your favorite spread, and some cheese cubes on the side - cheese in my chili is unnecessary. And the consistency is thick, but moist - not soupy. Better re-heated, of course, but not with too high heat, as this will mush-ify the beans and impart a scalded flavor and disgusting texture.

dahut

This. Its a common concept we share that people who live to advanced age must have been "doing something right." Take the vegetarian grandmother - yes, she may have been doing something right. It probably didn't hurt her to live that way. But we cannot say it is the absolute reason - we have nothing to back that up. It is a leap we make.

One common thread among long lived peoples, however, is a systematic, life-long undereating. Here we're calling them "thin."
Alcohol in moderation and no smoking is understood to be part of it, too
Another common trait related to diet is low meat consumption.
A case can also be made for what we today call probiotic foods - yogurt, fermented foods like krauts and pickles, etc.

Something I did pick up years ago, oddly enough, was related to my studies in poultry nutrition. Studies at the turn of the century (the last century) suggested that chickens did better when they had some proportion of their protein intake from animal sources. Remember these people knew what they observed to be fact - only later did laboratories and the modern descriptions of nutritional elements come along.

What they learned from the evidence was that poultry did not have to be fed butchered meat to gain the benefits of animal protein. Flocks given skim milk, fish meal, or even kitchen scraps, for example, simply did better than those who did not. They had lower mortality, increased production and higher reproductive vitality.
Now, these items were considered "waste" resources, at the time, and so were fit for animals. Today, we dote on "skim milk."
Even their own eggs, when cooked and fed back to chickens, provided this "animal protein factor" as it was called.

And while this work was done a long time ago on chickens, the gist of it was that we are more like chickens than we imagine. A modern analysis of the chickens' nutritional requirements reads essentially the same as for humans, in virtually the same proportions. The one exception is the laying hen; she needs a higher protein intake of around 18% to meet the demands of egg production.

And while I will be the first to admit we are NOT chickens, I suggest to this day that we eat like one: grains, cereals, seeds, fruits, small amounts of animal source protein**, and green foods.

** It might be added that chickens in the wild eat carrion, insects and both terrestrial and micro- invertebrates to obtain animal protein... and, so can you. But I will leave those things up the individuals' tastes.

tadawdy

A case can also be made against them; it is observed that China, for example, has very high rates of esophageal cancer, which seems to vary region to region depending on the diet content of pickled and fermented foods. These foods do contain certain carcinogens. Studies examining the link are not all in agreement on how strong the link is, though. Other things, like H. pylori infection, might also be involved.

dahut

Well, Im not going to pick apart tzadziki, quark or many of the various kraut-type preparations found in central Europe and the Levant - regions which also indicate long-lived populations. There are no absolutes... I'll takes my chances with my homemade dills.

Reynolds 

Points for being the only one who noticed it.

oldbobcat

My understanding is that the body doesn't use protein for fuel but muscle, ligament, tendon, and bone tissue is broken down by exercise and normal decomposition (tissue dies). Protein is needed to build it back up.

Why I like fruit flavored kefir and Carnation Instant Breakfast as recovery drinks.

dahut

....and CIB tastes damn good, too!