Although many humans choose to eat both plants and meat, earning us the dubious title of “omnivore,” we're anatomically herbivorous. The good news is that if you want to eat like our ancestors, you still can: Nuts, vegetables, fruit, and legumes are the basis of a healthy vegan lifestyle.
Fruits, green leafy parts of plants, shoots, seeds, nuts, roots and tubers are the fundamental components of the primate eating pattern – and common sense tells us that these foods should be the foods that humans eat, too.
Vegetarian and vegan diets can be healthy, but they can lack certain nutrients. You may have to use a little creativity to ensure you get enough protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12. You can find many of these nutrients in eggs and dairy if you're vegetarian, and from plant sources if you're vegan.
Being vegan is great for your health! According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure than meat-eaters are.
Studies show that vegan diets tend to have far lower carbon, water and ecological footprints than those of meat- or fish-eaters.
Billions of farm animals would no longer be destined for our dinner plates and if we couldn't return them to the wild, they might be slaughtered, abandoned, or taken care of in sanctuaries. Or, more realistically, farmers might slow down breeding as demand for meat falls.
In Leviticus 11, the Lord speaks to Moses and Aaron and sets out which animals can be eaten and which cannot: “You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them.
Every nutrient we need for great health can be found without eating meat or other animal products. In fact, research shows we tend to do better without it.
In 1806, at the age of 41, Dr. William Lambe adopted an exclusively plant-based diet as a result of health problems. At the time, it was common for people following a “vegetable diet” to consume dairy products, but Dr. Lambe rejected these products as well, making him one of the first “vegans” as we know it today.
Energy Loss. You may feel tired and weak if you cut meat out of your diet. That's because you're missing an important source of protein and iron, both of which give you energy. The body absorbs more iron from meat than other foods, but it's not your only choice.
Meat May Cause Food Poisoning in Humans
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meat is a significant cause of foodborne illness. Every year in the U.S. alone, food poisoning sickens more than 48 million people and kills more than 3,000.
No, they're not here for the purpose of being our food, and it's made abundantly clear throughout scripture that God shows displeasure at animals being killed (Isaiah 1: 11- 17; 11:6-9; 66:3; Daniel 1:8-17; Psalms 50:8-13).
The first major evolutionary change in the human diet was the incorporation of meat and marrow from large animals, which occurred by at least 2.6 million years ago.
“Hominins were probably predominantly vegetarians.” Despite the diverse array of plants collected at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, it's very unlikely the people who lived there could have remained healthy as strict vegetarians, says Henry.
Our ancestors would get their B12 supply in the form of bacteria on root vegetables/tubers pulled from the ground, by drinking water from natural sources, as well as from any meat they happened to consume (since those animals also ingested bacteria from soil and water).
Our ancestors in the palaeolithic period, which covers 2.5 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, are thought to have had a diet based on vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. Cereals, potatoes, bread and milk did not feature at all.
Reduced Inflammation
If you avoid eating meat for a month, you should notice a decrease in your overall inflammatory markers. This happens due to the anti-inflammatory properties of plant-based foods that you consume instead of meat (5). They are rich in fiber and antioxidants and low in toxins and saturated fats.
At a 1.95-million-year-old site in Koobi Fora, Kenya, they found evidence that early humans were butchering turtles, crocodiles, and fish, along with land-dwelling animals.
Among the early Judeo-Christian Gnostics the Ebionites held that John the Baptist, James the Just and Jesus were vegetarians. Some religious orders of various Christian Churches practice pescatarianism, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians.
What did Jesus eat on a typical day? The short answer: a lot of bread. Bread was a staple in the typical daily diet in the first-century Greco-Roman world, supplemented with limited amounts of local fruits and vegetables, oil, and salt. Bread in first-century Galilee would have been made with wheat or barley flour.
The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
In all cases, if the world were to go vegan overnight or very quickly, the animals who cannot be returned to the wild will be slaughtered, abandoned, or taken care of in sanctuaries.
As the demand for meat decreases, the number of animals bred will decrease. Farmers will stop breeding so many animals and will turn to other types of agriculture. When there are fewer of these animals, they will be able to live more natural lives.
Honey is by definition not vegan, since it a bee product, and bees are animals. Here's a nuanced article about how the ethical issues surrounding this sweetener fit into the broader concept of vegan living.