Research published Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that the first members of the Homo genus ate mostly vegetation from trees and shrubs, just like their ancestors Australopithecus.
The diet of the earliest hominins was probably somewhat similar to the diet of modern chimpanzees: omnivorous, including large quantities of fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, insects and meat (e.g., Andrews & Martin 1991; Milton 1999; Watts 2008).
Early vegans
Evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products can be traced back over 2,000 years. As early as 500 BCE, Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras promoted benevolence among all species and followed what could be described as a vegetarian diet.
It was about 2.6 million years ago that meat first became a significant part of the pre-human diet, and if Australopithecus had had a forehead to slap it would surely have done so. Being an herbivore was easy—fruits and vegetables don't run away, after all.
One of the earliest followers of what we now consider a vegan diet was Arab philosopher and poet Al-Maʿarri who abstained from animal products for his health and beliefs on the transmigration of souls and animal welfare.
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.
Before slavery, in West Africa, our diet consisted heavily of plant-based foods such as ground provisions, fruits and greens. Meat was either not on the menu or eaten occasionally in smaller portions as a stew. They also consumed no dairy products.
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.
For decades, paleontologists have theorized that the evolution of humanlike features and meat eating are strongly connected. “The explanation has been that meat-eating allowed this: We got a lot more nutrition, and these concentrated sources facilitated these changes,” Pobiner says.
A vegan diet tends to be higher in antioxidants and other nutrients that have anti-inflammatory properties. These are linked to better health and brighter, more glowing skin. So yes, in many cases, vegans do have better skin!
Americans know that going vegetarian is not a new concept. But it's also true that some people in India have been eating vegan for thousands of years. The Brokpa tribe of Ladakh, for example, has thrived while eating a plant-based diet for more than 5,000 years—all while living in harsh Himalayan terrain.
The four main types of vegans are ethical vegans, environmental vegans, health vegans, and religious vegans.
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.
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.
If people no longer ate inflammatory animal-based foods, cholesterol and blood pressure could lower, acne could become less frequent, people could experience better digestion, and the rate of disease could decrease.
When Fire Met Food, The Brains Of Early Humans Grew Bigger : The Salt Because we had better food, our brains grew bigger than those of our primate cousins, scientists say. Early humans cooked, which makes meat and veggies more digestible and nutrients more available to the body.
By starting to eat calorie-dense meat and marrow instead of the low-quality plant diet of apes, our direct ancestor, Homo erectus, took in enough extra energy at each meal to help fuel a bigger brain. Digesting a higher quality diet and less bulky plant fiber would have allowed these humans to have much smaller guts.
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.
WE LEARN in the New Testament that Jesus ate fish from the Sea of Galilee, and, after the resurrection, that he even cooked fish and bread over coals for himself and his disciples (John 21.9). “We certainly know that Jesus ate clean unpolluted fish almost every day of his life,” Colbert concludes.
There is no direct statement on the subject by Jesus in the New Testament. The story of Jesus feeding fish to people would support the view that Jesus may have been a pescatarian. Paul seems to have been more open to meat eating, but even Paul was open to vegetarianism.
Israel: This country's capital city, Tel Aviv, is titled the “vegan capital of the world”. Apart from Tel Aviv, you'll find vegan alternatives and markets in lots of different small towns of Israel serving superb vegan fare.
India is thought to have the most vegetarians globally, with up to 42% of the population avoiding meat products.
“The diet of most Greeks and Romans was basically vegetarian,” centered on grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans, so maybe the gladiators' diets weren't that remarkable. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato pushed plants, for instance, preferring plant foods for their health and efficiency.