MEAT - good or bad?

curly1986

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

red_road

meat

rml_16

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

Well, we can't be carnivores then because our intestines are different from a lion's. But we can't be vegetarians, either, because cows have two stomachs and we don't.

highervibes

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

Do you think we would be omnivores if this were actually the case?

spartania

meat = winning!

curly1986

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

Do you think we would be omnivores if this were actually the case?

I think we have more similiarities to herbivores than we do to carnivores. And I think when humans started eating meat it would have been a rare treat due to the possible risk of bringing down a wild animal. But humans like meat. And I think humans have always been good at doing things that aren't the best for us (alcohol, drugs, cigarettes), so who knows. I'm vegetarian because of moral reasons, so I've only briefly looked into health reasons. I dont claim to be an expert, but I did find it an interesting theory. The joy of being human is making your own choices, so although I don't personally eat meat I have no issues with people who do.

Akimajuktuq

Inuit people lived on a diet of animals, most of which were fatty sea mammals. They had no heart disease, cancer, diabetes, tooth decay, bone deformity, depression, etc etc etc until they started eating grain and sugar and living a sedentary life. There are many other aboriginals around the world who show the same pattern. The observers of this have included scientists and doctors. Why is the knowledge ridiculed as "anecdotal" because the research wasn't done in a lab (since when does a lab or sponsored by the food/pharma industry? I don't know. (Actually I do know; follow the money.)

And yes, aboriginal people often died young but it was NOT due to an inferior diet.

Nevermind the above... I changed to a diet based on animals last summer and ALL of my many, many health problems are vanishing (many were resolved immediately, but obesity and metabolic syndrome takes longer to heal). So that evidence is good enough for me to keep eating animals. Of course with preference for wild animals and/or those that have been raised and slaughtered ethically.

I had the opposite experience after experimenting with primal eating-developed digestive issues and horrible bad breath (to the point where people started commenting-sooo embarising!) and I started feeling run down/icky. After three months I had to listen to my body and go in a different direction. As I was in the midst of this my mil was finishing up cancer treatment and her oncologist put her on a diet of minimal meal/processed foods. My sil was also working with a chiropractor/nutrtionist for several health issues and he's now got her on a minimal meat/very minimal processed foods diet. The three of us were on different journeys, but have ended up in same place-focusing on a whole foots, plant based diet. Different things work for different people-to each their own

I respect that you have had a different experience. However, there are far more factors affecting health than just whether one eats meat or not. Processed foods are definitely one of those factors.

Oncologists, and others, are hurting many people with their dietary recommendations. "Don't eat meat, eat low fat, but get chemo and radiation". Most of them discourage any kind of natural treatment. Just because many of our conventionally educated doctors and nutritionists are promoting a low fat/minimal meat diet doesn't mean it's good for everyone (or anyone). There are doctors (many who specialize in metabolic disorders) that do NOT promote low fat/minimal meat.

According to my own research and experience, it is clear that we have been lied to, repeatedly and intentionally, about what is a healthy human diet. And I'm ticked off about it. Cheerios and Becel are "heart healthy" but grass fed beef is unhealthy? NOT.

I will agree that we are not all the same and that different people find different ways to be healthy but I also feel it relevant to share my view. I tried just about anything and everything when it comes to diet and health. I thought that I was "healthy" when I was starving myself on a low fat diet, and I destroyed my metabolism by doing it. Vegan; been there, did that too. Not ethical and not healthy for me. So I have a lot of real life experience to base my opinions on.

CuteMonkeyGal

I enjoy meals both with or without meat. Most beef I have found does not settle well on my stomach (I used to get horrible gallbladder issues ALL OF THE TIME) or is too hard for me to digest, so I tend to eat that way less often or eat less of it. I eat lots of tuna, salmon, shrimp, white fish (cod, mahi mahi, talapia, halibut) or turkey, chicken, and ham mostly when I do have meat. I do love a grilled portabella mushroom burger or beans with rice, etc. The lack of meat (red or otherwise) in my diet mostly is due to budget/cost and making it last longer. Beans/lentils are cheaper for me and last longer in my cupboard.

230137isntmyweight

I don't have any studies but I do believe that a healthy well balanced diet includes everything. Meat is a wonderful source of protein and iron. And while you can source those entirely from vegetable matter meat is easier and in my opinion tastier. Now for the sake of my sons health we have switched to organic and or grass fed meat. When we move we'll be getting chickens and work on providing our own healthy meat. It's not for everyone but it'll make me feel better about what I'm feeding my own children.

mommabenefield

OK im back with another two cents....

The answers lie in our teeth!!! Its not really that complicated!

Cows= flat teeth thus herbivores

Lions=sharp teeth thus carnivores

Homo-sapiens= Flat teeth/sharp teeth thus omnivores

Food starts out in our mouth, we were created to chew all sorts of food so i think its a very simple thing

Eat everything!!! ... Except people.... and poison.... those are pretty off limits


ok im gone again

cfredz

uh has no one on this board read or heard of the China Study? ...

SnicciFit

uh has no one on this board read or heard of the China Study? ...

Heard of it. Don't know a lot about it. Was the way the way the meat was raised/processed considered?

SnicciFit

If you're too lazy to do research I'm not sure what you're asking.

But killing animals for meat is fatal for animals if that helps?

What I really want to know is, have any decent studies been done showing the health effects (negative OR positive) of eating meat that has been raised and processed responsibly (in a field, eating mostly grass) without antibiotics & hormones?

vingogly

The gorilla is an herbivore, But we share more genes with the chimpanzee than with the gorilla, and the chimp is an omnivore. As pointed out, our teeth and our gut both say omnivore.

Check out the hunting scenes in ice-age cave paintings ... Those aren't carrots they're hunting,

highervibes

uh has no one on this board read or heard of the China Study? ...

http://www.westonaprice.org/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/the-china-study-myth

jeremyw1977

My species didn't become the top of the food chain so that I could go out and hunt tofu.
If that's your thing, here's an excellent training tool: http://games.adultswim.com/tofu-hunter-action-online-game.html

BrianSharpe

uh has no one on this board read or heard of the China Study? ...

Do you mean the completely discredited China Study?

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/385/

rml_16

The gorilla is an herbivore, But we share more genes with the chimpanzee than with the gorilla, and the chimp is an omnivore. As pointed out, our teeth and our gut both say omnivore.

Check out the hunting scenes in ice-age cave paintings ... Those aren't carrots they're hunting,

Gorillas are not herbivores.

TribeHokie

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

This caused me to google "human intestines too long for meat" and I came across this gem:

http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm

Good for a few lols. I learned that we are full of rotting meat and that carnivores, like lions, have super acid saliva. So don't let your cat lick you lest they burn your face off.

Yogi_Carl

OK im back with another two cents....

The answers lie in our teeth!!! Its not really that complicated!

Cows= flat teeth thus herbivores

Lions=sharp teeth thus carnivores

Homo-sapiens= Flat teeth/sharp teeth thus omnivores

Food starts out in our mouth, we were created to chew all sorts of food so i think its a very simple thing

Eat everything!!! ... Except people.... and poison.... those are pretty off limits


ok im gone again

Oi! come back!! - a serious uestion for you - why then do gorillas need sharp teeth when they are herbivores (apart from ants)? I suggest that on an evolutionary scale our sharp teeth are much smaller than gorillas because we are evolving toward a more plant based diet, though social convention (not necessity) dictates otherwise.

We need protein, agreed, but some of us choose to eat meat.

so to address the original question, I would say that flesh is a more complete protein than plant protein but plant protein is more easily digestible for more people so my favour would be towards a herbivorous and away from an omnivorous diet.

mommabenefield

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

This caused me to google "human intestines too long for meat" and I came across this gem:

http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm

Good for a few lols. I learned that we are full of rotting meat and that carnivores, like lions, have super acid saliva. So don't let your cat lick you lest they burn your face off.

its just fits

Yogi_Carl

The gorilla is an herbivore, But we share more genes with the chimpanzee than with the gorilla, and the chimp is an omnivore. As pointed out, our teeth and our gut both say omnivore.

Check out the hunting scenes in ice-age cave paintings ... Those aren't carrots they're hunting,

The main difference we have evolved toward though, I would suggest, is reason and choice. We can eat meat, but we dont need to.

edit:spelling

ndj1979

Ok, I'm not really asking if meat is good or bad for you, I just needed a catchy title. I am really hoping to have an intelligent conversation here.

I've noticed that the "studies" that are done that prove that eating meat (or eating too much meat) causes health problems all seem to use conventionally raised & processed meats that are filled with antibiotics & hormones and raised in pens...etc. What I really want to know is, have any decent studies been done showing the health effects (negative OR positive) of eating meat that has been raised and processed responsibly (in a field, eating mostly grass) without antibiotics & hormones? I'll be honest, I'm too lazy to read an actual study, but would like to see any summaries...etc.

intelligent conversation = epic fail on MFP threads...

ndj1979

Ok, I'm not really asking if meat is good or bad for you, I just needed a catchy title. I am really hoping to have an intelligent conversation here.

I've noticed that the "studies" that are done that prove that eating meat (or eating too much meat) causes health problems all seem to use conventionally raised & processed meats that are filled with antibiotics & hormones and raised in pens...etc. What I really want to know is, have any decent studies been done showing the health effects (negative OR positive) of eating meat that has been raised and processed responsibly (in a field, eating mostly grass) without antibiotics & hormones? I'll be honest, I'm too lazy to read an actual study, but would like to see any summaries...etc.

After hundreds of hours of researching food/nutrition I've recently started transitioning to a whole foods, plant based diet as a way to stack the odds in my favor for good health and cancer prevention (every single woman in my family for several generations has had cancer, as well as several of the men). There's lots of books, lectures, articles and documentaries out there for more info-take the time and do some research, and then make up your own mind about what you're eating

meat causes cancer.???? Well F me, we are all doomed, doomed I say!!!!

Yogi_Carl

intelligent conversation = epic fail on MFP threads...

sadly, yes.

Alphastate

The gorilla is an herbivore, But we share more genes with the chimpanzee than with the gorilla, and the chimp is an omnivore. As pointed out, our teeth and our gut both say omnivore.

Check out the hunting scenes in ice-age cave paintings ... Those aren't carrots they're hunting,

The main difference we have evolved toward though, I would suggest, is reason and choice. We can eat meat, but we dont need to.

edit:spelling

Albert Einstein did say that the human species would benefit from evolving into a more vegetarian diet.

ndj1979

I heard an interesting theory a few years ago that the human intestine is too long to deal with meat properly. Apparently carnivores (lion for example) have much shorter intestines so what they eat is processed quickly. Whereas with the human intestines being much longer the meat sits around for too long partially rotting and releasing gasses etc while still inside us. So from that aspect it wouldnt matter really how the animal you eat was raised.

I got theories too ..does not make them true ....

ndj1979

intelligent conversation = epic fail on MFP threads...

sadly, yes.

It is just to easy to go off on a tangent..good attempt them ...A for effort, F for failure...:)

Lalasharni

OK - here's my take
Organic or sensitively raised meat - good
supermarket processed imported hormone-filled and chemically altered - bad.

I buy my meats from butchers who know where the animals come from, how they are fed, raised and humanely slaughtered.
I wouldnt eat a steak from a supermarket or mince that I hadnt ground myself, but that's just me.
Meat is good protein. I love it!

Yogi_Carl

intelligent conversation = epic fail on MFP threads...

sadly, yes.

It is just to easy to go off on a tangent..good attempt them ...A for effort, F for failure...:)

I agree with your first sentence, but don't understand your second comment; sorry.