wheat-eatersOR

meat-eaters?

WHAT IS OUR NATURAL DIET? ARE HUMANS EVOLUTIONARILY ADAPTED TO EAT

ANIMALS, PLANTS OR BOTH?By Amanda Woodvine, nutritionist

Guide 6£1

Wheat-eaters or Meat-eaters?

BY AMANDA WOODVINE, BSC NUTRITION (WITH ADDITIONS BY COLIN SPENCER)

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Amanda Woodvine is consultantnutritionist for Viva! and theVegetarian & Vegan Foundation(VVF). Her specialities includecardiovascular disease, obesity andchildren’s health.She has authored a number of

guides and reports for the VVF,including White Meat Black Mark –

a scientific report investigating the healthconsequences of consuming white meat.Amanda is currently undertaking postgraduate

study in public health with the London School ofHygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Colin Spencer is a novelist,playwright, cookery book writer anda former food columnist for TheGuardian. His book – the Heretic’sFeast: a History of Vegetarianism –is an exceptionally well-researchedand detailed look at vegetarianismthrough the ages. He is also theauthor of best selling cook booksGreen Gastronomy, Cordon Vert and The New Vegetarian.

Researcher/Editor: Juliet Gellatley, BSc Zoology,Founder & Director, Viva! & VVF

One of the most pervasive myths surroundingvegetarianism is the beliefthat humans are naturallymeant to eat meat – thatwe are evolutionarilyadapted to eat and thriveon dead flesh. The evidencepresented in this guideknocks this myth firmly onits head. Human beingsbelong to the primatefamily and the primatefamily is essentially avegetarian one. Our closestliving relatives such aschimpanzees and gorillas

live on a diet of foods overwhelmingly derivedfrom plants, and we ignoreour evolutionary past atour peril. Indeed we arealready seeing the dangersof dismissing whatevolutionary studies showus we should be eating –plants, not animals – withthe growing epidemics ofkiller diseases such ascancer, heart disease,obesity and diabetes whichare now occurring inalmost every corner of the planet.

Introduction

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Cues from the Body: We’re Wheat-eaters, not

Meat-eatersBasic anatomical comparisons show that peoplehave much more in common with herbivores thancarnivores – or even omnivores! Just a look at anadult’s mouth – let alone a child’s – shows that theopening is too small for anything but relativelysmall pieces of food. We can’t even swallow thosewhole, but must chew them finely and mix themwith saliva before the ball of food will slide downthe oesophagus. If toolarge a piece isswallowed, it canlodge over thewindpipe and preventthe air from getting toour lungs.Because we are so

poorly equipped tochew and swallowmeat, choking iscommon inpopulations that eata typical Westerndiet. Thousands dieeach year fromchoking on food, usually meat products. Incontrast, carnivorous animals such as cats seemnot to have to chew their food, but tear offchunks and swallow them almost immediately.It is sometimes suggested that the existence

of canine teeth in humans proves that we areadapted to eat meat. However, our teeth are

much better suited for eating starches, fruitsand vegetables – not tearing and chewing flesh.What many refer to as our ‘canine teeth’ arenothing at all like the sharp blades of truecarnivores designed for processing meat. Scientists have been saying for decades that

we are an herbivorous species. For example, DrW. S. Collens, research scientist at the

Maimonides Hospitalin Brooklyn, USAsaid: “Examinationof the dentalstructure of themodern man revealsthat he possesses allof the features of astrictly herbivorousanimal” (Collens and Dobkin, 1965). Such features

include jaws that canopen and close aswell as moveforwards, backwards

and side-to-side. This is ideal for biting offpieces of plant matter and then grinding themdown with our flat molars. In contrast, carnivores’ lower jaws have very

limited side-to-side motion. They are fixed onlyto open and close, which adds strength andstability to their powerful bite.

Humans –Designed to

be VeganSome people still mistakenly believe thathumans are born to be meat-eaters. Thefallacy of the ‘meant to eat meat’ myth iseasy to see when the characteristics of

naturally vegetarian animals and naturallycarnivorous ones are viewed side-by-side, as

outlined in the table on the next page.

Comparison of a cat’ssharply pointed, truecanine teeth with the

canine teeth of a human

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CARNIVORE HERBIVORE OMNIVORE HUMANFacial musclesReduced to allow wide Well developed Reduced Well developedmouth gapeJaw typeAngle not expanded Expanded angle Angle not expanded Expanded angleJaw joint locationOn the same plane as Above the plane of the On the same plane as Above the plane of the the molars molar teeth the molars molar teethJaw motionShearing; minimal No shear; good side-to-side, Shearing; minimal No shear; good side-to-side,side-to-side motion front-to-back motion side-to-side motion front-to-back motionMouth opening vs head sizeLarge Small Large SmallTeeth: incisorsShort and pointed Broad, flattened and Short and pointed Broad, flattened and

spade shaped spade shapedTeeth: caninesLong, sharp and curved Dull and short or long Long, sharp and curved Short and blunted

(for defence), or noneTeeth: molarsSharp, jagged and blade shaped Flattened to grind food Sharp blades and/or flattened Flattened to grind foodChewingNone; swallows food whole Extensive chewing Swallows food whole and/or Extensive chewing

necessary simple crushing necessarySalivaAcid saliva; no enzyme amylase Alkaline saliva; much amylase No digestive enzymes Alkaline saliva; much amylaseto pre-digest grains to pre-digest grains to pre-digest grainsSmall salivary glands in the Well developed salivary Small salivary glands in the Well developed salivarymouth (not needed to pre- glands, needed to pre-digest mouth (not needed to glands, needed to pre-digestdigest grains and fruits) grains and fruits pre-digest grains and fruits) grains and fruitsStomach typeSimple Simple or multiple chambers Simple SimpleStomach acidityMuch strong hydrochloric acid Stomach acid 10 times less pH less than or equal to 1 Stomach acid 10 times lessin stomach to digest tough strong than carnivores. pH with food in stomach strong than carnivores. pH animal muscle, bone etc. pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach 4 to 5 with food in stomachless than or equal to 1 with food in stomachStomach capacity60% to 70% of total volume Less than 30% of total volume 60% to 70% of total volume 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract of digestive tract of digestive tract of digestive tractLength of small intestineOnly 3 to 6 times body length 10 or more than 12 times body 4 to 6 times body length 10 to 12 times body lengthso rapidly decaying meat can length; fruits do not decay aspass out of the body quickly rapidly so can pass more

slowly through body. Also allows more time for the break down and absorption of nutrients from plant foods

ColonSimple, short and smooth Long, complex; may Simple, short and smooth Long, sacculated

be sacculatedLiverCan detoxify vitamin A Cannot detoxify vitamin A Can detoxify vitamin A Cannot detoxify vitamin AKidneyExtremely concentrated urine Moderately concentrated urine Extremely concentrated urine Moderately concentrated urineNailsClaws as appendages Hands/hooves as Claws as appendages Hands as appendages.

appendages. No claws No clawsBody cooling systemHyperventilation (via the mouth) Perspires to cool body through Hyperventilation (via the mouth) Perspires to cool body

millions of skin pores through millions of skin pores

Adapted from Store, 2008 and Mills, M.R. MD, 2009

Comparative Anatomy Chart: Carnivores,Herbivores, Omnivores and Humans

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a trip through the bodyOn the tips of our tongues are sensors,designed to seek out sweet-tasting foods –carbohydrates (sugars). While plant foods arefull of carbohydrates, there are essentially nonein meats of any kind (except for a smallamount of glycogen). Carnivores’ tongues haveno carbohydrate sensors – they have no needfor them. Instead, carnivores’ taste buds arepleasantly stimulated by animal proteins(amino acids) (Li et al., 2005).From top to

bottom, humandigestive systemshave evolved toefficiently processplant foods.Digestion begins inthe mouth with asalivary enzymecalled amylase(ptyalin). Its solepurpose is to helpbreak down complexcarbohydrates fromplant foods intosimple sugars. Asthere are nocarbohydrates inmeat, true carnivoresdon’t need thisenzyme. Theirsalivary glands don’t synthesise it.The stomach juices

of meat-eating animals are highly acidic. Theyhave to be, so that they can break down thelarge quantities of muscle and bone materialsthey eat. Much lower concentrations of stomach acid

are needed to digest starches, vegetables andfruits. Weight for weight, plant protein requireshalf the amount of hydrochloric acid to digestit, compared to animal protein. It is alsodigested in half the time (Lucas, 1979).Humans and other plant-eaters have much

lower levels of stomach acid than carnivores.They are much better equipped for digestingplant foods – and may even increase their riskof stomach ulcers if they do eat meat.Vegans and vegetarians have fewer peptic

ulcers than meat-eaters. This is mainly because their plant-based diets are much easierto digest.The human intestine is long and coiled, much

like that of apes, cows and horses. This makesdigestion slow,allowing time tobreak down andabsorb the nutrientsfrom plant foods. In contrast, the

intestine of acarnivore, such as acat, is short, straightand tubular. Thismeans that flesh canbe digested veryrapidly, and theremnants excretedquickly, before theyputrefy (rot). Overall,the intestines ofmeat-eaters arenoticeably simplerthan those of plant-eaters like people. The difference in

transit time (timetaken for food to

make its way from the mouth to the anus)between humans and carnivores is what reallybrings the anatomical differences home.Humans – even those on a high fibre diet –have an average transit time of almost 41hours. In stark contrast, the average transittime in a pure carnivore such as the mink, isjust 2.4 hours (Milton, 1999)! This means thatwhen people eat meat, it has plenty of time toputrefy (rot) and cause the production ofcancer-causing agents.

TheExternal

CuesFinally, take a look at the externaldifferences. Our hands are made for

gathering plants, not for ripping flesh. Wecool ourselves by sweating, like most otherplant-eating animals, rather than panting

like carnivores. We drink by sipping, not bylapping like a dog or cat.

The exhaustive comparisons of our bodytraits with those of other animals prove that

we have evolved over aeons in anenvironment of plant-based foods. We weremade to be plant-eaters, not meat-eaters.We are now paying the price for strayingfrom our design with chronic illnesses and

premature death.

wheat-eaters or meat-eaters?

nutrition: back to our roots

We have eaten plant foods throughout ourevolution. This has shaped our currentnutritional requirements. Our evolutionarydiets would have been high in fibre, vegetableprotein, plant sterols and otherprotective ‘phytochemicals’,and low in harmfulsaturated and trans fats. Fruits, green leafy

parts of plants,shoots, seeds, nuts,roots and tubers arethe fundamentalcomponents ofthe primateeating pattern –and commonsense tells us thatthese foods should bethe foods that humans eat, too.Our Stone Age predecessors

ate three or more times theamount of plant foods that we do –about nine servings daily of fruits andvegetables, compared to the UK average ofaround three. Similarly, while chimpanzeesare known to eat 123 different plantvarieties in a year, even the most healthconscious Westerner rarely consumesmore than 20 or 30. Seventy five percent of our global food supply comesfrom just 12 crops.And we consume just a fraction of

the antioxidants, calcium, iron andother nutrients that our ancestors ateevery day.Even without cows and yoghurts, our

ancestors also managed to get morecalcium than we do, primarily because of thedark green leafy vegetables in their diet. Theyracked up an impressive 1,900 milligrams (mg)a day, compared with the 1,007 mg that mostmen – and the 777 mg that most women –consume these days!

OUR BODIES NEED PLANT NUTRIENTSVitamins are essential micronutrients thatcannot be synthesised by the body and must beobtained in the food we consume. Since plants,

rich in vitamin C (ascorbicacid) have always been a

reliable part of our diet,we have lost the abilityto synthesise (make ourown) vitamin C.Without it in ourdiet, our health

suffersdramatically.In contrast,

carnivores havenever had a reliablesource of vitamin C

in their diets. They are stillable to make their own from

the basic raw materialsin their meat diet. Thisis one example of

many metabolicprocesses and nutritional

needs that clearly say our bodies are designedto thrive on a diet of plant foods (Carpenter,1992; Milton, 1999; Milton, 2000).

VITAMIN B12Vitamin B12 is often used as a reason whywe cannot possibly be vegetarian in naturesince this essential B-vitamin is not found inplants. This vitamin is actually produced bybacteria in the soil and is required in onlyvery tiny amounts by humans. Eating plantfoods with B12-containing soil particlesattached would have been commonplace in

our evolutionary history. Of course today we cannot rely on unwashed

vegetables providing vitamin B12, which is whyit is vital that a daily source of this vitamin isprovided by fortified foods such as yeast

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extracts, soya products and many breakfastcereals. In fact, we now know that the B12found in fortified foods is better absorbed bythe body than the B12 found in foods such asmeat, fish or eggs!Scientists have being saying for decades that

while designed to subsist on vegetarian foods,man has “perverted his dietary habits to acceptthe food of the carnivore,” (Collens andDobkin, 1965). And this is not without seriousconsequences for our health.

CHOLESTEROLOVERWHELMS A PLANT-EATER’S LIVERCholesterol is a type of lipid (fat) called asterol. The body does need some cholesterol,but the liver can make all of the cholesterolthat the body requires. It is well known that too much cholesterol is

harmful to the human body. What is lesswidely known is that cholesterol is only foundin animal foods, and not plant foods.Meat-eating animals have an unlimited

capacity to process and excrete cholesterolfrom their bodies. For example, you couldfeed a cat pure egg yolks all day long, and heor she would excrete all of it, never sufferingfrom a build up of cholesterol. On the otherhand, people’s (like other plant-eatinganimals) livers have a very limited capacity forcholesterol removal. Most people have greatdifficulty eliminating the amounts ofcholesterol that they take in from eatinganimal products. What appears to be an inefficiency is a result

of our evolutionary design. We were made toconsume plant foods (containing nocholesterol); therefore we have never needed a

highly efficient cholesterol-eliminating system.It is also believed that evolution favoured (andtherefore conserved) mechanisms in the bodywhich tend to raise blood cholesterol levels(Jenkins et al., 2003).Eating animal products – including meats,

fish, eggs and dairy foods – can lead to a buildup of cholesterol. This can result in deposits inthe arteries (atherosclerosis), in the skin orunder the eyes (xanthelasma) and in thetendons. Bile supersaturated with cholesterolforms gallstones. Meat-eaters are twice as likelyto be afflicted with gallstones, compared tovegetarians. For further information see theVVF’s report, White Meat Black Mark.Cholesterol can’t be avoided by choosing

lean cuts of meat as it’s mainly found in thelean parts. White and red meat and fish allcontain cholesterol. One small, grilled, skinlesschicken breast contains around 100 milligramsof cholesterol – an amount that can addroughly 0.13 mmol/L (or 5 mg/dL) to yourcholesterol level! Worse still, animal productsalso contain saturated fat which causes ourlivers to make even more cholesterol.It is a sad fact that cholesterol-lowering

medications are the order of the day formodern, middle aged humans – a consequenceof our Westernised diet and lifestyle. But scientists have managed to lower

people’s cholesterol levels by simply changingtheir diets. By eating more fibre, vegetableproteins and plant sterols – in the form of leafyvegetables, fruit and nuts – healthy people’scholesterol levels have dropped by over 30 percent! This effect is comparable to the effect ofstandard cholesterol-lowering medications(statins) and simply involves reverting to ourevolutionary roots.

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wheat-eaters or meat-eaters?

meat-eating chimps?

It has passed into popular folklore that chimpshave been observed eating meat, which hasbeen taken as an indication that humans toohave evolved to eat meat. This is in large partdue to a David Attenborough film many yearsago in which chimps were seen hunting smallmonkeys and baby bushpigs. Attenborough’sobservations were first recorded by chimpanzeeexpert Jane Goodall. Her group of chimpanzeeswas studied over a period of years so theamount of meat eaten and the number ofanimals killed could be exactly recorded. Overa span of 10 years, the 50 or so chimpanzeeskilled and ate 95 mammals. They were all tiny– the young of bushpigs, bushbuck andbaboons – and most weighed 10lbs or less. Itworks out at 2.4 grams per individual per day –about the size of a pea! But even this may be anoverestimate caused by observer disturbance inthe chimp populations studied. So, meat-eatingin chimps is actually incredibly rare – rough

estimates are that it forms just 1-1.5 per cent ofthe overall diet. And, of course, not all chimpgroups hunt at all.Whilst our primate ancestors did eat

insects this was not in sufficient quantity toprovoke a change in their dentition. Primatecanine teeth are small and their molars have alarge grinding surface with a thick enamelcovering, making their jaws a powerfulcrushing, grinding and chewing machinedesigned to cope with vegetation. Of all the living primates, humans are the

only one to eat large animals, the rest beingalmost entirely herbivorous. We sprang out ofthis genetic breeding pool of largely peacefulgroups of amiable creatures that lived by eatinggrasses, leaves, nuts, berries, fruits and roots.There can be no doubt that our metabolism,built up through these millions of years, is bestsustained by a vegan and then a vegetarian diet,in that order.

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our instincts are for plants

While many people are repelled at the thoughtof consuming fresh meat (especially somethingunfamiliar such as kangaroo, rat or cat), mostdon’t react so negatively to any fruits andvegetables – even unfamiliar varieties. Mostpeople would be nowhere as reluctant to try,and to enjoy, unfamiliar fruits for the first time– even something such as a star fruit from thetropics. Natural instincts cause people to bedrawn to fruits and vegetables.Viva! founder Juliet Gellatley suggests that

we try the following experiment with a smallchild. Encourage him or her to cuddle a babylamb, and then ask if they want to kill or eat it.You won’t be popular until you explain!A televised social experiment in 2000

affirmed that our natural instincts are towardsvegetarianism. Thirty-four TV ‘guinea pigs’were cast away by the BBC on the island ofTaransay. Rather than slaughter the animalsprovided for their sustenance, several of the

castaways became vegetarians. This was despitethe fact that one of their number was a butcher,thus sparing the rest of the team the agony ofhaving to slit a gizzard personally!Writes Daily Express journalist, Martin

Plimmer: “The Taransay castaways, in a vainattempt to remain authentic and reasoning thatit’s easier to be cruel to fish, which are cold,wet and unfluffy... decided they would up theirprotein intake by catching fish. However, in sixmonths the fishing detail, led by... a man whoclaimed to be a keen angler, hasn’t managed toland a single catch. At least, that’s what theysay, though this seems inconceivableconsidering Taransay is a roundabout on a fishmotorway” (Daily Express, 2000).Plimmer continues: “We are so conditioned to

eating over-prepared food that most children andmany adults will not eat meat or fish at all unlessit arrives in balls or fingers, hidden in a pie, or inthe shape of alphabet letters or Kievs...”

Sixty million years ago the lower primates firstdeveloped – the mammals from which we allsprang. So much of what makes us skilled asmammals was developed at this time. Thechange from clawed paw to a hand that gripswas invaluable for picking objects up and forusing sticks and stones as tools. Our visionbecame stereoscopic as the eyes moved fromthe side of the face to the front. Theseoverlapping visual fields produced the ability tosee in depth – vital toidentify predatorsfrom a distance. A species – in order

to survive and rise indominance – must beflexible, must adaptto changingconditions and takeadvantage of theunexpected. All livingcreatures that dependupon a particularenvironment for theirsurvival are doomedto extinction if thatenvironment isdestroyed. The key tosuccess is not onlyflexibility but alsoinconsistency, the artof confusing yourpredators. Lemurs, one of our earliest primateancestors, stayed in the trees for most of theirtime and their diet was limited to leaves, nuts,fruits, berries and edible stems. Their habitathas remained more or less similar for 60million years.Twenty million years after the lemurs came

the anthropoids, the higher primates that nowinclude monkeys, apes and humans – anothergroup of vegetarians. Between five and 25million years ago this group was diversifyingand colonising Africa, Eurasia and the tropicalAmericas using the land bridges that existed atthat time.

They would have moved great distances,from cool to warm, from cold to hot and it isthought that the cooler northern climes helpedto develop the anthropoids and led them to eatmore bark, the cambium beneath the bark(which is high in protein and carbohydrates)and the leaves of evergreens. They were allvegetarians but the diet was widening withmany more food choices – and a richerdiversity of nutrition means greater intelligence.

Around 18 millionyears ago came thehominoids, apeswhich lack tails andhave larger brainsand bodies than themonkeys. Theyevolved in Africa andincluded one calledProconsul, sometimesreferred to as the‘Daddy of us all’. It isthought that weshare this ancestorwith the gorilla andit, of course, isanother famousvegetarian. DNAstudies show that wehave a closerelationship with thegorilla and the

chimpanzee and that we split from onecommon ancestor around five to six millionyears ago.Because we have the fossilised jaws to study,

we know that these primates were herbivoresand ate fruits, nuts, berries and the cambiumwhich grows in the spring beneath the bark asthe tree begins to swell. Some of us still eat ittoday and we call it slippery elm, a popularhealth food supplement for digestive disorders.Three-and-a-half million years ago,

Australopithecus afarensis, nicknamed Lucy,appeared. She was small, strode over theAfrican veldt and through the forest, lived near

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going back in time

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water and was also a herbivore. There weremany different types of Australopithecines andone was called Robustos. He has been labelleda war-like killer and the source of ouraggression. He was in fact also a vegetarianbut he used the bones of large mammals astools to dig up roots and bulbs. It was thediscovery of these bones alongside his ownthat made anthropologists think they hadfound the first hunter. They were at least amillion years out.

MEAT-EATING BEGINNINGSSo when did meat-eating begin? We canroughly date hunting because of the toolsneeded to kill but before that there were somevery basic tools used to cut, scrape and dig.These were found with the remains of Homohabilis, who lived between 1.4 and 2.3 millionyears ago. Anthropologists think it is likely

that Homo habilis first scavenged his/her meatfrom the kill of big cats but like so much ofwhat is said on the evolution of humans, this isjust speculation.Hunting started around 1.9 million years ago

with the advent of Homo erectus, who liveduntil 300,000 years ago. Anthropologists tell usthis as if Homo erectus, from then on, just ateraw meat and nothing else. In fact, Homoerectus could not have survived on meat alone,as large quantities of animal protein unbufferedby fat or carbohydrates are physiologicallyharmful (Milton, 1987).There was even a suggestion that our brain

development did not begin until red meatentered our diet. If there was a correlationbetween the consumption of red meat and theenlargement of brain cells, big cats would havethe largest brains and be the dominant speciesin the world today.

For the growth of brain cells, a one-to-onebalance of two groups of fatty acids isneeded – called omega-3 and omega-6 fattyacids. This balanced combination promotesthe growth of the cerebral cortex, the site ofintellect and reasoning in the brain. It is argued by some that the

greater intakes of these longchain fatty acids, found infish and wild game, were amajor reason forhumankind’s extraordinaryincrease in brainpower.However this ignores threeimportant facts.Firstly, parent sources of the omega-3

and omega-6 fats are found abundantlyin plant foods. Secondly, the main source of the omega-3

fats in, for instance, fish, is not the fish itselfbut the food the fish feeds on – green plantssuch as microalgae. Microalgae containomega-3 fats called EPA and DHA, whilstseaweed is a source of DHA.

Thirdly, gathering green plants for their fatsinstead of fish would have been both far easierfor our early ancestors and a much moreguaranteed and regular source of these fats –plants tend not to run (or swim) away! On thecoast, the diet would inevitably have included

seaweeds and microalgae. For furtherinformation on fatty acids see theVVF’s guide, Fish-free for Life.

It is the same argumentthat can be used againstmeat being the dominantforce in the evolution ofour bigger brains – meat

could never have been aguaranteed, continued source of

nourishment due to the problemsof securing it.

Killing wild animals is far from easy, andif early humans had relied on meat alonethey would have gone without most of thetime. The bulk of the diet was what italways had been, gathered from wild plantsand some of it, no doubt, dried and stored.

brain development

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The Real Fuel of BrainExpansion: Cooking

Brain expansion almost certainly could not haveoccurred until hominids adopted a diet richenough in calories and nutrients to meet theassociated energy costs. And cooking food doesjust that. Once plants foods are cooked, theybecome easier to bite and chew. This means thatmore energy (calories) can be obtained perminute of eating, and hence more calories canbe gained per day. This is particularly true forstarchy tubers such as potatoes. There are nutritional advantages, too.

Cooking breaks down the cell walls ofvegetables, releasing more vitamins, minerals,protein and carbohydrates. Cooking alsomakes some poisonous tubers safe, thuswidening the range of food available.Cooking is widely accepted to have occurred

at least 250,000 years ago (Ragir, 2000). Otherevidence points to the control of fire byhominids even earlier – it is suggested thatvegetables were being cooked 1.9 million yearsago (Wrangham et al., 1999) as primitive chefslearnt to control and work with fire as aweapon and a tool.

And researchers based at the universities ofMinnesota and Harvard in the USA believe thatboiling vegetables, such as carrots, poachedpotatoes and boiled beets was exactly whatsparked the development of bigger, human-likebrains. This also boosted the availability of food,allowing females to grow almost as big as males.This contradicts the popular view that eating

meat triggered the evolution of hominids intoHomo erectus, the ancestor of modern man. Itis also backed by Chris Stringer of the NaturalHistory Museum in London, who says: “Youhave equally nutritious food in roots and tubersbut these could not be unlocked until they werecooked” (The Times, 1999).Scientists Wrangham and Conklin-Brittain

state: “Over evolutionary history the adoption of cooking should probably beregarded as one of the largest everimprovements in dietary quality... enablinghumans to maintain a more effective immunesystem and perhaps contributing to theevolution of reduced mortality” (Wranghamand Conklin-Brittain, 1999).

The Evolution ofHumankind

AUSTRALOPITHECUS4.8-1.1 MILLION YEARS AGOAfricaEarly human-like apes, closely related tochimpanzees and gorillas. They varied in heightfrom 3 ft (0.9 m) to nearly 6 ft (1.8 m), hada brain one-third of the size ofours, and walked upright.Vegetarian.

HOMO HABILIS2.3-1.4 MILLION YEARS AGOEast Africa Long-armed, largely plant-eatersbut also scavenger-hunters, 4-5ft (1.2-1.5 m) tall, withprotruding jaws and brains halfthe size of ours. They lived inorganised social groups,used crude tools andprobably communicated withbasic speech.

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Meat-eating: Very Recent in our Evolutionary Past

Meat-eating began only in the last one-and-a-half million years. Contrasted with the life ofan 80-year-oldhuman being itmeans that only inthe last 15 yearswould meat havebeen eaten. For 65years we werevegetarian. This hashuge significance forour health today.Research already

shows us that well-balanced plant-basedvegetarian and vegandiets supply not onlyall the nutrients thatthe body needs butalso reduce the risksof many degenerativediseases such as heartdisease, some cancersand obesity. Dietsbased on fresh fruitsand vegetables,wholegrain foodssuch as wholemeal bread, plant protein sourcessuch as beans, along with fresh nuts and seeds

are the healthiest of all diets. The reason? It isthe diet most similar to the diet of our

evolution.Of course no-one

can deny that humanbeings becameomnivorous – in fact,humans colonised theworld because theycould adapt to theavailable foodsources. However thetruth is that verylittle meat was eatencompared to today’sconsumption.Hunting was given agreat boost whenclimactic changesdestroyed the foodsources in thenorthern climes inthe great Ice Ages.However inevolutionary termsthis is a very shortperiod and the

evidence is that our bodies have not fullyadapted to the change.

Human-Animal

RelationshipChange

Hunting also helped to change ourrelationship with animals but the biggestchange in that relationship occurred withthe move from hunter-gatherer to livestockfarmer, from nomadic tribes to settlementand domestication. An even bigger change

took place with the introduction of factory farming.

The farmer owns the creature, controls itslife and death – he dominates it and here is

where speciesism begins. Only whendomestication began did Homo sapiensbegin to believe that they were the

dominating mammal, free to exploit everyother living creature.

HOMO ERECTUS1.9 MILLION-300,000 YEARS AGOAfrica, Europe, AsiaThick-set, muscular species 5-6ft (1.5-1.8 m) tall, with slopingforehead, receding jaw and largebrain (60-80 per cent of theaverage today). They had fire,huts, some sort of speech,specialised tools, crude ritualsand advanced huntingtechniques. Still largely plant-eaters.

HOMO SAPIENS(Neanderthal man, modern man)300,000 YEARS AGO TO PRESENTWorldwideLarge-brained, adaptablespecies with wide regionaldifferences. They had complexsocial organisations, advancedspeech and tool-making skills.Modern humans (subspeciesHomo sapiens sapiens) emergedabout 120,000 years ago, anddisplaced all rivals to colonise the world.

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For the greater part of our recorded history,however, meat was the prerogative of the godsand the powerful. From the very beginningmeat has meant power.Wealth was measured inhead of cattle and wealthmeant power andinfluence in thecommunity. The moremeat you ate the moreyou showed everyone elsehow well you were doing– it was (and still is inmany parts of the world)the gustatory equivalentof the mink coat.But as far back as

3,500 BC we know thatsome people scornedmeat altogether and the great thinker andmathematician, Pythagoras, was one of them.Indeed the majority of people throughout ourhistory ate meat only on the few religiousfestival days throughout the year. This would

probably have amounted to eating meat nomore than three or four times each yearcompared to three or four times each day that

is common for manypeople today. Thanks tonew research even thetraditional view ofmacho carnivorousRoman gladiators hasbeen well and truly laidto rest. Chemical analysisof the bones of gladiatorshas revealed that theyessentially lived on avegetarian diet of barleyand beans for strength –not meat.Today we no longer

have any need to usemeat as a symbol of power. The sooner wereject this outdated idea the better – for ourown moral and physical health as well as theanimals and the planet that pay the price forour desire of meat.

Meat-Eating as a Symbol ofPower for the Minority

ConclusionHumans are naturally vegetarian and weignore, at our peril, our vegetarian primateancestry. One of the world’s leading experts ondiet and health – Professor T. Colin Campbell –believes that the closer we approach a totallyplant food diet, the greater the benefit to ourhealth. Professor Campbell should know athing or two about this – he’s been studyinghealth and nutrition for well over 40 years andhas changed his diet to a vegan one based onthe findings of his work!Professor Campbell’s thoughts are echoed by

William Roberts, one time editor-in-chief of theAmerican Journal of Cardiology who statesthat: “Although we think we are one and we

act as if we are one, human beings are notnatural carnivores. When we kill animals to eatthem, they end up killing us because their flesh,which contains cholesterol and saturated fatwas never intended for human beings, who arenatural herbivores.”The sooner we ditch the ‘meat maketh man’

myth the better for our health. We were nevermeant to eat meat, our bodies are not designedto eat flesh and our health is suffering becauseof it. Once we exclude animal products fromour diets our own health, our planet’s healthand the lives of billions of animals will bebetter for it. Only then can we really claim tobe an intelligent ape.

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references

glossary

The Different Types of Diet

n Carpenter K.J., 1992. ProteinRequirements of Adults from anEvolutionary Perspective. AmericanJournal of Clinical Nutrition, 55 (5), 913-17.n Collens W.S. and Dobkin G.B.,1965. Phylogenetic Aspects of theCause of Human AtheroscleroticDisease. Circulation, Suppl. II, 32 : 7.n Jenkins D.J.A., Kendall C.W.C.,Marchie A., Jenkins A.L., ConnellyP.W., Jones P.J.H. and Vuksan V., 2003.The Garden of Eden – Plant BasedDiets, the Genetic Drive to ConserveCholesterol and its Implications forHeart Disease in the 21st Century.Comparative Biochemistry andPhysiology, 136 : 141-51.n Li X., Li W., Wang H., Cao J.,Maehashi K., Huang L., BachmanovA.A., Reed D.R., Legrand-Defretin V.,Beauchamp G.K. and Brand J.G..,2005. Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats’

Indifference toward Sugar. PloSGenetics, 1 (1) : 27-35.n Lucas J.W., 1979. VegetarianNutrition. UK: The Vegetarian Society.n Milton K., 1987. Primate Diets andGut Morphology: Implications forHominid Evolution. In: Harris M.,Ross E.B., eds. Food and Evolution:Towards a Theory of Human FoodHabits. Philadelphia: TempleUniversity Press, 93-115.n Milton K., 1999. A Hypothesis toExplain the Role of Meat-Eating inHuman Evolution. EvolutionaryAnthropology, 8 (1), 11-21.n Milton K., 2000. Hunter-GathererDiets: A Different Perspective.American Journal of ClinicalNutrition, 71 (3), 665-67.n Mills, M.R. MD, 2009. TheComparative Anatomy of Eating.http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/11/the-comparative-anatomy-of-eating.html

n Ragir S., 2000. Diet and FoodPreparation: Rethinking EarlyHominid Behavior. EvolutionaryAnthropology, 9 (4), 153-55.n Reader’s Digest, 2005. Reader’sDigest Illustrated Dictionary ofEssential Knowledge. Belgium: TheReader’s Digest Association Limited.n Store, D., 2008. Raw Food Works.Raw Superfoods.n The Times, 1999. Boiled Veg wereat the Root of Man’s Evolution. TheTimes, 11 August.n Wrangham R.W., Jones J.H.,Laden G., Pilbeam D. and Conklin-Brittain N.L., 1999. The Raw and theStolen: Cooking and the Ecology ofHuman Origins. CurrentAnthropology, 40 (5), 567-94.n Wrangham R. and Conklin-Brittain N., 2003. Cooking as aBiological Trait. ComparativeBiochemistry and Physiology, 136 (1), 35-46.

CARNIVORE (OR ‘MEAT EATER’) :an animal that gets its energy and nutrientsmainly, or exclusively, from animal tissue.Carnivores that depend solely on animal fleshfor their nutrients are called obligatecarnivores. Although they may eat smallamounts of plant material they are unable todigest it efficiently. They may even eatvegetation specifically to help make them vomit(as an emetic). So-called facultative carnivoreseat non-animal food as well as animal tissue

HERBIVORE: an animal that is adapted to eat plants and notmeat or fish

OMNIVORE: an animal that eats both plants and animals asits main food source. They are not specificallyadapted to eat and digest either meat or plantmaterial exclusively

VEGAN: a person who eats no animal products – redand white meats, fish and other watercreatures, eggs, dairy and insect products suchas honey and cochineal. That means nodamaging animal protein, animal fats orcholesterol in their diet. Far from going short,they can – and are more likely to – pack theirdiet with a wide range of healthy, disease-busting foods high in vegetable protein, fibre,complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals andgood fats

VEGETARIAN: a person who avoids eating red and whitemeats, fish and all other water creatures suchas prawns and lobsters; and who also avoidsslaughter by-products such as gelatine (madefrom horns, hooves, bones etc), lard andcochineal (crushed insects). A vegetarian mayor may not eat dairy products, free range eggsor honey

PRIMATE: a ‘rank’ (order) of animals that includeshumans, lemurs, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers,monkeys and apes (including great apes). Thesecan be divided into so-called ‘higher’ and‘lower’ primates. Higher primates include theOld World monkeys and apes, includinghumans, and the New World primates

ANTHROPOID: another word for the higher primates describedabove, ie monkeys, apes and humans

HOMINOID: primates can further be divided into‘superfamilies’. The hominoid superfamilyincludes the lesser apes such as gibbons, andthe great apes (hominids). All primates in thehominoid superfamily lack tails and have largerbrains and bodies than the monkeys

HOMINID: hominids (also known as great apes) form ataxonomic family, which includes chimpanzees,bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and humans

primates

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