Is man created to eat meat ?

Is man created to eat meat ?
The Lanka News Service 13th March 2002

Sri Lanka - There is a misconception in the minds of some people that (a) man is created to eat meat and (b) that eating meat is essential for man to lead a healthy life.

There are millions of vegetarians in this world who lead much healthier and longer lives compared to non -vegetarians. In United States alone,statistics show that there were 9 million vegetarians in 1989 according to North American Vegetarian Society (Christion Science Monitor, 18-04-1990). Highest number of vegetarians are found in India. From anatomical and physiological point of view man has not been created to eat flesh as illustrated by the following arguments.

(1) Human beings have large molar with small incisors unsuited for meat consumption but, ideal for consumption of large quantities of vegetable matter. We have flat teeth like vegetarian animals unlike sharp teeth of flesh - eaters. Some people suggest that the existence of canine teeth proves that we are adapted to eat meat. In gorillas and gelid baboons who are vegetarians, canines function as defence weapons and not to eat meat.

(2) Human hands are different from the hands of flesh-eaters who have claws.

(3) Humans and vegetarian animals have gastric juice with low acidity suited to digest vegetarian diet unlike flesh eaters who have gastric juice with very high acidity (i.e. very low pH suited to digest flesh.

(4) Man and all vegetarian animals have very long intestines suited to digest fully, nutrients in plant foods. On the other hand, flesheaters like the tigers and lions have very short intestines which allow rapid excretion of decomposed material released during digestion of meat. But when human beings consume flesh, these decomposed products are not excreted rapidly due to presence of very long intestines, thus causing chronic diseases of gastrointestinal treat such as carcinoma of the large gut, which are quite common among non-vegetarians.

(5) Vegetarians including all vegetarian animals sweat to cool the body unlike flesh eaters who pant to cool the body.

(6) Humans sip water unlike the flesh-eater who laps water.

(7) Man and all vegetarian animals obtain their Vitamin C requirement from vegetarian diet. All flesh-eaters manufacture their Vit. C internally.

(8) Mans as in the case of vegetarian animals has grasping hands and manual dexterity unlike flesh-eaters who have no manual dexterity.

(9) Flesh-eaters pass putrid excreta unlike vegetarian animals whose excreta is not so offensive.

(10) Man and all vegetarian animals do not gulp down food unlike flesh-eaters who gulp down the food they take.

(11) Vegetarians are predominantly sweet-toothed unlike flesh-eaters who have preference to fatty food.

(12) Human beings have large brains able to rationalize unlike small brains of flesh-eaters who are less capable of adaptive behaviour.

(13) Vegetarians are less prone to carcinoma of intestine, ovaries and testes as compared to meat-eaters. Vegetarians are less prone to other chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, gall stone disease, obesity (over weight) and psychiatric illnesses such as alcoholism when compared to meat eaters.

(14) Coronary heart disease (heart attacks) which is the biggest killer in Sri Lanka and all other developing and developed countries is not common among vegetarians as vegetarian food does not contain cholesterol unlike animal products, which are full of cholesterol. Vegetarian diet also contains mostly unsaturated fats which lower blood cholesterol level, unlike saturated fats (which increase the blood cholesterol level) contained in animal flesh. It is common knowledge that high blood cholesterol is the leading risk factor of heart attacks. As mentioned earlier coronary artery disease is the biggest killer in all the developing and the developed countries.

(15) The consumption of vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains which contain all the proteins, fats, minerals, carbohydrates fibre and vitamins we need, should be our priority in order to leed long and healthy lives and to prevent chronic diseases such as heart diseases, hypertension, stroke, diabetes mellitus and cancer which are common among meat eaters.

Therefore man has been created to become a vegetarian
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Vegetarian Dating