Vegan (alt.food.vegan) This newsgroup exists to share ideas and issues of concern among vegans. We are always happy to share our recipes- perhaps especially with omnivores who are simply curious- or even better, accomodating a vegan guest for a meal!

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C. James Strutz
 
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Default Bean Soup


"usual suspect" > wrote in message
...
> C. James Strutz wrote:
>>>>Positions and attitudes aside, what do you think humans were intended to
>>>>eat and why?
>>>
>>>I'm not hung up on "original" diet nonsense because we're not a static
>>>species. We're constantly evolving and adapting. Accordingly, I think
>>>humans and other primates thrive on a varied diet. We are what we are
>>>today because someone swinging in the old family tree decided to try
>>>eating meat. That eventually led to greater and more complex brain
>>>development (more so for some of us than others).
>>>
>>>http://www.fi.edu/brain/fats.htm

>>
>> Very interesting.

>
> It is, and I think the concept of evolution -- dynamic adaptation and
> physiological and genetic changes ultimately stemming from it -- shows the
> folly of the peculiar suggestions made by dietary Luddites (e.g., vegan
> raw food advocates) that modern man should base his diet on either what
> other primate species eat or what they think certain early hominids ate.


Maybe so if that's their rationalle. I had always assumed that the raw
foodists were mostly concerned about health - that cooking diminishes the
nutritional value of food. In the same light, I don't think that anyone here
is arguing that people should be vegetarians because they think humans were
intended to eat plants. This threat drifted awhile back when somebody made
that comment that they didn't think that humans were intended to eat only
plants. In the end, it's not as much a matter of intention as it is cause
and effect in our evolutionary process.

> Not all fatty acids are created equal. I addressed this issue a couple
> weeks ago. The differences between the plant-based and animal-based FAs
> are substantial, and the research seems to confirm it. Flax isn't a direct
> substitute for the FAs found in oily cold-water fish because the omega-3
> FAs in the flax are short-chained and because the flax contains a
> tremendous amount of omega-6. In comparison, fish oils are long-chained
> and have a lot more omega-3 than omega-6.


Is this why you started eating fish again?


  #42 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to alt.food.vegan
usual suspect
 
Posts: n/a
Default Bean Soup

C. James Strutz wrote:
>>>>>Positions and attitudes aside, what do you think humans were intended to
>>>>>eat and why?
>>>>
>>>>I'm not hung up on "original" diet nonsense because we're not a static
>>>>species. We're constantly evolving and adapting. Accordingly, I think
>>>>humans and other primates thrive on a varied diet. We are what we are
>>>>today because someone swinging in the old family tree decided to try
>>>>eating meat. That eventually led to greater and more complex brain
>>>>development (more so for some of us than others).
>>>>
>>>>http://www.fi.edu/brain/fats.htm
>>>
>>>Very interesting.

>>
>>It is, and I think the concept of evolution -- dynamic adaptation and
>>physiological and genetic changes ultimately stemming from it -- shows the
>>folly of the peculiar suggestions made by dietary Luddites (e.g., vegan
>>raw food advocates) that modern man should base his diet on either what
>>other primate species eat or what they think certain early hominids ate.

>
> Maybe so if that's their rationalle.


By and large, they base their arguments on it.

> I had always assumed that the raw
> foodists were mostly concerned about health - that cooking diminishes the
> nutritional value of food.


Read their literature or look at their websites. Raw diet advocates
almost always point back to fruigivorous primates and what they consider
to be early hominid diets. They suggest from the past that modern man's
anatomy and physiology hasn't changed significantly so it's accordingly
healthier for modern man to eat what some early hominid did (or what
they *claim* an early hominid ate).

Look, too, at the counter-claims like those found on beyondveg.com. The
author of that site, a vegetarian, deals extensively with the strange
claims made by raw faddists about early diet.

> In the same light, I don't think that anyone here
> is arguing that people should be vegetarians because they think humans were
> intended to eat plants.


Skanky has made the same "frugivore" error others here have made with
respect to the issue. I think it's appropriate to address that claim
since it's repeated so frequently.

> This threat drifted awhile back when somebody made
> that comment that they didn't think that humans were intended to eat only
> plants. In the end, it's not as much a matter of intention as it is cause
> and effect in our evolutionary process.


I disagree to a great extent. In the end, some of the veg-ns continue to
repeat the claim that we're not meant to eat ANY meat without offering
much (if any) evidence. They tend point to point back to "origins" and
comparative anatomy. They also tend to run away when it's shown that not
only did early hominids eat some meat and it had something to do with
our evolution (especially cognitive evolution), but that other primates
they consider frugivores are actually omnivores.

>>Not all fatty acids are created equal. I addressed this issue a couple
>>weeks ago. The differences between the plant-based and animal-based FAs
>>are substantial, and the research seems to confirm it. Flax isn't a direct
>>substitute for the FAs found in oily cold-water fish because the omega-3
>>FAs in the flax are short-chained and because the flax contains a
>>tremendous amount of omega-6. In comparison, fish oils are long-chained
>>and have a lot more omega-3 than omega-6.

>
> Is this why you started eating fish again?


Not so much that as the fact that I've remained open-minded about what
research shows with respect to benefits of dietary variety. I also don't
share the knee-jerk opposition to eating any meat that many other
vegetarians -- and *all* vegans -- have.
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