Most of us have experienced a bit of antagonism about our food choices. One of our cousins always has something combative to say. He and I went out for a beer last night, and he decided to play the "humans are omnivores" card. I discussed with him some of the things we covered in our August 5th post, Yet Another Reason Not To Eat Meat, specifically that we produce a slightly different version of a molecule found in other animals and when we consume that molecule there is some evidence that it can cause a host of chronic diseases. I also mentioned that more research still needs to be done.

But he had his mind made up, and it felt like nothing I said made it past his ears. So we changed the topic and talked about the Olympics and who he's currently seeing. But I knew I couldn't let it drop. So today, I scoured the internet for a few short pieces of info that might make an impression before he got bored and moved away from the topic. A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran a series of "Answers About The Vegan Lifestyle In New York." The series was written by Rynn Berry, the author of The Vegan Guide to New York City 2008. You may want to take a look at it yourself. Anyway, this is the third question/answer down the page. (The fourth also deals with the human evolution.)

Q -- Yet another sanctimonious tree-hugger with no understanding of human physiology or evolution. Look in your mouth — there are teeth that have evolved for crushing plant matter and teeth evolved for the ripping and tearing of flesh. Additionally, humans have the digestive tract of an omnivore, not a vegetarian. Say you are vegan (isn’t that someone from Las Vegas?) because of moral issues, but don’t try to defend your lifestyle choice with bad science and dubious anthropology.

— Posted by Meateater

A -- To say that humans have the anatomical structure of an omnivore is an egregiously inaccurate statement. The great taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus, (1707-1778), a Swedish naturalist and botanist who established the modern scientific method of classifying plants and animals, classified humans not as carnivores, not as omnivores, nor even as herbivores, but as frugivores. Linnaeus writes: “Man’s structure, internal and external compared with that of the other animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables are his natural food.”

It's sitting in his inbox. I haven't had a response. If my cousin will be true to form, he won't respond.

If you're interested in reading more of Berry's Answers About the Vegan Lifestyle, here are links to each of the three parts:

• Answers, Part 1
• Answers, Part 2
• Answers, Part 3

Recently, I've been reading a lot about the "natural" human diet. Some people argue we've evolved to be meat eaters, others that we're naturally vegetarians. Obviously, we're pro-vegan here, but the question still rages. Are humans natural omnivores?

A few weeks ago, I bookmarked an article I saw referenced on Vegan.com. It's taken me awhile to get around to reading it, but I'm glad I did. The article, entitled "Mystery of the meat-eaters' molecule" was published in The Telegraph, and postulates that human physiology may not be able to tolerate meat and dairy. The study is being conducted by Ajit Varki, co-director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at the University of California, San Diego.

Varki has built up a range of evidence that potentially links Neu5Gc, a so-called sialic acid, to chronic disease. This is because the animal version is absorbed by humans as a result of eating red meat and milk products, and there is evidence that the body views it as an invader.

Professor Varki has determined that we are the only primates who do not produce this molecule, Neu5Gc. Instead, we produce Neu5Ac, a precursor to Neu5Gc. So what does this mean?

This tiny change could potentially explain some of the more unusual differences between humans and apes. Chimpanzees do not seem to suffer from heart disease, cancers, rheumatoid arthritis or bronchial asthma - common conditions in humans.

Professor Varki believes that Neu5Gc elicits an immune reaction that might contribute to a whole spectrum of human-specific diseases.

After testing a range of foods, they found the highest levels of Neu5Gc in red meat: up to 11,600 micrograms could be absorbed from the recommended daily serving of beef, 5,100 from pork and 4,900 from lamb. The level in goat's cheese was 5,500, but fell to around 700 in milk and salmon. Cod, tuna, turkey and duck were in the twenties.

Not only did the foreign sugar show up in the body soon after eating, but tests also revealed that many people carry antibodies that react to Neu5Gc - a protective immune response, but one which could trigger damaging inflammation.

Interestingly, we've been reading more and more about how better health can be achieved by eating vegan, or at least cutting down on meat and dairy products. We've found information showing that rheumatoid arthritis can be improved with a vegan diet, and that non-fat and lo-fat milk can be linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer.

Of course, Varki's studies are still in their preliminary stages. As he stresses:

"we have not proven any link to disease, just suggested that it is something to explore."

I'm looking forward to reading more about his findings. On a lighter note, Kate posted this YouTube video and commented it's one of the funniest she's seen. I agree, so here it is, it may not be the definitive explanation, but hey, it supports my point of view .

For further reading:
Dept of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UCSD
Varki Lab page

Jane and I are sitting here watching television. We're both actually glued to the television, and I find myself writing this post during commercial breaks. What has us so captivated? We're watching National Geographic: Six Degrees Could Change the World, it's a program devoted to what might happen as global warming increases the temperature of our planet one degree at a time. It's based on the book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, by Mark Lynas. Since we never got around to watching An Inconvenient Truth, I can't speak to how much of this is overlap, but it's a pretty impactful thing to watch.

There is a segment early on, which discusses the carbon impact of the little things we do in our daily lives. The segment is authored by Jamais Cascio, and his in depth analysis on eating cheeseburgers can be found here. But the bottom line:

The greenhouse gas emissions arising every year from the production and consumption of cheeseburgers is roughly the amount emitted by 6.5 million to 19.6 million SUVs. There are now approximately 16 million SUVs currently on the road in the US. (note: The 6.5 million SUVs are the equivalent of consuming one cheeseburger per person, per week, 19.6 million SUVs corresponds to three cheeseburgers per person, per week. This relates to US consumption.)

Unfortunately, the National Geographic program doesn't drive home the point that eating lower on the food chain is a more carbon-friendly thing to do. They also don't discuss eating locally as another option to help reduce the carbon output. For more on this, see our posts "More Reasons Not To Eat Meat" and "Vegan Eating Trumps Eating Locally."

The basic premise of Six Degrees, is that things will become untenable if we remain on our current course. We have a limited opportunity of time to make effective changes. Though the program doesn't mention it, eating vegan is very easy change to make which can have a dramatic input on your carbon output.

My mother was recently visiting with a friend. They got around to talking about their kids and she mentioned that Jane and I have been vegan for awhile, and that we've been blogging about our vegan experiences. My mom, who is not vegan by the way (hi mom!), explained veganism to her friend and discussed the cruelty perpetrated on the animals we, as a society, eat. (Go mom!) My mom expressed that it made her sad, to which her friend replied, "I don't care, I like meat." Wow. I know others have talked about experiencing this, but so far, the worst I've heard is, "I don't want to know, I still want to eat meat...."

If the environmental reasons aren't enough, here's a little something I've been reading about which should get those people who like meat to reconsider, at least the beef eaters.

I've been reading Thanking the Monkey and on page 192 Karen Dawn writes

How rampant is mad cow disease? We don't know. A study at Yale found that of forty-six patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's, six were proven to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) at autopsy. (Ms. Dawn cites Guy McKahann et al., Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders 1989 - pages 100-109.) Other studies have shown that mad cow prions can cause a disease with a molecular signature indistinguishable from sporadic CJD. Therefore there is no way to determine if the many deaths from CJD misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's are actually linked to mad cow disease. (Ms. Dawn cites Michael Greger, MD, "Could Mad Cow Disease Already Be Kliling Thousands of Americans Every Year?" CommonDreams.org, January 7, 2004.) So we cannot know how widespread mad cow disease is in the United States, or whether humans are infected. It seems that the government is in no rush to help us find out.

Yikes! Then there's always this blurb from the National Institutes of Health page on CJD.

The appearance of the new variant of CJD (nv-CJD or v-CJD) in several younger than average people in Great Britain and France has led to concern that BSE may be transmitted to humans through consumption of contaminated beef. Although laboratory tests have shown a strong similarity between the prions causing BSE and v-CJD, there is no direct proof to support this theory.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NIH)

The more I read, the happier I am that I'm vegan.