Humans are Natural Vegetarians

Shattering The Meat Myth: Humans Are Natural Vegetarians

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/shattering-the-meat-myth_b_214390.html

I found this article from a fellow friends Facebook post and I thought it was interesting.  This article states that humans have only been consuming for about 10,000 years.  It is stated that early humans had diets very much like other great apes, which is largely plant based, foods that we could pick with our hands.  Meat eating was then see to be started by scavenging of what carnivores left behind.  The problem with meat eating is our bodies have never fully adapted to it therefore strong meat eaters in our society today have higher incidences of cancer, diabetes and heart disease.  The article then goes and describes the physiology of humans and how we are built to pick fruits and veggies, not tear hide, hold down prey with our HUGE claws, or rip large amounts of meat with our canines... we simply are not built for that.  Basically the overall health of the population could increase if we all eat more fruits and veggies.

I agree with everything this article has to say.  I think that if we really allow people to understand the physiology behind the human body we could potentially get people to change their habits.  Our meat consumption in the United States is ridicules and the obesity problem is tied directly to that.  Not only does our meat consumption correlate with this countries obesity issue but it also allows for inhuman livestock practices and unnecessary amounts of GHG's released into the atmosphere.   If we educated people more about this issue and the other issues meat consumption causes we might be able to change some peoples minds and stop these on going issues.  

-Mariah Lundgren