Humans evolved as meat eaters, so isn't it unnatural to be a vegetarian?

Carl von Linne (Linnaeus), who introduced binomial nomenclature (which named animal and plants according to physiological structure), said "Man's structure, external and internal, compared with other animals, shows that fruit and succulent vegetables constitute his natural food." (from Peter Burwash's Vegetarian Primer)

 

How do you get enough protein without eating meat?

The author of 'Diet for a Small Planet' answers this question by saying that “Americans often eat 50 to 100 percent more protein than their bodies can use. Thus most Americans could completely eliminate meat, fish, and poultry from their diets and still get the recommended daily allowance of protein from all the other protein-rich foods in the typical American diet."

 

Don’t you need to combine foods to get complete proteins without eating meat?

In the 20th anniversary edition of 'Diet for a Small Planet', the author corrects information included in the 1971 edition. “In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought.”

Can you be as strong without eating meat?

The strongest animals are the gorilla, the elephant, the horse and the ox. All of them eat a vegetarian diet.

 

 

Is it very expensive to be a vegetarian?

It is always possible to choose expensive convenience foods, but overall, a vegetarian diet is the choice of most of the world's population due to the high cost of meat. If the North American meat industry were not heavily supported with tax dollars, the real costs of meat production, would force most of us to make less wasteful and healthier dietary choices.

 

 

Do vegetarians live as long as meat-eaters?

For many years the medical establishment discouraged their patients from adopting a vegetarian diet, as it would compromise their health. Now, it is acknowleded that just the opposite is true. Vegetarians live longer, healthier lives than meat-eaters, and are thinner on average.

What do vegetarians eat, if they don’t eat meat?

Most of us tend to repeat the same small number of recipes, yet we know that there are cookbooks full of recipes that we have not experienced. Eliminating meat merely exposes us to new food choices, often encouraging us to try international and ethnic cuisines.