Each species of animal was created with its own particular diet so that there would be a balance in the competition for food. Bigger, stronger or smarter animals that attempt to eat the food that nature has designed as the food of another are punished by the laws of nature with illness because their biological systems are not equipped to accommodate these different foods. Nature has designed the food chain in this manner so that there would be a natural order and balance to the world. This balance is necessary to prevent the rapid progression of weaker animals toward extinction as a result of the excesses of others. This balance also protects from the overpopulation of a species beyond what the earth can provide.
Nature has provided a negative incentive in the form of illness (and ultimately an untimely death) for eating the food of another species. In nature, animals instinctively recognize their natural dietary regimen. Because they live in accordance with their biological adaptations they enjoy superb health. Man, on the other hand, is a very greedy animal. Foods consumed by man range from those ideal for frogs (insects) to horses (grain) to cats (meats) and includes almost any food eaten by any beast. Man has gotten so far away from his natural diet he has completely lost sight of it.
The loss of recognition for our natural diet is not a relatively new phenomena. Would you believe that this topic was identified and elaborated upon over 2500 years ago by Hippocrates, "the father of medicine"! Hippocrates lived in a time of unparalleled intellectual questioning. Born in 460 B.C. to a family of priest-physicians, he is said to be sixteenth in the direct line of decent from Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing. Hippocrates based his knowledge upon ancient wisdom in addition to studying under some of the greatest philosophers the world has ever known. Hippocrates taught that the natural healing forces of the body were supreme and should be supported rather than subverted. He taught that a good and proper diet provides the body with the support it requires to maintain health.
Hippocrates wrote, "...a person possessed of the proper ability and knowing those discoveries which have been made, should proceed from them to prosecute his investigation. But whoever, rejecting and despising all these, attempts to pursue another course and form of inquiry, and says he has discovered anything is deceived himself and deceives others, for the thing is not possible." With this statement, Hippocrates tried to influence the direction for further investigation into health care. He went on to add, "...to such a discovery and investigation, what more suitable name could one give but medicine, since it was discovered for the health of man, for his nourishment and safety, as a substitute for that kind of diet by which pains, diseases and death were occasioned?"
Unfortunately, the direction he attempted to set for further investigation into health was not heeded. Soon after his death, physicians started to charge enormous fees for their services whether the patient lived or not and the medical profession's ultimate conflict of interest between 'true' health promotion and having a vested financial interest in the proliferation of disease got a strong foothold.
We have finally begun to get the message. In 1979, The United States Surgeon General published a report entitled, "Healthy People: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention". Of great emphasis in this report was the suggestion that people change to a diet that does not cause illness. Sounds surprisingly familiar doesn't it? This is not a new discovery, Hippocrates knew this and publicized it approximately 2500 years ago!
In the introduction to a 1977 Senate report on nutrition and human needs, Dr. Mark Hegsted of Harvard School of Public Health wrote, "I wish to stress that there is a great deal of evidence and it continues to accumulate, which strongly implicates and, in some instances, proves that the major causes of death and disability in the United States are related to the diet we eat. I include coronary artery disease, which accounts for nearly half of all deaths, several of the most important forms of cancer, hypertension, diabetes and obesity as well as other chronic diseases.
It appears that the government upstaged the medical profession in publicizing this link between diet and health forcing dozens of medical and scientific associations to corroborate this link within the next five years. These medical and scientific associations included: The American Heart Association, The American Diabetes Association, The American Society of Clinical Nutrition, The United States Department of Agriculture, The American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, The National Academy of Sciences, The United States Academy of Sciences, The National Cancer Institute and The American Cancer Society. Despite the great advances that were made in this area during this period of time, advancements since have slowed to a crawl.
Dr. David Reuben, wrote in a letter to his fellow physicians published in his book, Everything You Have Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition, "There is a whole category of substances that have far more intense effect on patients than drugs. That category is food...it is becoming increasingly obvious with each successive issue of our most responsible medical journals that many of these 'sick' people are sick specifically because what they are eating or not eating." Reuben went on to add, "People of America, the greatest threat to the survival of you and your children is not some terrible nuclear weapon. It is what you are going to eat from your dinner plate tonight".
Today it is well documented that six of the ten leading causes of death are caused by improper nutrition yet
nutritionists have yet to really agree on what proper nutrition is. Nutritionists agree on the following points:
1. Nutrition is the foundation for health, without such a solid foundation, optimum health is not possible.
2. Improved diet can make significant improvements in health.
3. Human life depends upon complex biochemical processes which constantly are taking place in the body. For
these processes to continue, certain nutrients are necessary in some amounts.
This is where the agreement ends as nutritionists have also been the victims of an overwhelming amount of
commercially motivated research attempting to show that the foods they sell are essential to our health or will not
harm us. Dr. Norman Shealey, a well respected neurosurgeon, wrote in his book on self-health, "About all we do
know for certain is that foods contain fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals and that some sort of
balance of all these elements is essential for good health." This doesn't give us very much to go on except for
showing that the medical industry doesn't have a clue about proper nutrition for the human body.
The fact that good health is achievable by good nutrition is obvious. What is not so obvious is just what good nutrition is. The concept of the 'four basic food groups' that has long been promoted by industry and their lobbies has failed miserably at achieving a healthy population. In fact, it has achieved quite the opposite. The four food group eating philosophy is probably little more than an advertisement by the food industry designed to split the food market profitably among themselves. It appears that the four food group eating philosophy is not the strong foundation that promotes good health but is an invitation to disaster!
Man's health can be no better than the quality of his nourishment. People adhering more closely to their natural diet will be taking a significant step toward health.
Modern science provide many clues pointing toward our natural diet. Below we will discuss but a few of the more obvious. The most important clues come with an understanding of the functions of the various organs and systems in the human body. These functions are discussed in the next section of this manuscript.
Anthropologists claim that man began his time on earth as a forager and gatherer of foods primarily roots, fruits and vegetables. It is generally agreed that man's natural instincts played a role in selecting that type of diet. Furthermore, comparative anatomists indicate that the human body has changed little in the last three to four million years. The body is still best adapted to the same foods as were sought out by our natural instincts in the earliest of times before external factors influenced man's secondary intelligence into obtaining other types of foods.
There are other revelations provided by comparative anatomy. Comparative anatomy is the study of biological adaptations by studying the anatomy and physiology of a species and comparing to another. Carnivores, (meat eaters), omnivores (able to consume most anything) and herbivores (plant eaters) all have specific types of digestive systems designed to accommodate their natural diet. What kind of digestive system do human's have?
We certainly do not have all of these different kinds of digestive systems yet we eat the diet of a lion, elephant, cow, horse, pig and monkey. Not only do we eat all these animal's different diets, but we often do so all at the same meal!
The digestive apparatus of true carnivores is quite different from a human. Carnivores have only slightly developed incisor teeth, pointed molar teeth and jaws that move up and down. The teeth and jaw movement is designed for tearing at and consuming animal flesh. Herbivores, on the other hand, have well developed incisor teeth, blunt molar teeth and jaws that move up and down as well as from side to side. The teeth and jaw movement of herbivores has been designed to cut, chew and grind plant foods. In this respect, man most resembles an herbivore...but there is more, much more.
The stomach of carnivores and omnivores is simple and roundish and secretes hydrochloric acid twelve times more concentrated than man and other herbivores. In addition, their saliva is also very acidic. These acid secretions are necessary for the breakdown of flesh foods. The saliva of man and herbivores is alkaline and contains an enzyme called alpha-amylase. The purpose of this enzyme is to aid in the digestion of plant foods. It also aids in breaking down any foods caught in the teeth therefore keeping the teeth free of decaying food particles. As you can easily guess, carnivores do not possess this enzyme in their saliva but suprisingly, neither do omnivores.
Carnivores have an intestinal canal that is three times the length of their body allowing rapid expulsion of wastes generated by the consumption of flesh foods. The intestinal canal of man is twelve times the length of his body. The greater length of the man's intestinal tract insures that the nutrients in an herb based diet will be completely absorbed. If man consumed a flesh food, the longer intestines would virtually guarantee the absorption into his body substances that even carnivorous animals seek to eliminate from their bodies as rapidly as possible. Another difference in the intestines is that a carnivore's intestinal canal walls are smooth whereas herbivores (man included) have convoluted walls thereby allowing more surface area for nutritional absorption.
Carnivores and omnivores possess an enzyme in their bodies called uricase. Uricase is necessary for metabolizing uric acid into allantoin. Uric acid is a breakdown product of animal protein that raises havoc with our bodies because we do not have this enzyme and excrete uric acid only with great difficulty.
Flesh eaters (carnivores and omnivores) have a great capacity to eliminate large amounts of cholesterol in their diets. Cholesterol is only found in animal flesh and other animal food products. Humans and other herbivores can only process limited amounts of cholesterol in their livers. The rest is left to be deposited throughout their body tissues.
Another important distinction between humans and flesh eaters is the manner that their systems handle the minerals sodium and potassium. These minerals are extremely vital to the proper functioning of the body. They must remain in proper balance to each other for the organism to function optimally. Humans and other herbivores routinely excrete potassium through their kidneys while saving sodium. The fact that they have no means for saving potassium suggests that nature intended they have a regular intake of potassium but not sodium. Flesh foods are high in sodium but low in potassium. More in line with the human body's requirements are plant foods which are high in potassium and low in sodium. Flesh eaters, on the other hand, excrete sodium and conserve potassium.
The evidence provided by comparative anatomy is convincing that man is neither a carnivore or an omnivore. His digestive anatomy is most likened to herbivores.
Primatology is the study of primates, ie: man and the ape family. The theory of evolution claims that animals over time evolve into different animals. The newly evolved animal retains many similarities in common with its predecessor. As animals evolve, the digestive systems of the "new and improved" versions, obviously do not undergo a radical change and remain relatively similar to their predecessors.
It is readily apparent to primatologists that humans share many of the same anatomic and physiologic features as the ape family. Accordingly, their natural diets should also be similar. It is interesting to note, as primates (monkeys, apes and man) become more highly evolved, their natural diets more closely approximate that of total vegetarianism.
Finally, our country's leading authorities are finally beginning to understand that humans are biologically adapted more suitably for vegetarianism than a diet containing animal derived food products with their high content of fats and cholesterol.
"A greater use of fruits and vegetables can significantly reduce a person's risk of developing cancer". - The American Cancer Society, September 1983.
"People should consume.....less saturated fat and cholesterol....less red meat.....more complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables". - From the 1979 report of the U.S. Surgeon General, "Healthy People: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention"
"Changing the way we eat could offer some protection against cancer. The first guideline is to reduce fat. The second is to increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables." - The National Cancer Institute, September 1982
In 1982, The National Academy of Sciences issued a 472 page report, "Diet, Nutrition and Cancer", in which the general public is advised to substantially reduce consumptions of saturated fats and increase their daily intake of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. The thirteen member scientific committee suggested that diet could be responsible for a very large percentage of cancers in men and women.
Similar statements were made in connection with other diseases by the American Heart Association, The American Diabetes Association, The American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1981, a panel from the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences reported on the social impact of the change of the American people to a totally vegetarian diet. Significant beneficial effects were reported on everything from land, water, fuel and mineral use to the cost of living, unemployment and the balance of international trade. In addition, the diet would reduce coronary artery disease by 88% and cancer by 50%.
The meat and dairy industries recently effectively lobbied The Department of Agriculture thereby preventing them from publishing and promoting the New Four Food Groups. The New Four Food Groups were to be displayed in a triangular format with complex carbohydrates taking up the lower half, fruits and vegetables displayed immediately above then and the very tiny tip of the triangle was split between meat and dairy products. The triangular format was supposed to show graphically how much of each food is recommended. The 3000 member Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has asked the Department of Agriculture to drop fish, meat, poultry, eggs and milk from the recommended daily allowances.
It does not take a Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out. The evidence is so clear that man is biologically adapted to a vegetarian diet as to remove all doubt. Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras, Plutarch, Diogenes, Milton, Pope, Tolstoy, Shelley, Newton, Voltaire, Rousseau, Edison, Shaw, Shweitzer, Einstein, Hans Holzer and God are among some of the more famous who have recognized and praised the virtues of a vegetarian lifestyle.