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This just isn't the case these days. Who cares about 'tribes'? We understand nutrition, we have access to a complete and vast range of fruits, vegetables, grai

This just isn't the case these days. Who cares about 'tribes'? We understand nutrition, we have access to a complete and vast range of fruits, vegetables, grains and processed foods year long, unlike any other group of humans in history. Take a vitamin for b12 and there is NOTHING a vegan/vegetarian diet does not provide. It is vastly healthier than the average person's diet, really.

Evgeny 16y ago
We understand nutrition No, we can not say that. Nutritionists can not even decide on the reasons for the obesity - some say people just eat too much and exercise too little (aka "calories in, calories out"), others point to more complex reasons. Not to speak about more complex issues. It is vastly healthier than the average person's diet, really To that I agree. But "better than X" still does not mean optimal.
- code_duck 16y ago
  Of course, but we have a much clearer idea of what sustains health than ancient civilizations. I agree, a variety is your best bet. But if better than X is not optimal, where X is the standard diet and the varied vegetarian diet is the alternative - what's the other option?
  - Evgeny 16y ago
    Of course, but we have a much clearer idea of what sustains health than ancient civilizations. I'm not so sure about that. I usually offer two of my favourite links that describe well how the human health deteriorated when agriculture became widely adopted. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology-at-origins-of.html http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology... http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/mistake_jared_diamond.pdf http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/m... I think that paleolithic diet is more natural - one can eat pretty much all fruits and vegetable but does not have to avoid animal products. The idea is to avoid 'neolithic' foods - those that came into human diet less than 10-20K years ago: processed foods, sugars, grains etc.

Evgeny 16y ago

We understand nutrition No, we can not say that. Nutritionists can not even decide on the reasons for the obesity - some say people just eat too much and exercise too little (aka "calories in, calories out"), others point to more complex reasons. Not to speak about more complex issues. It is vastly healthier than the average person's diet, really To that I agree. But "better than X" still does not mean optimal.

code_duck 16y ago
Of course, but we have a much clearer idea of what sustains health than ancient civilizations. I agree, a variety is your best bet. But if better than X is not optimal, where X is the standard diet and the varied vegetarian diet is the alternative - what's the other option?
- Evgeny 16y ago
  Of course, but we have a much clearer idea of what sustains health than ancient civilizations. I'm not so sure about that. I usually offer two of my favourite links that describe well how the human health deteriorated when agriculture became widely adopted. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology-at-origins-of.html http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology... http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/mistake_jared_diamond.pdf http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/m... I think that paleolithic diet is more natural - one can eat pretty much all fruits and vegetable but does not have to avoid animal products. The idea is to avoid 'neolithic' foods - those that came into human diet less than 10-20K years ago: processed foods, sugars, grains etc.