Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - The real human diet is a totally carnivorous one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theBear

... If we began and remained herbivorous (which we did not- earliest primates were insectivores), we would be about as intelligent as the other animals which eat plants, like cattle and sheep. The development and maintenance of a large brain and high intelligence, is a very energy intensive undertaking- and is unlikely ever to occur in a herbivore who lives on very low quality, high mass foods- and none have.

Just one data point, gorillas are almost completely vegetarian, and orangutans eat mainly fruit, with bark, and leaves making up most of the difference during non-fuiting periods. They eat a very small amount of insects, but that is a small percentage of their diet.

This says nothing about what humans should eat, but just to point out that there are other large, related primates who are pretty much completely vegetarian. The primates who are closer to us genetically, chimps and bonobos are most definitely omnivorous. That last link is a very interesting article on chimp predatory behavior and possible relations to our distant ancestors' hunting behaviors.

Plane