YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT?

I have an interesting test when a debate comes up about what would be good for the health of mankind. I call it the cave test. How would the theory work back in the days of the caveman? I got in trouble with an instructor once in a psychology course by using that test. He was passionate about the care and feeding of mongoloids. He spent much of his time among people with Down syndrome. I asked him, from a scientific viewpoint, how he thought those people would fare in the days of the caveman. Not too well, he had to admit. I made a point and an enemy. I am not a people person, I am a mankind person.

There was an interesting discussion on The Dilbert Blog the other day. Scott Adams, the author, is a vegetarian. Here is some of what he wrote:

Some people who commented went so far as to assert that we NEED meat in our diets to be healthy. This is a popular view among meat-eaters.

Vegetarians believe that there is no science to support the belief that we NEED meat (not counting the B12 and Omega-3 supplements). And not counting any studies that were funded by the meat industry.

So let’s throw down.

Meat eaters, show me the links to studies supporting the view that eating meat in moderation is healthier than eating no meat.

Vegetarians, show us your links proving that a proper vegetarian diet is the healthiest.

I don’t like to post comment on his blog, it would be lost among the 300 other comments. I have too much regard for my comments, rightly or wrongly, to have them adrift among all those others. Besides, I have too much to say.

First of all, to challenge on the basis of studies is ludicrous. I am in the Woody Allen school on that one. He once went into the future (in one of his movies) and discovered that junk food had been found to be the most healthy. New studies come out every day. Once when I made dentist visits only months apart, they had changed the recommended stroke in brushing teeth. This at the latter part of the twentieth century when people, I suppose, had been brushing for centuries.

My opinion on things like this is to stick with what got us here. Man has been on earth for a couple of hundred thousand years. Would we have survived if we had been vegans? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Would an individual vegan have survived? A scene in the cave comes to mind.

“Sorry Bruce, We couldn’t find any fruits or berries. All we got was this 200 pound deer.”

“But I wanted nuts. You couldn’t find any nuts?”

“Sorry buddy, I guess you’ll just have to go hungry.”

“I guess so.”

No, I don’t think so. Vegetarians didn’t get us here so why should that suddenly be the best thing for us?