Why We Are Biologically Vegetarian

When you think about it, plant-based food makes the most sense for humans biologically.  Although we have made enormous technological progress over the last few millennia, our bodies have developed more slowly.

Many people will say that we are omnivores.  This is not really accurate.  If you study the digestive systems of vegetarian animal species and those of carnivorous animal species, you will see that the plant eaters have much longer digestive tracts.  This is because plant material moves very quickly so it needs to spend a bit longer inside us to enable the body to extract the maximum nutritional benefit from food.

Plant eaters also have much lower levels of hydrochloric acid in their stomachs, which makes breaking down meat very difficult.

This is not the case for carnivorous animals, however, who have much higher levels of hydrochloric acid in their stomachs, and shorter digestive tracts.  This is because meat moves far more slowly and if the digestive tracts were too long, the body would start to absorb toxins.

In addition, the digestion of meat taxes an animal's body far more heavily.  Consider the classic image of a lion lazing sleepily on the savannah after feasting on a gazelle.  It takes a lot for him to digest all that meat, and he certainly does not eat it every day.

So consider our Standard American Diet (S.A.D.).  It violates us biologically on two levels.  It ignores the fact that we have extremely long digestive tracts.  It also ignores the fact that even if we had short digestive tracts and were biologically set up for meat-eating, we should not be eating it every day.

So here we are, a bunch of biological vegetarians, cramming ourselves full of meat and dairy pretty much at every meal and short-changing ourselves on our needed vegetable  intake.

Now some would point out that eating vegetables is a much more lengthy ordeal, especially when they are raw (the best way to eat!).  To follow my reasoning, the plant eaters in nature spend almost their entire day eating.  They have all the time in the world to chew their food, effectively crushing the tough cellular membranes in the plant material and accessing the nutrition inside.

We don't have that kind of time, and even if we try to eat all the raw veggies we need, we miss half the nutrition because we don't have the time to break down the food.

Enter modern technology.  I've learned that some of the high tech blenders, like the Blendtec Hp3a, actually pulverize the food in a way that allows complete access to the nutritional benefits.

So it would seem that the modern industrial strength blender could be the solution that allows us to meet the needs of our biological design without detracting from the needs of our technological advancement.

How to Avoid Kidney Stones if You're a Vegan

Although a vegan diet is much healthier than the standard American diet (S.A.D.), there is one potential pitfall of this diet in that many of the healthiest plant-based foods contain high levels of oxalate.  Oxalate is a chemical that can be toxic when consumed in high doses.  In the majority of people, it's usually not a problem - the oxalate combines with calcium in the intestines and passes through the body mostly without being absorbed, and any oxalate that is absorbed generally passes through the urine without incident.

In a small percentage of individuals however, oxalate can bind with other substances in the body, like calcium.  This can form kidney stones which are so excruciatingly painful that medical intervention is required.  Calcium oxalate stones are the most common form of kidney stones and recent studies show a correlation between low dietary calcium and kidney stones.

Essentially, much of the calcium in plant-based foods breaks down quickly and is easily absorbed by the body.  This is wonderful for bones and teeth, but it means that there is less available calcium in the digestive tract to bind with the oxalate and prevent it from being absorbed.  Calcium in dairy does not break down so easily and therefore will bind with oxalate.  Most of the calcium in dairy passes out of the body without being absorbed, which is why studies have shown a high correlation between increased dairy consumption and osteoporosis.

Although most vegan health experts will say that over-the-counter calcium is useless because the body doesn't absorb it, the irony is that for vegans who suffer from kidney stones, this kind of calcium is exactly what they need.  Taking a calcium carbonate supplement with meals gives the oxalate something to which it can bind, allowing it to pass harmlessly out of the system.  Combining this approach with cutting down on the highest oxalate foods, should insure that kidney stones in vegans can be avoided.  Additionally eating plant-based calcium-rich foods will insure that your teeth, bones and organs get the calcium they need.

Although the list of foods containing oxalate is extremely long, some of the worst offenders include chocolate, rhubarb, spinach, Swiss chard, beets and almonds.