Is Veganism the path to a healthy body? 

Natural selection is the process by which our genes have been pruned by our environment. Our genes retains that which is most conducive to our immediate survival and reproduction. Each one of our ancestors were a lab rat upon which our genes refined itself. Our bodies are a result of a very slow, painful and costly processes.

About 2.5 million years ago we most likely evolved from a quadrupled ape like animal to an upright bipedal genus homo. Most anthropologist hypothesize and generally accept that we predominately evolved to walk on two feet to hunt and gather food more efficiently and also to conserve as much energy as possible. Our sole purpose as an animal was to survive long enough to reproduce.

When survival is our highest priority. In the economy of energy any effort is an expense. Thus our strategy was to consume as much food as possible with minimum risk and effort. Our ancestors spent most of their existence as hunter and gathers. Anything we could extract calories from needed to be fully exploited. It was a necessity for us to evolve to consume nutrients from as many sources as possible. Our body is still an OMNIVORE APE. An ape that eats a variety of food from both plant and animal kingdom.

Early human survived mostly by foraging for roots, tubers, fruits, berries, nuts, honey, insects, meat and bone marrow from left over carcass. Our ancestors seldomly hunt as it was a very effortful endeavor with a tiny probability of a kill, as they lacked the appropriate weapons and natural prowess. They were more like scavengers and far less like hunters.

Our closest living relatives the chimpanzees who share 98% of our genes are omnivores they are predominately vegetarian and get less than 10% of their food by hunting small animals like monkeys, birds and insects.

In the light of evolution and my current understanding of nutrition and the human body, I can conclude that Veganism is not an ideal path to a healthy body.

While I am quite comfortable recommending majority of our calories from plant sources and an essential but minority from animal sources, stressing heavily upon the diversity of food sources as a reliable path to a healthy body for most people.

One powerful rule of thumb to better guide you on this journey. “The older the food history the more likelier it’s healthy for you”.