For me, ethics is not a motive when considering the proposal for modern human culture to take large steps towards veganism. My motive is that I believe human beings identify as herbivores through our “biology & physiology alone”; regardless of how we identify through “our behavior”. Certainly most of us behave as this strange type of omnivore that habitually cooks meat, demestocates cows for dairy, etc. However my personal examination of the scientific consensus imparts to me that we are biologically & physiologically designed to be herbivores; and that we have proven consistently throughout history to thrive in the highest degrees of prosperity by relying on starch(i.e. Rice, corn, potatoes, beans, peas, lentils, bread, pasta, etc.) as our main source of calories. The Inca on potatoes, and later quinoa. The Aztec, Mayans, and Native American tribes on Corn(Maize). The ancient Greeks on wheat, Middle-east on bread, Asian Empires all built on rice. Meat and dairy were never ”staple foods” in these civilizations, they were delicacies reserved for ”feast and famine”; surrounded by ritual, celebration, and sacrifice, thus perhaps making hunting and slaughter more worthy of artistic representation via cave paintings. Archeological examinations of numerous sites however reveal that the amount of animal skeletons in comparison with the human skeletons of the sites populous, show that these cultures feasted on animals only a few times per year. Hair, bone, and tooth analysis all show that they ate mostly starch.
Compare the lifespans, cultural security, and athletic achievements of the ”Masai” and their respective autopsies; to the ”Kenyans” and the ”Tarahumara”.
Compare the 6-16 copies of AMY1A in our genome to the 1-2 genes each for lipase and pepsin. AMY1A is the gene for producing the enzyme ”amylase” which breaks down starch in the human gut, while enzymes lipase and pepsin break down fats and proteins respectively. To me, this directly suggests that we are genetically prep’d for a ”high-starch, low-fat, low-protein diet.”
Looking at the physiology of our digestive system reveals that us humans share a ”sacculated colon” with all herbivores, rather than the smooth short digestive tracts of omnivores such as dogs, bears, etc.
Even looking at the effect of large scale industrialized animal agriculture that first spawned in the 1940’s & 50’s, which proves destructive and hazardous to the wellbeing of our current civilization type; a move torwads veganism would still predicate desire for ”self-preservation” before it would a prideful mechanism to practice ”ethics”. Such large scale industrialized animal agriculture very well might contribute to 50% or more of GHG emissions, and be the #1 consumer of both fresh water, grain, grassland, forest, and topsoil(which is replenished 1 inch per 1 thousand years).
Now I will start on my bibliography for these statements. This is not college, and my primary motive behind this monologue was merely to entertain myself through writing and submitting a self appealing essay to trigger a megear secretion of dopamine.
Archeological, bone, dental, and hair analytics:
(https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tpNZAYBXNEMZDm1i7Er9CPth_nCJNiDHMTNflFHSiV303UHU2YN7Jy3NgTO4dAxiQ0qRDQbsO-oTKSc3)
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163920/#!po=4.08805)
Anthropology, health and athletic analysis of Masai and Inuit compared to Tarahumara, and Kenyans:
-(https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/95/1/26/167903)
-(https://nutritionstudies.org/masai-and-inuit-high-protein-diets-a-closer-look/)
-(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajhb.22239)
-(https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/food-and-macronutrient-intake-of-male-adolescent-kalenjin-runners-in-kenya/52555A7D4BCBBFEA54F5AED2B37E1D87)
Genome, and DNA analytics:
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2377015/)
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5112570/)
(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/star.201000150)
GHG emissions:-(http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf)
Freshwater consumption of modern industrialized animal agriculture: -(http://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Mekonnen-Hoekstra-2012-WaterFootprintFarmAnimalProducts.pdf)
-(https://water.usgs.gov/edu/wulv.html)
Grain, famine, deforestation, and overgrazing.
-(http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat)
-(http://ipidumn.pbworks.com/f/DietMatters.pdf)
Digestive tract anotomy and analyses:
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4458075/#!po=0.866337)
(https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Christensen6/publication/260083597_Christensen_J_Motility_of_the_Colon_In_Physiology_of_the_Gastrointestinal_Tract_Johnson_Christensen_Alpers_Jacobsen_and_Walsh_eds_3rd_Ed_Raven_Press_New_York_Chapter_24_pp_991-1024_1994/links/546e49ca0cf29806ec2eb03d/Christensen-J-Motility-of-the-Colon-In-Physiology-of-the-Gastrointestinal-Tract-Johnson-Christensen-Alpers-Jacobsen-and-Walsh-eds-3rd-Ed-Raven-Press-New-York-Chapter-24-pp-991-1024-1994.pdf)
