At 18:52 -0800 3/03/03, Elizabeth L. Bess wrote:
>Hey,
>Lurker alert! I ran into a vegetarian last night who was especially
>dogmatic about the whole "humans have the digestive systems of
>herbivores..." thing. He went into the whole thing about how long it
>takes meat to digest and how short carnivore stomachs are and such
>and I drew a complete blank and couldn't think of a thing to say
>about that particular point. Brainfreeze!
>
>So, I thought I'd ask you guys to respond so that I can get my facts
>straight next time I'm faced with a rabid rabbit food eater who
>wants to get me on the meatless straight and narrow!
>
>Beth (who is looking for research references and authors and such)

He's just plain wrong. I was just rereading Neanderthin, and Ray
talks about comparative digestive anatomy. We don't at all have
herbivore stomachs; we barely have omnivore stomachs. We have the
shortest lower intestine of all primates, and no means to digest the
high fiber content of naturally occurring vegetation. We have even
less means to digest the concentrated artificial carbohydrates man
has invented, which seem to make up most of the diet of the
vegetarians I've known.

They drive me nuts too. There's nothing defensible about their position.

ginny
--

All stunts performed without a net!