Transcription
Everyone says humans are omnivores, but what if that's well wrong? Now, yes, humans can eat both plants and meat. Obviously, no one is debating that. The real question is, however, what is the ideal human diet? What does your body actually run best on? And when you look at the hard evidence, not opinions, not guidelines, and certainly not trends, the answer is not what we've been told.
There are three major reasons why the term omnivore is very wrong for humans. So today we are going to break down the three biological reasons that we know humans are not omnivores and instead are actually carnivores.
The first reason comes down to a biological concept that determines whether a species thrives or gets sick. It is called the concept of a species appropriate diet. This concept is supported by hundreds of studies and it's very straightforward. When an animal eats the foods it is always eaten throughout its evolution, it stays very healthy. This is why wild animals show close to zero disease. But when a species diverts from what it has always eaten and consumes something it's not biologically adapted to, it becomes very sick. When wolves, lions, eagles, all animals are left in the wild and they eat what they've always eaten, they are incredibly healthy. But with humans and our pets, we have by far the most disease of any species on the planet. Cancer, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune conditions, these are almost non-existent in wild animals.
So this leads to a very critical question. What have humans eaten for most of our existence? For this, we must turn to our fossil records. And what we find here is very interesting. Every ancient human fossil found before we start agriculture 10,000 years ago has an extremely high marker called nitrogen 15. Let me explain how this works because it's very fascinating. Nitrogen 15 levels, commonly referred to as N15 levels, increase the higher you move up the food chain. Plants have the lowest levels. Herbivores that eat these plants have more. Omnivores that eat plants and these herbivores have even more. And top predators, they have the highest. So where do humans fall? Humans actually have the highest nitrogen 15 ratings ever recorded. Higher than lions, wolves, tigers, you name it.
And this isn't the only method that tells us this. Scientists have developed a completely independent technique using zinc isotopes. When you measure zinc 66 values in bones, lower readings indicate more meat consumption. And in our ancient fossils, they also show carnivore level readings. These are two completely unrelated chemical techniques that both show the same conclusion. But it gets even more direct than this. Scientists have also analyzed dental calculus. This is fossilized plaque on ancient teeth. Using this, they can actually identify food particles trapped in teeth. And have a guess what they find. Primarily animal protein residues. The archaeological evidence goes even further. Every continent humans migrated to, large animals went extinct shortly after. We were very effective predators. Ancient tool sites show butchery implements vastly outnumbering plant processing tools.
So that's the first reason we know humans aren't omnivores. Our fossil record analyzed through multiple different independent scientific methods shows we ate almost exclusively meat for almost all of our existence.
But this leads to another question. Sure, we may have only eaten close to exclusively meat, but why would fruits and vegetables be bad for us?
The second reason is something most people have never thought about. You see, plants, like us, are living organisms, and every living organism has two primary objectives: to survive and reproduce. In order to achieve these objectives, all living organisms need a way to defend themselves. If they do not have sufficient defensive capability, they get eaten, they die, and they don't reproduce. Animals are able to defend themselves using physical capabilities. They use methods like kicking, biting, or running away. But plants, they're stationary. They can't run. They can't fight back physically. So, how do they defend themselves? They defend themselves through something called chemical warfare. This is the use of chemical weapons, or in the case of plants, natural toxins that harm, deter, or even kill predators when consumed. This is why in every single plant, including fruits and vegetables, there are thousands of these toxic compounds. Let me repeat that. Thousands. If a plant didn't have these defense mechanisms, it would simply be eaten off by another organism and therefore die off. But meat is completely different because animals can defend themselves using their physical capabilities. There are none of these toxic defense compounds in their flesh.
Now, you might be thinking, okay, yes, there are toxins in these plants, but surely our bodies can handle them, right? Well, let's take a good look at the evidence. We know plants produce measurable, scientifically documented defense compounds. These are actual toxins designed to harm anything that tries to eat them. Oxalates are found in spinach, almonds, and sweet potatoes. How they work is they bind to calcium and form crystals. The outcome of this is kidney stones and calcium depletion. In fact, oxalates are responsible for over 90% of kidney stones. Then there are lectins found in grains, legumes, and nightshades. These damage the intestinal lining. Clinical studies show they increase gut permeability, which means they literally poke holes in your gut wall, which then allows for harmful compounds to sneak through. There's also phitates which are found in seeds, nuts, and grains. Controlled studies show they heavily impact zinc and iron absorption and potentially interfere with hormones. Glycoloids are found in potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers. These are neurotoxic at measurable thresholds. This is why green potatoes are literally poisonous and you can die from them. Then there's my favorite. Yes, I have a favorite plant defense compound. Bit sad really, but anyway. Cyanogenic glycoides. These are found in things like cassava, lima beans, and even almonds. How they work is they release hydrogen cyanide when chewed. This is actually lethal without proper processing and cyanide has been used by assassins throughout history.
Like I mentioned earlier in the video, when a species eats a certain food for a very long time, they become biologically adapted to that food. This is clearly seen in cows with their complex ruminant digestive system designed for fermenting and breaking down plants and in gorillas with their massive intestines also designed for large scale fermentation. But us humans, because we have eaten very few plants throughout our entire history, we quite literally do not have a single adaptation that does this to any significant degree. Now, for quite some time now, I've been talking to a camera and posting these videos all over the internet. And during that time, I have asked people to show me a single adaptation that humans have which allows us to effectively neutralize these plant defense compounds. To this day, not a single person has been able to name one. And here's another critical point. We cannot digest fiber aka cellulose. Now, herbivores can extract at least 30 to 50% of the energy from fiber as they're able to ferment it in their specialized digestive systems. They actually turn this into short-chain fatty acids, which counts as 2 calories per gram. Us humans, on the other hand, you and I, well, we can only extract 5 to 10% of the energy from fiber. This is why technically speaking, fiber counts as zero calories. Our colon, it simply lacks the ability. Even when it comes to protein, plant proteins are measurably inferior. Scientists use something called d scores to measure how well protein is actually absorbed. Animal proteins score very high, 100 or higher. But plant proteins, well, they all score very low. This lack of processing ability for plant toxins, fiber, and protein shows we are not biologically adapted to consume plants. Looking at our gut structure also confirms this. The human colon is only 20% of our digestive tract. In true herbivores and even omnivores, it's typically well over 50%.
But perhaps the most damning evidence of all comes from looking at when humans first started to eat plants and what it did to our health. Up until 10 to 12,000 years ago, the Earth was locked in an ice age. Most of the planet was either entirely covered or heavily impacted by ice and icy conditions. Because of this, as you can imagine, it was very difficult to grow crops. Wild plants were mostly covered by ice, and if available at all, were only very seasonal, typically for 1 to 4 weeks per year. This is why us humans became the ultimate hunters. We were the apex predators eating large animals. But around 10 to 12,000 years ago, the temperature of the earth rose sharply and the ice, well, it melted. Many of these large animals actually went extinct. This was likely a combination of the climate change and human over hunting. As a result, our main food source, well, it was completely gone. Luckily, the melting of this ice allowed us access to fertile soil that could actually grow plants. This right here was the beginning of agriculture, commonly known as the agricultural revolution. Almost immediately after this revolution, the human body began to deteriorate very rapidly. Our fossil record shows this clearly. The average height dropped by around 3 in in both men and women. Not only this, but skeletons pre-aggriculture are virtually free from lesions and markings. Legions and markings indicate infection and disease. On our cannivorous diets, us humans were very healthy. There's very few of these lesions and markings. But in all postaggricultural fossils, many lesions and bone markings are heavily present. Our dental health also collapsed. Before agriculture, humans had straight, strong teeth with almost no decay. After the switch to crops, the very structure of our skulls also changed. We began to develop much weaker jaws and narrower faces. As a species, we went from giga chads to soy latte enjoyers. But perhaps the most striking change of all, our brains, they shrunk. Since the beginning of agriculture, the average human brain size has decreased by roughly 11%. This is likely because the key nutrients that build and maintain brain tissue, such as vitamin B12, DHA, carnotine, and choline, all come from animal foods. Through agriculture, we solved our food supply issue by creating much larger and less bitter plants than what was available in nature. But we traded our strength, our stature, our health, and even our intelligence for it. Within just a few thousand years, humans went from tall, robust apex predators to shorter, weaker, and as a species, far less healthy. The critical point here is that our physiology has not had the chance to adapt. As I stated, we essentially have zero mechanisms that can effectively neutralize these plant defense compounds. This makes the toxins in these plants problematic for us.
So, that's the second reason we aren't omnivores. We have not biologically adapted to plants. And therefore, plant toxins and the compounds they contain cause us harm in measurable, scientifically documented ways.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself, okay, but if plants are problematic, where do we get all of our nutrients from? Well, that brings us to our third reason.
The final reason why we know that humans aren't omnivores is perhaps the most compelling. When you actually analyze the nutrient content and bioavailability of these nutrients in meat versus plants, the comparison, it's not close. It's also not just about having the nutrients present. It's actually about whether or not your body can actually absorb and use them. This right here is called bioavailability. Hem iron from meat has 15 to 35% absorption rate. But non-heem iron from plants only 2 to 10%. Vitamin A from retinino and meats is directly usable by your body. Whereas betaarotene the vitamin A precursor found in plants requires conversion and only 3 to 6% of people can actually do this effectively.
Then there are meat exclusive nutrients. Nutrients that don't exist in plants. For example, vitamin B12. This is only found in animal products. There is zero vitamin B12 in all plants. Vitamin B12 is essential for making DNA, producing healthy red blood cells that carry oxygen, and even for maintaining the nervous system. Carnosine is also only in meat. It's a powerful antioxidant that protects aging. Torine is critical for heart and brain function. Again, found in meat, but virtually absent in plants. DHA and EPA are omega-3 fatty acids crucial for brain health. In fact, 20% of our brain is made from these. Fish and meat provide them directly, whereas plants only provide ALA, which your body then must convert to DHA and EPA. But this conversion is extremely inefficient. Typically, it's less than 5%. The lack of nutrients found in plants is what I attribute to this brain shrinkage we have seen across the entire human population since we start agriculture. These nutrients are quite literally the building blocks of our brain. So, when we eat foods that contain a lot less of these nutrients, it's a lot harder for our brains to develop. This is also why every long-term plant-based population requires supplementation. Meat-based populations have never needed this.
Beef contains every single nutrient that you need to survive and thrive in one single food. There is not a single plant on the planet that comes even close to this level of nutrition in a single food. Now, a lot of people say, well, meat doesn't contain enough vitamin C and that you'll get scurvy on a carnivore diet. This right here is completely false. The reason for this is simple. Glucose, aka sugar, and vitamin C have very similar chemical structures. Because of this, they are both absorbed by the same receptor sites, specifically the glute 4 receptors. But when you eat a low carbohydrate meat-based diet, you need far less vitamin C because there's not excessive amounts of glucose in your body that affect its absorption. Meat contains more than enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy. And if you don't believe me, there's a lot of proof. Not a single person has gone on the carnivore diet and gotten scurvy. There is not one documented case. In fact, not only do long-term carnivores not get scurvy, but their blood work also shows that they have perfect vitamin C levels.
So, that's the third reason we know we aren't omnivores. We can get everything we need from meat alone. It provides complete nutrition with superior bioavailability and zero anti-nutrients.
Now, if you're curious as to how exactly you should do the carnivore diet, then you will find this video right here interesting. It's the most popular video I've ever made, and in it, I break down exactly what to do and what not to do on a carnivore diet. Anyway, as always, great speaking with you and I'll see you next.