Current Plant Based Diets Do Not Contain Sufficient Variety

[dbussone]

Little to No Variety in Modern Food Plants

The reality is that the world today depends on a variety of only 150 food plants. Twenty of these account for 90% of our food. And, of these twenty, only three account for half! What are the Big Three? Rice, corn, and wheat – difficult to digest, grain based carbs that ninety percent of the people who ever lived never even ate!
Considering that there are between 30,000-80,000 edible plants in the world and that traditional cultures such as the American Indian regularly consumed about 1,100 of these, it seems virtually impossible that a “plant based diet” of today would contain enough variety to ensure health. Surely, a modern “plant based diet” could only lead to nutritional deficiencies and ill health in the long run given these statistics.
Despite the American Indian’s consumption of a wide variety of nutritious food plants from soil that was arguably much richer and more fertile than the monocrop farms of today, guess what? They still ate meat!
What about the hunter-gatherers? They sampled between 3,000 and 5,000 plants and still consumed animal foods as well.

[Villages PL]

Little to No Variety in Modern Food Plants

The reality is that the world today depends on a variety of only 150 food plants.

And it's getting worse day by day because of America's love affair with animal protein.

http://alaskaveg.org/NutritionNuggets/ProteinAnimalvsPlant_Nov2010.pdf

[dbussone]

And it's getting worse day by day because of America's love affair with animal protein.

http://alaskaveg.org/NutritionNuggets/ProteinAnimalvsPlant_Nov2010.pdf

Protein may have been "recognized" in 1839, but it was "discovered" and utilized by early man and the hunter/gatherer societies that followed to present mankind. Your article implies that humans have become meat eaters only recently - which overlooks the entire prior history of man. When the basis of an article is flawed I can only conclude that the supposition is also flawed.

Maybe Darwin's theory of natural selection is at work here. Man, when possible, appears to be choosing a diet with animal protein over a vegan existence. Good for Darwin. He got it right.

[jimbo2012]

:popcorn:.......:read:

[CFrance]

Protein may have been "recognized" in 1839, but it was "discovered" and utilized by early man and the hunter/gatherer societies that followed to present mankind. Your article implies that humans have become meat eaters only recently - which overlooks the entire prior history of man. When the basis of an article is flawed I can only conclude that the supposition is also flawed.

Maybe Darwin's theory of natural selection is at work here. Man, when possible, appears to be choosing a diet with animal protein over a vegan existence. Good for Darwin. He got it right.

Doesn't eating meat go back even farther than the discovery of fire? That discovery was 3.4 million years ago in the Stone Age. "Early meat eater human ancestors thrived while vegetarian hominin died out."

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/early-meat-eating-human-ancestors-thrived-while-vegetarian-hominin-died-out/

[DougB]

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

[dbussone]

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?


Not only is this funny, it's also a head scratcher. Kinda like the chicken and the egg. Would animals eat vegan crackers?

[Jayhawk]

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

And Beefsteak tomatoes? Or Kidney beans? Or Chick peas? Or Elephant garlic?

[DougB]

:popcorn:.......:read:

You make some good points, Jimbo.

[Bonanza]

And Beefsteak tomatoes? Or Kidney beans? Or Chick peas? Or Elephant garlic?

Absolutely! As you mentioned, we must have variety. And remember -- man cannot live by bread alone.

[jimbo2012]

man can live by plants alone! :1rotfl:

No need to slaughter 7,000 animals in your lifetime

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Little to No Variety in Modern Food Plants

The reality is that the world today depends on a variety of only 150 food plants. Twenty of these account for 90% of our food. And, of these twenty, only three account for half! What are the Big Three? Rice, corn, and wheat – difficult to digest, grain based carbs that ninety percent of the people who ever lived never even ate!
Considering that there are between 30,000-80,000 edible plants in the world and that traditional cultures such as the American Indian regularly consumed about 1,100 of these, it seems virtually impossible that a “plant based diet” of today would contain enough variety to ensure health. Surely, a modern “plant based diet” could only lead to nutritional deficiencies and ill health in the long run given these statistics.
Despite the American Indian’s consumption of a wide variety of nutritious food plants from soil that was arguably much richer and more fertile than the monocrop farms of today, guess what? They still ate meat!
What about the hunter-gatherers? They sampled between 3,000 and 5,000 plants and still consumed animal foods as well.

What's interesting is that the rice, corn and wheat of today bears little resemblance to the same plants of a thousand years ago. So many strains have been crossbred and do not have the same nutritional value.

The other thing to note s that our ancestors did not have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. They really only had then for a few weeks, maybe a few months of the year. When the plants ripened on the vine, they were eaten. In most parts of the world, that was only weeks and months.

Meat was available year round. It wasn't until about 300 years ago that we discovered ways of preserving fruits and vegetables.

[graciegirl]

And it's getting worse day by day because of America's love affair with animal protein.

http://alaskaveg.org/NutritionNuggets/ProteinAnimalvsPlant_Nov2010.pdf


New studies and new thoughts from valid source;

Your Diet and Heart Disease: Rethinking Butter, Beef and Bacon (http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/05/your-diet-and-heart-disease-rethinking-butter-beef-and-bacon/?utm_campaign=cc+posts&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=150517+buter+beef+bacon&dynid=facebook-_-cc+posts-_-social-_-social-_-150517+buter+beef+bacon)

[jimbo2012]

Gracie, U try to google articles to justify your bad choice of food.

Who are U really fooling?

[graciegirl]

Gracie, U try to google articles to justify your bad choice of food.

Who are U really fooling?

Certainly not you.

[KayakerNC]

Gracie, U try to google articles to justify your bad choice of food.

Who are U really fooling?

So Gracie's food choices are bad?
Sounds a tad self-righteous and condescending.

[jimbo2012]

U usually miss interpret my posts, if it was Gracie would say so.

PS it's not

[Barefoot]

New studies and new thoughts from valid source;

Your Diet and Heart Disease: Rethinking Butter, Beef and Bacon (http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/05/your-diet-and-heart-disease-rethinking-butter-beef-and-bacon/?utm_campaign=cc+posts&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=150517+buter+beef+bacon&dynid=facebook-_-cc+posts-_-social-_-social-_-150517+buter+beef+bacon)

In the referenced article, Dr. Nissan recommends moderation, not a surprise!
As many have previously posted, moderation is key. :boxing2:

[dbussone]

What's interesting is that the rice, corn and wheat of today bears little resemblance to the same plants of a thousand years ago. So many strains have been crossbred and do not have the same nutritional value.

The other thing to note s that our ancestors did not have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. They really only had then for a few weeks, maybe a few months of the year. When the plants ripened on the vine, they were eaten. In most parts of the world, that was only weeks and months.

Meat was available year round. It wasn't until about 300 years ago that we discovered ways of preserving fruits and vegetables.

Doc - your points are spot on. Even though the number of plants being eaten has been reduced, they are not the same as those from hundreds/thousands years ago. Corn previously grown in North America no longer resembles what we eat today.

[CFrance]

What's interesting is that the rice, corn and wheat of today bears little resemblance to the same plants of a thousand years ago. So many strains have been crossbred and do not have the same nutritional value.

The other thing to note s that our ancestors did not have fresh fruits and vegetables year round. They really only had then for a few weeks, maybe a few months of the year. When the plants ripened on the vine, they were eaten. In most parts of the world, that was only weeks and months.

Meat was available year round. It wasn't until about 300 years ago that we discovered ways of preserving fruits and vegetables.
That's for sure: