Re #vegan v #carnivore debate, the following article clinches it. As we have neither multi-chambered stomachs nor enlarged cecums, we can’t convert cellulose into scfa. While we can consume some plants, we can’t digest them well: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3280141/
If it weren’t for laboratories to extract protein from low-quality forage, humans couldn’t survive long on plants. Without b12 supplements, omega3 supplements from algae, and other highly processed products, #vegans would die quickly.
To attain adequate fat, #vegans rely on foods foreign to our ice age ancestors: avocados, coconuts, etc. They must eat huge varieties of exotic plants just to get enough nutrients, which must be imported, using fossil fuel, from around the world.
Whereas to get adequate fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals all I need to do is make friends with a local farmer. A trip to Amish country (plus some fishing), could give me the best possible nutrition even if our entire transportation infrastructure were destroyed.
When you walk through the woods in the NE US, what sources of food exist? Are there enough nuts, year-round, to sustain you, or do animals get them first? Would you be able to get enough calories from dandelion or nettle before the tannins & oxalates poisoned you?
Of course not. But you could get enough fat & protein from small eggs & grubs to stave off starvation until you figured out how to fashion slings for small prey or perfect hillbilly hand fishing in a creek.The eggs, fish and insects you ate could be eaten raw if you need time to learn to build a fire. Perhaps you’d get a parasite from a catfish, but it likely wouldn’t kill you. 93 % of plants are inedible or very poisonous, while almost all animal parts/products are safe.