Powered By Plants How Natural Selection Adapted Humans To A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet Don Matesz, M.A., M.S., L.Ac. INTEGRITY PRESS 2013 Powered By Plants How Natural Selection Adapted Humans To A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet Second Edition Copyright © 2013, 2016 Donald A. Matesz All rights reserved ISBN-13: 978-1494367961 ISBN-10: 1494367963 Front cover photo © Chatrawee Wiratgasem/Shutterstock License No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright holder. Contents Acknowledgements vi Note To The Reader vii Introduction viii Part I: Natural Selection & Nutrition 1 1: Human Evolution & Nutrition 3 The Stone Age Red Herring 3 Reproductive Fitness vs. Health 4 Fossil Diet Records? 4 Meat Made Us Human? 5 Going Underground 11 Control of Fire 12 Hunting a Learned Behavior 14 Accelerated Evolution 15 Summary 15 2: The Nature of Nutritional Adaptations 17 The Carnivore Ideology 18 Plants vs Animals and Plant-eaters vs Carnivores 19 Omnivore Or Not? 20 Two Kinds of Omnivores 20 Natural Selection of Nutritional Adaptations 22 Biological Versus Behavioral Adaptations 25 Primates 27 Frugivores 29 Summary 30 Part II: Human Nutritional Physiology 33 3: Sensation and Nutrition 35 Vision 36 Hearing 38 Olfaction 39 Taste 40 Fat Taste 45 The Taste For Liver 47 Behavioral Adaptations 48 Summary 48 4: Locomotion 51 Stance 51 Human Stance 52 Bipedalism Not Optimal for Hunting 53 Bipedalism Originated In Forest-Dwelling Frugivores 53 Locomotion, Speed, and Endurance 55 Energy Cost of Locomotion 56 Persistence Hunting 56 i Behavioral and Technological Circumvention of Our Locomotive Limits 64 Summary 66 5: Manual Endowments 67 Manual Dexterity and Tactile Sense 67 Hand and Brain 68 Manual Dexterity and Manufacture of Hunting Tools 69 Claws Versus Nails 71 6: Face, Mouth, and Throat 73 Facial Musculature, Jaws, and Throat 73 Teeth 74 Human Dentition In Comparison To Other Extant Apes 75 Canine Teeth 76 Dental Shearing Quotient 78 Dental Carbon Isotope Studies 82 Tropical Grasses, Tools, and Teeth 84 Megadontia Quotient 85 Another Kluge? 86 Comparative Oral Anatomy 87 A Mastication Experiment 87 Saliva 88 Salivary Proline-Rich Proteins 90 Summary 91 7: Stomach 93 Stomach Volume 93 Stomach Acidity 95 Scavenging 97 Summary 98 8: Small Intestine 99 Comparative Intestinal Length 100 Intestinal Immunity 102 The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis 103 A Plant Food Ceiling? Pandas, and Fiber in Wild Versus Cultivated Plants 105 Plant Food Ceiling Part 2: Modern Raw Dieters 113 Plant-Food Ceiling Part 3: Simian Diet Trials 119 Small Intestine Length and Obesity 121 9: Cecum and Appendix 125 The Cecum 125 The Appendix 126 Summary 127 10: Colon 129 Comparing Colons 129 Intestinal Ecology 130 Flora, Fiber, and Fats 132 Colon Health 134 Summary 135 ii 11: Reproductive System 137 Seminal Vesicles 137 Placenta 137 Morning Sickness 137 Fertility 139 Animal Flesh and Female Infertility 140 High Protein Diets Potentially Toxic To Fetus 142 Meat and Male Infertility 143 Summary 147 12: Protein Requirements 149 Natural Selection of Protein Requirements 149 Human Protein Requirements 150 Plant-Based Protein 152 Plant-Based Protein For Athletes 154 Wild Plants Could Satisfy Human Protein Needs 159 Methionine and Cystine 160 Summary 163 13: Vitamin C, Uricase, and Uric Acid 165 Gout In Traditional Meat-Based Cultures 167 Contemporary Diet-Gout Research 169 Summary 175 14: Complexion Preference 177 Complexion, Vascularization, Oxygenation, and Diet in Humans 177 Summary 179 15: Vitamins A & B-12 181 Comparing Human Carotenoid Metabolism To Flesh-Eating Animals 181 Comparing Human Retinol Metabolism To Flesh-Eating Animals 183 Human Vitamin B12 Metabolism Compared to Flesh-Eating Animals 185 Humans Absorption of Animal-Based B12 Appears Limited 186 Non-animal B12 Sources 187 Is a B12 Supplement ‘Artificial’? 190 Summary 190 16: Carbohydrate & Lipid Metabolism 191 Carbohydrate and Fat Oxidation 191 Metabolism of Saturated and Unsaturated Fats 193 Obesity and Meat-Rich Diets 197 Obesity Among Mongols and Inuit 198 Cholesterol 200 Hyperlipidemia 201 Spontaneous Atherosclerosis 203 Simian Diet Effect On Human Blood Lipids 206 Summary 207 17: Brain Size & Metabolism 209 Encephalization Quotient 209 Is Seafood Superior Brain Food? 210 iii Cerebral Neuron Count 211 The Favored Frugivores 212 The Capuchin Catch 214 Flesh Does Not Provide Ready Brain Fuel 215 Neural Fatty Acids 215 Dietary DHA Potentially Harmful to Embryos 221 Plants Provide The Only Required Omega-3 Fat 221 Brain-Specific Minerals 222 Factors Correlating With Primate Encephalization 229 Plant-based Intelligence 230 Meat-eating Mentality 234 Animal Cruelty and Social Violence 235 Animal-Based Diets and Brain Damage 236 Does Meat-Eating Make People Warlike? 240 18: Meat-Adaptive Genes? 243 ApoE3: Meat-Adaptive, or Agriculture-Adaptive? 244 CMAH and Neu5Gc Sialic Acid 250 Summary 251 19: Science or Science Fiction? 253 Moving Beyond Carnism 254 Part III: Appendices & Bibliography 257 Appendix A: Essential Nutrients 259 Appendix B: A Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet 261 Supplements 263 Appendix C: Proposed Human Ancestors 269 Was The Alleged Last Common Ancestor Chimpanzee-like? 269 Orrorin tugenensis 273 Australopithecus 275 Homo habilis and rudolfensis 279 Erectus species 282 Homo heidelbergensis 285 Neanderthals 286 Homo sapiens 287 The Limits of Archaeology 289 Appendix D: Chimpanzees 291 Quantity 291 Measuring Wild Chimpanzee Diets 292 Chimpanzee Insectivory 292 Do Chimpanzees Scavenge? 294 Chimpanzee Hunting 295 Remarkable Variations In Chimpanzee Hunting 297 Chimps Probably Do Not Hunt To Obtain Macronutrients 300 How Well Do Chimpanzees Digest Animal Flesh? 301 Bibliography 305 iv v Acknowledgements I thank the following people for helping me to complete this project. My wife, Tracy Minton, for her love, support, and considerable assistance in completion of this project, including cover design. My mentor Jim Lehrman (jimlehrman.com) for helping me to understand the way the mind gets trapped by beliefs, and the way to free oneself from the limits they impose. Milton Mills, M.D., for his lecture discussing comparative digestive anatomy and physiology, which led me on a quest for thorough documentation. John McDougall, M.D., for producing The McDougall Plan and The Starch Solution, two of the best documented books on plant-based diets and health. T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. for his books The China Study and Whole, which contributed to my wholistic understanding of nutrition research. Travis, blogger at healthylongevity.blogspot.com, for performing reviews of the manuscript and encouraging me to completion, as well as helping me obtain some of the literature I used. Plant Positive (www.plantpositive.com), for producing the very informative Primitive Nutrition video series from which I gained considerable knowledge that inspired and helped me to complete this project. Michael Greger, M.D., for providing on NutritionFacts.org many leads to research reports I found valuable in completion of this project. John D. Speth, Ph.D., for providing in his book The Paleoanthropology and Archaeology of Big-Game Hunting many leads to research I have included in this work. Daniel Choleva, for bringing to my attention to some key scientific papers I refer to in this work, particularly Katherine Milton’s papers describing the gastrointestinal tract of the spider monkey. Katherine Milton, Ph.D., for her several papers on primate evolution and diets, which I found extremely valuable for this work. Melanie Joy, Ph.D., for her identification of carnism, the ideology that states that eating animals is normal, natural, and necessary. I assume full responsibility for any errors or defects remaining in what follows. vi Note To The Reader Diet has a powerful effect on health and fitness. If you are seriously ill or on medications, consult a health care provider knowledgable about nutrition and its health effects and about your medications before you make any changes to your diet or exercise program. You remain always responsible for your choices, actions, and their consequences. This book serves as educational information only and does not substitute for the guidance of a health care professional familiar with your unique situation. Nothing herein is to be construed as a diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual’s unique physical condition. vii Introduction Before there is truth there must be a true human. Chuang Tzu My parents raised me on the typical American diet rich in red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and milk products. From an early age, they taught me to eat these foods to maintain health and strength. We have probably all heard parents uttering phrases like “If you want to grow big and strong, you have to eat your meat.” You might have said this to your own children. Using such phrases, most parents eventually overcome any natural resistance to eating flesh the child may have. Children live in complete dependence upon parents, and quickly learn what to do to receive parental approval and love and survive under their authority. When parents advise the child that dire consequences will descend upon anyone who refuses to eat flesh, the immature mind naturally associates disease and dysfunction with a flesh-free diet. Teachers in my grade school reinforced the message with class materials provided by the USDA describing the four food groups that