What are we? And what/how are we to eat for optimal health that will contribute toward a long, healthy, disease-free life?
These days, there are many people, fancy foodies, who call themselves health coaches, who will attempt to tell you and sell you on the idea that there is a specific way that humans are supposed to eat based upon design. That we were designed to be herbivores, frugivores, carnivores, etc. And even a more recent one I learned of, called an unspecialized frugivore. An unspecialized frugivore is a generalist that eats fruit as a significant part of its diet but lacks exclusive adaptations. Unlike specialized frugivores, which have evolved unique physical characteristics and behaviors to consume a narrow range of fruits, unspecialized frugivores have a broader diet that can include other food sources like leaves, insects, or small animals, and they can thrive even when fruits are scarce. In other words, humans are omnivores.
Strangely, not many of these health coaches want to entertain the idea of generalization, likely because it is not fantastic enough to draw attention. They base their argument on the idea that we were designed to eat a certain way, and that assumption is their first mistake that leads them to an erroneous conclusion.
You see, our anatomy and physiology don’t reveal a predetermined design for eating a certain way; instead, they reflect how we’ve historically eaten and how our bodies have adapted to ever-changing food availability across millennia. The human hominid frankly ate whatever was available wherever they lived. Everything from juicy fruits and melons in good times when in season, to radishes, rats, and sometimes roadkill when necessary. They were less picky than we are today, and our anatomy and physiology demonstrate this.
These days, thanks to modern technology, we get to appreciate foods that even my grandparents, in their childhood, weren’t afforded. We are that close to a world of want. Today, not so much. Most humans, for lack of want, can eat however they like. Like the royalty of relatively recent times. Now we need to exercise modesty, which will be discussed later. For now, be thankful that you live in the times you do, and I pray you make good decisions, because all decisions have consequences. Some are more favorable than others.