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Meat is necessary for the normal development of the brain
Hello, readers of the blog Pump your brain.
In this article, I want to return to the issue of nutrition.
Today we will look at the usefulness of meat for brain development.
It is possible that I will hear a lot of fu in my address, but let's not rush to conclusions, but let's reason logically.
Vegetarian and raw diets can be beneficial for human health.
In any case, it is much better than the so called fast food.
However, it is not very appropriate to call these types of diets "natural" in the context of human evolution.
This is the conclusion reached by two recent independent studies.
The consumption of meat and cooked food made us human, allowing the brain of our prehistoric ancestors to develop dramatically over a period of several million years.
Despite the fact that this is not the first such statement by archaeologists and evolutionary biologists, new research proves that from a biological point of view, the development of such a large brain on raw and vegetarian food seems too improbable.
Meat consumption became a crucial component of human evolution at least a million years ago, at the very dawn of mankind At the heart of this study is the understanding that the brain of modern humans uses 20% of the body's energy, which is twice as much as in humanoid monkeys.
Meat and cooked food were needed in order to supply the growing brain with the necessary calories.
One of the studies published in the journal "Activities of the National Academy of Sciences" examines the brain size of several primates.
For the most part, the fact that a larger body has a larger brain was confirmed.
However, the human brain is exceptionally large and rich in neurons, as for the size of our body.
A gorilla is three times more massive than a human, but its brain is smaller (albeit not much), and the number of neurons is three times less than a human The answer lies in the gorillas ' consumption of raw and vegetable food (devoid of animal proteins).
These primates must eat for hours to get enough calories to maintain their weight.
Researchers from Brazil, led by Susanna Herculano Huzel, a neurologist from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, calculated that the intake of calories in the primate brain occurs in the proportion of six calories per billion neurons.
In order for a gorilla to develop a brain like a human, it will need another 733 calories a day, and this is an additional two hours of feeding.
Gorillas spend 8 hours out of 12 possible for food consumption in daylight in the tropical zone.
Similarly, an ancient person who took only raw vegetable food would have needed 9 hours every day to get the necessary amount of calories.
Cooking makes many foods edible, frees up much more nutrients and calories found in both vegetables and meat.
"It should be recognized that modern man can survive by consuming only raw food, but this was almost impossible at the time when humanity emerged as a species," says Herculano Huzel in an interview with LiveScience.
The study sets an upper limit on the growth of the brain that takes energy from raw food.
But scientists are unable to determine when the process of daily cooking began.
Was it 250,000 years ago, when the brain of almost all people reached a large size, which is confirmed by archaeological finds; maybe it happened 800,000 years ago, when the rate of development of the brain of primitive man was the highest (archaeologists found the remains of bonfires of that time, on which food was prepared).
Meet the meat eaters
Cooking at the dawn of mankind was not a routine matter, but the consumption of meat on the contrary.
The second study, published in October 2012 in the journal "PLoS ONE", examines the remains of a prehistoric human child who died from malnutrition about 1.5 million years ago.
The skull bones found in Tanzania indicate that the child was ill with porotic hyperostosis, a disease of the bone tissue in which it becomes porous due to a lack of iron, vitamins B9 and B12.
The reason for such diseases is the lack of animal products.
The child has just reached the weaning period.
This means that either the mother's milk lacked the necessary nutrients, or the child himself did not consume enough meat and eggs.
In any case, the data imply that meat should have been an integral, and not an accidental part of the diet of prehistoric man more than 1 million years ago, according to study author Manuel Dominguez Rodrigo, an archaeologist at the Complutense University in Madrid.
This also supports the theory of the development of the human brain due to meat consumption, because in the African savanna the cradle of humanity, there were enough sources of this product, from insects to zebras.
"Carnivorous animals, terrestrial or aquatic, have a larger brain than those that consume plant food," says Dominguez Rodrigo.
There is, after all, no such social system in which everyone would be vegetarians.
Here are some interesting facts provided to us by scientists.
What do you think about this?
A few more interesting articles:
Red wine and the brain
Proper fats are the key to the health of our brain
The effect of omega 3 on children's learning ability
Categories: Nutrition for the brain
"Cellular mechanisms of the brain for concentration of attention
Unconventional thinking "
13 responses
Sergey says:
at
I'm sorry, of course, but this is complete nonsense!
A simple anatomy will help you.
We are not predators by nature, because our digestive tract, as they say, is sharpened for plant food, and more specifically for vegetables and fruits.
This is evidenced by our teeth, they are all even to perfectly chew the fruits, there are no powerful fangs to tear the meat.
Unlike predators, we have a long intestine, predators have it several times shorter, we do not have such an alkaline environment in the stomach to quickly digest meat.
And this is just a small list of big differences.
Everything indicates that we are not meat eaters by nature, and this suggests that we can live a healthy, full fledged life without meat!
Based on this, this idea is absurd!
To answer
Dmitry says:
at
Of course, I apologize, but to use the anatomy of a modern person as an argument is complete nonsense.
Sergey, how many millennia has a person been using heat treatment of meat?
Modern man does not need fangs, because he does not tear the strong skin of animals with his teeth and does not gnaw out the best pieces of meat.
He cooks it deliciously and calmly eats it with his existing teeth.
And the predator's digestive tract is not needed for the same reasons, some of its functions are realized at the cooking stage.
By the way, our digestive tract is different from the digestive tract of typical herbivores.
Read some books.
And a couple more arguments in favor of meat.
When the human body is in the stage of growth, meat is vital to it, because muscles fully grow only if there are animal proteins in the diet.
Otherwise, it will be a suffocator, and not a full fledged person.
The human brain is the most energy consuming organ, and meat is also the energy required for its work.
To answer
Sergey says:
at
And I did not say that man is a herbivore, I said that man is a fruit eating animal!
Read more carefully!
Do you claim that during the time when a person began to use heat treated meat as food, his digestive structure has changed dramatically?
And who said that at the stage of growth the body needs proteins of animal origin?
Official doctrine?
Or meat producers, whose incomes are billions of dollars and they can put forward any idea to the masses, which will be supported even by medicine, even by the scientific elite, in which there will never be a single opinion!
And people will blindly believe this and support it in every possible way, because it is difficult to realize this!
Now, about the underdeveloped and inferior people.
You know that in India, more than 80% of the entire population are vegetarians.
There are 830,958,000 vegetarians in Europe and India (Information from the European Vegetarian Union as of January 27, 2003) - this is official data from eleven years ago.
And how many other countries are there in the world?
The tendency of people to refuse food of animal origin is growing exponentially and according to some data, this number will soon reach 50% of the total population of the earth.
And what do you want to say that all these people are underdeveloped and not full fledged?
Do you know Alexey Voevoda?
This is our famous athlete, 2 time Olympic champion in bobsleigh and world champion in arm wrestling, one of the strongest people on the planet — a vegan, almost a raw food eater.
Tell him he's suffocated!
And finally, for reference.
The energy required for the work of the human brain is released from glucose.
There is not a single milligram of glucose in meat, there are no carbohydrates in meat at all, from which energy is taken!
To answer
Dmitry says:
at
Sergey, your figures donot mean anything.
And you know why, because this is not an argument why the body does not need animal protein at the growth stage.
And I have seen children of vegetarians, I'm sorry, but this is a pathetic sight.
They are physically underdeveloped.
And official doctrines, together with the secret collusion of world meat producers, have absolutely nothing to do with it.
This is required by the biology of our body.
Protein, as you know from the biology course, is the main building material for cells and, unfortunately, it is not possible to do only with vegetable protein, there are no some amino acids used in the construction process.
And in fruits and vegetables, there are either very few substances necessary for the construction of protein, or there are none at all.
So at the growth stage, protein is necessary, no matter what you say.
Then, yes, you can fully live by refusing animal food.
And the same Alexey Voevoda, when he was going to the title of world champion in arm wrestling, I am sure of this, he ate far from just fruits and vegetables.
To answer
Sergey says:
at
Well, why donot these figures say anything, I think it shows very clearly that a huge part of the world's population lives a full life and develops without meat, their children are quite developed, if this were not the case, then I donot think there would be such an overpopulation in India!
This is a fact!
And the fact that you have seen physically underdeveloped children in a vegetarian family does not mean anything that their underdevelopment is a consequence of their diet!
Open your eyes!
Now every third child is physically underdeveloped, regardless of whether he lives in a family of meat eaters or vegetarians.
There is a much more serious problem here!
Now let's move on to biology, which you constantly refer to.
Have you heard about such an honored Soviet scientist, Professor A.M. Ugolev?
Are you familiar with his publications?
If not, I strongly recommend that you get acquainted with his works.
Briefly about his experiments.
His experiments are a proven and indisputable fact that our body produces everything it needs by itself, in sufficient quantities, if you feed it with raw plant food, any other food aggravates the digestive process and loads it heavily, taking away large energy resources from the body.
This can be confirmed by anyone, after a heavy lunch of heat treated food, there is always a loss of energy and pulls you to sleep.
You can learn more about all the processes of digestion directly from his works.
The only thing I will add is that with regard to meat, since our discussion turned around him, his experiments show that meat has a disastrous effect on the body by populating the intestines with putrid bacteria, which in turn suppress the useful bifidobacteria of our body, which leads to slagging, gradual littering.
As a result, our body can no longer produce its own amino acids and other trace elements in sufficient quantities, and it has to take them from the outside.
When the protein of animal origin is broken down, many toxic gases are released during digestion, which poison our body.
Try to eat only meat, you will die after a while!
And in conclusion about the Governor!
I quote you: "And the same Alexey Voevoda, when he was going to the title of world champion in arm wrestling, I am sure of it, ate far from just fruits and vegetables."
Do you know him personally?
Here is an interview with him, please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoZYNVzCrMw You can also find a huge amount of material on the topic on the web.
To answer
Dmitry says:
at
How can you be sure?
Yes, your video confirms this, the Governor himself in it, he says that he used to eat meat.
Review it carefully.
Further, at first he says that any protein is harmful, but nevertheless it is porridge, and there is protein there, even if it is vegetable.
And, Sergey, do not go to extremes.
I have never said that you need to eat only meat.
This is really fatal for the body.
The diet must necessarily contain fiber, so that the stomach works well, and other components.
Everything, Sergey, must be balanced.
You think that meat eaters eat exclusively meat, a strange opinion.
In my diet there are vegetables and fruits in large quantities without fail, as well as a variety of cereals.
And yet, it is not necessary to eat enough for one meal so that you are drawn to sleep.
Who prevents eating in small portions, but more often.
And you will not overload the stomach at the same time.
And you will not be drawn to sleep either.
Tested on personal experience.
I will not argue with you on the theory, it requires study.
In any case, it will take time.
To answer
Sergey says:
at
That's right, the governor used to eat meat!
But in order to recover, he had to take sports nutrition.
But when he stopped eating meat, his physical indicators increased significantly and he no longer had to take additional sports nutrition.
I can also give you an example of an outstanding American track and field athlete, a nine time Olympic champion, Carl Lewis.
This athlete reached the maximum physical shape after he became a vegan, which also confirms the fact that animal protein is absolutely not necessary for physical development.
And there are many such examples.
As for intellectual development, how do you explain the fact that such great Geniuses of the World as: Pythagoras, Epicurus, Plato, Ovid, Plutarch, Seneca, Socrates, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Leonardo da Vinci, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Shelley, Byron, Thomas More, Schopenhauer, Montel, Tolstoy L. N. — they were all vegetarians, and this list can still go on and on.
Their brain did not need meat at all!
Now about spiritual development.
From a religious point of view, it is recommended in all the scriptures to give up meat in order to achieve spiritual progress.
Many religions of the East, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, categorically reject the use of meat.
All these numerous facts simply smash your theory that meat is the most important source of human nutrition and is even more necessary for the normal development of the human brain and body!
To answer
Dmitry says:
at
Sergey, the successes of individual people are undoubtedly worthy of attention, but, unfortunately, they are not a decisive argument.
Why?
It's simple.
You see only one aspect on their path to success, and there are thousands of such nuances, and I am sure that everyone had an impact, not just their refusal of meat.
And again, at what age there was a refusal, for what reasons, it is not known.
We do not know the current daily diet of the same Lewis and Voivode, and accordingly we cannot analyze and draw conclusions.
We can only assume that this had a certain impact on their physical abilities, but how decisive we do not know, there are too many nuances.
It is better not to touch the holy scriptures at all, they are too ambiguous and again take into account the peculiarities of the places and people among whom they appeared.
And again, according to you, they call for spiritual enlightenment to give up meat.
And when should this be done?
The mother feeds the newborn with milk, and this is protein, I hope you havenot forgotten.
The facts you have given do not break anything, they only show that an alternative way of eating is possible.
If you strain yourself, you can find studies by no less well known scientists who will argue that meat is useful.
And there is no need to say that they were paid for by the meat lobby, this is not an argument, especially without evidence.
Believe me, you can also make good money on the idea of vegetarianism and vegetarian food.
And the "theory" I have given is by no means mine.
This is just one of the opinions about our nutrition.
I think it is worth publishing an article on the usefulness of vegetarianism for our brain in contrast to this article, but I do not promise to do this in the near future.
To answer
Sergey says:
at
Of course, as many people as there are opinions.
And everyone will defend their point of view!
You need to check everything for yourself and choose what really fits, and not blindly believe what everyone says!
As they say: "To each his own!"
At the expense of an article about vegetarianism and the brain, this is a good idea.
It will be interesting to read!
You have a great blog!
Keep up the good work!
Good luck to you!
To answer
Vyacheslav says:
at
I believe that the development of the brain is determined not only by nutrition, but also by other factors.
For example, this is related to intellectual activity.
You can also remember that a person can go without food for a long time, even without water, but without air a relatively short time.
Maybe clean air containing a sufficient amount of oxygen is a more significant factor determining the full growth and development of the human body.
It seems to me that much more research is needed in order to understand what is necessary for the normal development of the brain.
To answer
Dmitry says:
at
Vyacheslav, you are certainly right, the brain develops under the influence of many factors, but nutrition is one of the most important and not only for the brain, but also for the entire human body as a whole.
To answer
Raphael says:
at
Two workouts a day are kettlebell lifting.
A lot of mental work.
Earlier, more than 100 fractures, 4 gunshot wounds.
The most severe concussion in 87.
I look 35-40 from the words).
I donot eat meat.
And I donot advise anyone.
Eggs, sour milk is mandatory.
Once a month, a sea cocktail.
From the animal write this with a vengeance.
For the brain.
Vyacheslav sees at the root in my opinion.
The basis of nutrition for the brain is intellectual work (with a small reservation — creative).
If I had eaten meat, the tumor in the right hemisphere after the concussion would have finished me off very soon.
But now, at 47, she simply does not exist.
Endotoxins and dead protein are why you should not eat meat.
To answer
Fitnessbrain says:
at
Raphael, you contradict yourself.
Eggs and marine products are the same protein as meat.
And, yes, explain what a dead protein means and which protein is alive.
To answer
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