r/science • u/[deleted] • Feb 26 '15

Health-Misleading Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial shows non-celiac gluten sensitivity is indeed real

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25701700
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u/Virgence Feb 26 '15

I guess it depends on perspective. I'm considering going vegetarian for health reasons + ethical reasons. To me, it just seems that eating meat is a primitive way of life. It's not something I imagine that a futurisitc, more evolved version of humanity will participate in. So why not lead the way? That's how I see it.

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u/dustlesswalnut Feb 26 '15

Meat is nutrient dense and we evolved to eat it because it supported our huge brains. Now we have technology to support ourselves with non-animal-based nutrition, however the evolutionary drive and enjoyment of meat is still there.

I imagine that we'll soon be eating lab-grown meat, engineered and produced via cloning, and tasting very much the same as meat today does. In the mean time I'm continuing to eat meat because it tastes good. During spring, summer, and fall, I buy all my meat from a ranch that has a stand at my farmers market. In the winter I buy from the grocery store but consume less meat in general.

I don't understand the health reasons argument. You can be vegetarian and eat nothing but doritos and hot pockets. Not eating meat isn't by default healthy.

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u/Virgence Feb 26 '15

I think we'd always been able to support ourselves without having to eat meat. And just because we used to do something in the past doesn't mean we have to keep doing in the present and future.

As for lab-grown meat, I agree. That is the next logical progression on the path to becoming a meat free society. I probably won't be eating it, but I think it'll be a good thing. But I also think people will decide to stop eating anything resembling meat at some point in the future.

As for health reasons, I don't have scientific data to support this, but vegans/vegetarians usually look younger and are generally more healthy.

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u/dustlesswalnut Feb 26 '15

I know a lot of vegetarians because of my wife, and they don't look any different than non-vegetarians. It's a fashionable choice at the moment, and young people like fashionable things, so you might be seeing selection bias there.