Why "Soul Food" should really be called "Slave Food"

 

Milton Mills, MD, is Associate Director of Preventive Medicine for the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), as well as a practicing internist at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia. He also provides medical care and counseling in several free clinics in Washington, DC.

In this conversation, Dr Mills shared his provocative views - all of them supported by overwhelming evidence - on the ideal human diet.
Along the way, we touch on the following topics

• Why "soul food" should really be called "slave food"
• How we know human beings are clearly designed to be plant- and not meat-eaters, despite our "predator eyes"
• The inherent racism in the USDA's dietary guidelines
• The surprising reason bear bile can be an effective treatment in the system of Traditional Chinese Medicine - and why it proves we're not supposed to be carnivores

"The Comparative Anatomy of Eating", by Milton R. Mills, M.D.

Facial Muscles CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape OMNIVORE: Reduced HERBIVORE: Well-developed HUMAN: Well-developed Jaw Type CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded HERBIVORE: Expanded angle HUMAN: Expanded angle Jaw Joint Location CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars Jaw Motion CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back Major Jaw Muscles CARNIVORE: Temporalis OMNIVORE: Temporalis HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids Mouth Opening vs. Head Size CARNIVORE: Large OMNIVORE: Large HERBIVORE: Small HUMAN: Small Teeth: Incisors CARNIVORE: Short and pointed OMNIVORE: Short and pointed HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped Teeth: Canines  CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none HUMAN: Short and blunted Teeth: Molars CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps vs complex surface HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps Chewing CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary

Saliva CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes Stomach Type CARNIVORE: Simple OMNIVORE: Simple HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers HUMAN: Simple Stomach Acidity CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach Stomach Capacity CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract Length of Small Intestine  CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length Colon CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated HUMAN: Long, sacculated Liver CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A Kidney CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine Nails CARNIVORE: Sharp claws OMNIVORE: Sharp claws HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves HUMAN: Flattened nails

The Natural Human Diet

According to biologists and anthropologists who study our anatomy and our evolutionary history, humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat.
Unlike natural carnivores, we are physically and psychologically unable to rip animals limb from limb and eat and digest their raw flesh. Even cooked meat is likely to cause human beings, but not natural carnivores, to suffer from food poisoning, heart disease, and other ailments.
People who pride themselves on being part of the human hunter tradition should take a second look at the story of human evolution. Prehistoric evidence indicates that humans developed hunting skills relatively recently and that most of our short, meat-eating past was spent scavenging and eating almost anything in order to survive; even then, meat was a tiny part of our caloric intake.
Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill animals and devour their raw carcasses. Ask yourself: When you see dead animals on the side of the road, are you tempted to stop for a snack? Does the sight of a dead bird make you salivate? Do you daydream about killing cows with your bare hands and eating them raw? If you answered "no" to all of these questions, congratulations—you're a normal human herbivore—like it or not. Humans were simply not designed to eat meat.  Dr. Milton Mills, MD

Enjoy, and please share! www.purifyself.com