Why do most people prefer meat to vegetables?

Many people feel that a dish without meat has no soul and feels like it has not been eaten. Even a vegetarian meal that looks and smells very tempting does not taste good. Why do most people think meat tastes better than vegetables?

In my opinion, the feeling that meat tastes better than vegetables is a human instinct, an instinct that comes from protein scarcity. As for the reasons for this instinct, I will explain this issue from six parts below.

01. Humans need protein

Protein is essential to the human body. The main mediator of gene function is protein, the main enzyme is protein, various homologue molecules and signal pathways are proteins, and the basis of cell structure is protein...

Those who have studied high school biology should know that the three major organic substances of human beings are: sugar, fat, and protein . Those who have studied college biochemistry will know that these three can be converted. Then someone will definitely ask, if this is the case, then can't we just eat sugar and then convert it into protein? There are two questions here:

1. The efficiency of converting sugar into protein is very low. The simple and crude evidence is that you eat so much high-fat and high-sugar food, why don’t you grow a body of muscle but a body of fat?

2. Essential amino acids. I believe many people still remember this stuff. The formulas of the past are now memorized: selenium, phenylpropionate, isoleucel, valerian, methylthiophene, and eight essential amino acids. These are the amino acids that must be taken from food.

Serious reminder: Don't think you can lose weight by not eating meat. The efficiency of sugar conversion into fat is very high. You can still gain weight by eating fruits. It is best not to start from the intake category. (The only way to lose weight is to consume less than you consume)

02. Meat is our main source of protein

The main component of meat is protein, and it is also the main source of protein for humans.

The above picture shows the protein content of meat

I believe someone will ask, it doesn't seem high, because the highest component is the source of life, commonly known as water , including ourselves, 60 to 70 percent water. So, leaving water aside, the highest main component is protein.

I once watched a documentary about a rainforest area where the biggest source of protein for the locals was bats. There was another tribe that ate spiders (I hope I didn’t gross you out).

03. Are there any other alternative resources?

Are there other alternative resources? Of course there are. I believe that careful friends have already found a food with higher protein content than meat in the second part, that is beans . Yes, beans have a very high protein content and are easy to grow. They are the main source of protein to replace meat . Thanks to the great Chinese people, when there was a shortage of meat, they kept trying various herbs and finally found the perfect source to replace meat. Beans. This is one of the greatest contributions of the Chinese people, no less than the four great inventions.

The great people of our country have developed a spirit of daring to try and continuous innovation, constantly developing ways to eat beans, making beans a great industry.

If you have no special skills, then go into the bean industry.

1. There are many ways to cook beans . They are suitable for all Chinese cooking methods, including steaming, frying, stir-frying and boiling.

2. Grind the beans and make them into a dish. If there is too much water, it is soy milk. If there is too little water, it is tofu. If there is just the right amount of water, it is tofu pudding. If it has hair, it is hairy tofu. If it becomes smelly, it is stinky tofu. If it has been stored for too long, you can make soy sauce.

It's really a treasure on earth.

Of course, beans are indispensable for vegetarians . Great gourmets also use beans to make a variety of tempting vegetarian delicacies.

Braised vegetarian pork strips

Of course, you can also eat nuts, for example, some of our distant relatives, some monkeys, live on nuts.

04. In addition to meat and beans, is it possible to eat only grass like cows?

The answer is yes and no.

The reason I say no is that we have not yet evolved this mechanism. Given the current level of meat consumption, I don't think it will work.

I say yes because it is possible. I believe everyone knows that cattle and sheep are standard herbivorous animals, but they don't seem to lack protein. Yes, cattle can indeed achieve this function. Is the sugar-lipid-egg conversion mechanism different for cattle? Of course not.

There are two reasons.

First, the stomach of a cow is different from that of humans . We only have one stomach, but a cow has four stomachs (rumen, reticulum, ventral stomach, and abomasum). This means that a cow can eat much more than we do, which naturally allows for more conversion. But at the same time, it also means that a cow must keep eating to be able to digest food.

Second, the above reason is only a small reason. The more important reason is that the intestinal microorganisms of cattle can decompose cellulose, which is something that we humans do not have. Therefore, in many cases, when you eat vegetables, apart from supplementing vitamins and some elements, most of them are directly excreted. If humans have these microorganisms in their intestines, we can more or less solve the problem of protein sources.

Of course, digesting cellulose comes at a price. A longer and more complex digestive system and more time to eat are not necessarily conducive to survival.

However, nothing is absolute.

For example, the Colobinae is an important and special group of Old World primates. They are usually herbivorous and have independently developed an important physiological feature of having a complex stomach similar to that of ruminants. Their intestinal microorganisms may be involved in the fermentation and digestion of cellulose. The most familiar one in this family is the golden monkey.

05. Why do we prefer meat?

In fact, this part is too simple, because animals can run, but plants cannot.

It sounds like a joke, but the truth is that simple. Plants can be found everywhere, so we can eat plants everywhere. But most meat is running all over the ground, and we have to chase it. In addition, the total amount of animals is lower than that of plants. I believe that people who are familiar with the food chain must have a deep understanding of this.

So, those who can’t lose weight are always in a commotion, while those who can’t gain weight are fearless. Uh, no, those who can’t get what they want are always in a commotion, while those who are favored are fearless hahahaha

06. Are humans the only ones who eat meat?

Of course not. Let's not talk about lions and tigers, which are very far away. Even among our close relatives, most of them are omnivorous animals. For example, gorillas like to eat termites, and some scientists say that they can invent tools like us.

This is a recipe for our human relatives. As you can see, haha, everyone eats meat.

Therefore, eating meat is not a human specialty. We can find the habit of eating meat among our relatives. In other words, eating meat is not unique to humans, and it has not affected the evolution of humans.

The reason why humans separated from these relatives is because of our intelligence. I have explained this in detail in another answer (Why do people tend to think that physical labor is inferior to mental labor? - Answer by a Zhihu user)

The proportion of brain capacity basically did not change between 6 million and 3 million years ago. However, 2 million years ago, this number began to increase continuously, which means that the active selection began to strengthen continuously, that is, humans’ pursuit of intelligence has a history of at least 2 million years.

Well, the above six parts explain the problem of human meat-eating from several perspectives. That is, if you don’t eat meat, you will feel uncomfortable.