Why be a veggie head.

Here are some particular reasons to, if not become a

vegetarian, at least cut back meat consumption drastically:

Human anatomy: We're most similar to other herbivores,

and drastically different from carnivores and true omnivores.

Health: The science shows that the more meat we eat, the sicker we get

-- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and

every other major degenerative disease.

If eating meat were so natural, it wouldn't destroy our health.

Physical performance: People have much better endurance

when they don't eat meat -- whether they're professional athletes or not.

Our early ancestors from at least four million years ago

were almost exclusively vegetarian.

Our omnivorism means we're capable of eating meat

(useful from a survival standpoint if that's all that's available),

but our bodies aren't geared for it to be a normal, significant part of our diets.

The animals most similar to us, the other primates,

eat an almost exclusively vegetarian diet

(and their main non-plant food often isn't meat, it's termites).

Our teeth, saliva, stomach acid, and intestines are most similar to other

plant-eaters, and dissimilar to carnivores and true omnivores.

Among animals, plant-eaters have the longest lifespans,

and humans are certainly in that category

(and yes, this was true even before modern medicine).

We sleep about the same amount of time as other herbivores,

and less than carnivores and true omnivores.

The most common cause of choking deaths is eating meat.

Real carnivores don't have that problem.