[Edit:
Please note - none of the following is meant to imply that Barry Groves is an RPDer nor that I'm advocating cooking. I'm only quoting these fellows as regards carnivory, not because their diets include some cooked foods. I only noted Groves' nod to RPD in passing because it's interesting and might be somewhat pleasing to RPDers to see something positive written about us. I left Groves' pro-cooking remarks about veggies in only because they are part of his rationale for arguing that humans are carnivores, not to promote cooking. Nothing here from Billings or Groves is meant to spark a conversation about raw vs. cooked in general except as specifically relates to faunivory/carnivory. Anything on debating raw vs. cooked in general that doesn't relate to faunivory/carnivory vs. omnivory/frugivory should go into an on-topic thread to avoid derailing this one. Thanks.]
You're welcome, Hanna. Below are three who have argued that humans are or at least could be classified as carnivores/faunivores. I don't necessarily agree with all their opinions, but I will present their views and links here without my opinions so folks can make up their own minds:
Walter Voegtlin, MD
Author of the Stone Age Diet
Comparative Anatomy Man Dog Sheep Table 1: Functional And Structural Comparison Of Man's Digestive Tract With That Of The Dog And Sheep. (From Walter Voegtlin, The Stone Age Diet, 1976,
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/carn_herb_comparison4.html)
Voegtlin pointed out the greater number of similarities between the physiology of humans and facultatively carnivorous dogs as versus herbivorous sheep.
Barry Groves
"Researcher and author"
"The totality of evidence demonstrates that the human digestive tract is extremely inefficient when coping with foods of vegetable origin. With no bacteria and no enzymes capable of breaking down the cell walls to release the small amounts of nutrients inside, we can only eat many of these foods after they have been cooked. As Nature must have intended that all foods should be eaten raw, they cannot have formed a significant part of our diet during our evolution." (Comparison Between the Digestive Tracts of a Carnivore, a Herbivore and Man,
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/carn_herb_comparison5.html)
Should all animals eat a high-fat, low-carb diet? http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/should-all-animals-eat-a-high-fat-low-carb-diet.htmlAfteranalyzing macronutrients based on what is actually "absorbed into the body to be used as a source of energy" instead of intakes, Groves came to the following conclusion:
"If we look at the various natural diets of all mammals, we find the same pattern: All of the diets are high in fat, and most of that fat is saturated as, apart from the saturated fats found in meat, all the short chain fatty acids produced by fermentative bacteria are 100% saturated. Also, all mammals' natural diets are very low in carbohydrate in the case of herbivores, and practically carbohydrate free in the case of carnivores.
There is no reason to suppose that we 'civilised' humans should eat any differently."
Interestingly, Barry argues, like Ray Audette, that meat would be optimally eaten raw if it were not for pathogenic microbiota and he even gives a nod to raw Paleo here--one of the few positive remarks about RPDers or the RPD that I have come across from a public figure (Denise Minger has written some positive remarks and KGH has written both positive and critical remarks):
The implications of cooking foods and methods usedhttp://www.second-opinions.co.uk/cooking-2.htmlIf ... meat is subjected for any length of time to the temperature of boiling water (100C, or 212F), all its protein becomes changed into the insoluble form, and its ease of digestion is consequently diminished. This was confirmed by several experiments in which meat, raw or cooked in various ways, was withdrawn by means of a stomach pump after the lapse of varying times, so that the rapidity of digestion could be seen and measured. The different kinds of meat were all taken on an empty stomach, so that the presence of other foods would not confuse the readings. These were the results:
Raw Beef digested in 2 hours.
Boiled Beef (half done) digested in 2½ hours
Boiled Beef (well done) digested in 3 hours
Roasted Beef (half done) digested in 3 hours
Roasted Beef (well done) digested in 4 hours
Raw Mutton digested in 2 hours
Raw Veal digested in 2 ½ hours
Raw Pork digested in 3 hours
This shows that the more thoroughly meat is cooked, the longer is the time required for its digestion. Raw or half-raw meat is therefore preferable to well done meat. But then there arises the risk of being supplied with meat containing the eggs of intestinal worms, which thorough cooking would render harmless.
Vegetables. Most vegetable foods, however, need to be well cooked for their digestion. The cellulose which envelops starch grains and of which vegetable cell walls are made, is not soluble in the digestive fluids. It is only by the process of cooking that it is ruptured, and the contents of the cellulose envelope are allowed to come into contact with the digestive enzymes. Even such processes as juicing, are only about 50% efficient in this regard.
....
Conclusions
There are several conclusions we can draw from this paper:
1. From the above it is clear that cooking has both benefits and adverse effects.
People eating a raw paleolithic diet will agree; those eating the processed food of modern industrialised societies, thinking [cooking] is 'healthy' may have different thoughts.2. Cooking meat and foods of animal origin is generally harmful; but vegetables must be well cooked to extract the maximum nutrition from them.
3. For frying, the use of non-stick pans and spray oils to minimise fat intake is exactly the wrong thing to do.
4. The American habit of cooking bacon so that it is so crisp that it shatters, destroys as a food. This may be why such 'foods' have been linked to intestinal cancers.
Healthy food: Should we be eating more fat?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3230846/Healthy-food-Should-we-be-eating-more-fat.html“We’re a carnivorous species – our gut is identical to that of a big cat [Yet he does eat some plant foods, such as apples, pears, lettuce and tomatoes]. Yet we’re encouraged to eat foods that have been padded out with modified starch and vegetable oils, and complex carbohydrates such as bread, pasta and rice, which have all been labelled healthy – but not the fatty meat that our body actually recognises.”
Tom Billings
Creator of BeyondVeg.com
Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Datehttp://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-1a.shtmlBillings argues that humans can be classed as either facultative faunivores (faunivores includes carnivores plus insectivores and sponges, although sometimes carnivore is used with the same meaning as faunivore), facultative frugivores or omnivores, depending on the criteria you choose:
"Humans are faunivores or frugivores adapted to a diet that includes significant amounts of animal foods. The morphology of the human gut does not correspond to that expected for a nearly 100%-fruit frugivore, as claimed by various fruitarian extremists." (Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Date: Are Humans Natural Frugivores/Vegetarians, or Omnivores/Faunivores?
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-6e.shtmlBillings reports that there are three dietary categories in nature and that they are not strict:
o Herbivores (folivores)
o Carnivores [faunivores, insectivores, piscivores]
o Frugivores
In other words, most animals are facultative members of these categories, not obligate and they will sometimes switch between categories depending on the season. For this reason some scientists claim that most animals are omnivores, whereas others consider the term unscientific and instead speak of facultative herbivores, carnivores and frugivores. Those that use the term "omnivores" tend to focus on diet, whereas those who use "facultative" tend to focus on physiology, morphology and taxonomy.
Sometimes the main categories are further simplified into herbivores vs. carnivores and frugivores are grouped under herbivores along with these other sub-categories:
Feeding Strategy - Diet
Nectarivores - Nectar
Granivores - Seeds
Palynivores - Pollen
Mucivores - Plant fluids, i.e. sap
Xylophages - Wood
