Canabilism..?

[intouchwithinstinct]

I put this right in hot topics because I know the taboos about this topic.

Facts are that it was apparently very common in aboriginal tribes Mari and papua new guinea tribes.

Probably other tribes as well I'm not sure.

Other then that taboos of cannibalism, whats the big deal?  I mean if the human lived healthy like any other animal wouldn't it be good meat?  Or is there some evolutionary danger in eating your own species?  Do you think paleo perhaps evolved eating other humans when there was a death in a tribe?

Remember this is all just random thoughts I had here, I would appreciate hearing other peoples theory's I'm really not quite sure what to think about it yet.

[djr_81]

The taboos about it are really what has been the big deal about it IMO.
I've personally never seen the big issue with it. Granted I never saw it as a steady food source but I never saw a problem with eating an already dead body in a survival situation i.e. the Donner Party or that plane crash in the Andes. Survival is tantamount to squeamishness about eating another human.
I can also see the logic behind the practice during tribe warfare or consumption of the flesh of those close to you. The warfare side would be to strengthen your prowess through the "consumption" of fellow warriors. The community side would be to carry the spirit of your fellow villagers with you beyond death. It's all very primal but I can identify.

I think the big issue with it logistically, beyond taboos, is how toxic the average diet is and therefore the body is. Most people would be sub-par, and most likely damaging, food.

[TylerDurden]

While it's a distasteful subject, it's certainly not a taboo topic  as it's well-known in the scientific community that cannibalism was widely practised during the Palaeolithic by Cro-Magnon and Neanderthals(and indeed among many Neolithic-era societies/tribes). Though there are 1 or 2 dodgy scientists trying to rewrite history, for nefarious political reasons,  and pretend that cannibalism never existed.

Here is why cannibalism might not be such a good idea, in evolutionary terms:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29



I did once read about 1 very weird book in which some ridiculous von-daniken-like author tried to claim that cannibalism was responsible for the spectacular growth in hominid brain-size among apemen - the idea , I guess, was that hominid brains contained the highest quality nutrients for increased brain-growth so that cannibalism must have been primarily responsible for evolution of a bigger human brain, rather than just meats or marrow/brains from other animals. However, the book is widely derided because it had no scientific evidence of any note to accompany it. Can't remember the title or author but the general theory also stated that this cannibalism caused psychosis which led to constant wars etc.

[TylerDurden]

I think the big issue with it logistically, beyond taboos, is how toxic the average diet is and therefore the body is. Most people would be sub-par, and most likely damaging, food.

  Correct, the corpse of a SAD-eater would be truly foul and unhealthy. Which means that only rawpalaeos would be suitable. We're a tiny enough minority as it is, so I don't think we can exactly endorse this practice, however genuinely "rawpalaeo" cannibalism may be!

[Paleo Donk]

It does make sense to me that eating human brains would give you the best nutrition for your own brain though I highly doubt cannibalism was ever more than a fraction of our intake.   

[RawZi]

    Well I guess I'm glad that I could probably never be on the menu.  All my life it seems I was told my blood's toxic etc.  I do feel well when eating completely raw naturally raised animal foods, but I doubt I'd be good enough to eat. 

    One thing about SAD eaters, I would assume since they make tumors and such, that they store their toxins in one place, and the rest of their meat might remain relatively good.

[djr_81]

One thing about SAD eaters, I would assume since they make tumors and such, that they store their toxins in one place, and the rest of their meat might remain relatively good.

I'd contend otherwise from personal experience.
Muscle meat, which should have the lowest concentrations of problems, effects me when from a grain-finished animal. I assume that my food allergies are having issues with the corn in the animal's diet which is still present in the animal's flesh in some capacity. You couldn't pay me to consider SAD-finished just like you couldn't pay me to consider grain-finished.

  Correct, the corpse of a SAD-eater would be truly foul and unhealthy. Which means that only rawpalaeos would be suitable. We're a tiny enough minority as it is, so I don't think we can exactly endorse this practice, however genuinely "rawpalaeo" cannibalism may be!

I think real raw vegans might be a good source as well.

[Hans89]

I think real raw vegans might be a good source as well.

Are there grassfed ones available?

[djr_81]

Are there grassfed ones available?

Sproutarians are about as close as you're going to get.

[miles]

HAHA. I love this, talking about eating raw vegans =D Only the troublesome ones though...

[majormark]

LOL, is human considered read meat or white meat?

[djr_81]

LOL, is human considered read meat or white meat?

Red. You should pair it with a full-bodied dark wine...a Chianti perhaps?

[intouchwithinstinct]

LMAO This questions got a bit out of control.  Haha well be having raw paleos braking into organ doner banks in no time! Nahh I doubt even those organs are from healthy humans.  You would probably have to go to the amazon or some foreign place with tribal cultures still in existence with there natural way of life.. And I think those tribes are too dam cool to eat anyways!

[KD]

"Famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera claimed in his autobiography that during a period in 1904, he and his companions ate "nothing but cadavers" purchased from the local morgue. Rivera was fully aware of the shock value of this tale. Rivera claims that he thought cannibalism a way of the future, remarking "I believe that when man evolves a civilization higher than the mechanized but still primitive one he has now, the eating of human flesh will be sanctioned. For then man will have thrown off all of his superstitions and irrational taboos."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism_in_popular_culture

from another source, he was particularly fond of "women's brains in vinaigrette."

I also read somewhere once re: above, that he only ate from humans (ZC, other than condiments I suppose) in this period and said all of them (his colleagues who participated) all experienced increase in health.

[sven]

I'll go hunt some human and let you guys know how it tastes.

[William]

I'll go hunt some human and let you guys know how it tastes.

Make your will first.