Get a copy of What If? 2 and Randall’s other books at: https://xkcd.com/booksMore serious answers to absurd questions at: https://what-if.xkcd.com/This quest...
  • Technus@lemmy.zipEnglish
    54·
    6 days ago

    Prions and population collapse aside, your cannibal population would eventually succumb to simple nutrient deficiency as the human body can’t synthesize a number of essential vitamins and amino and fatty acids. Without any outside food sources, those nutrients would eventually be completely exhausted.

    So if you’re going to start eating people, only eat people who have been a fed a diverse, nutrient-rich diet.

    • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
      44·
      5 days ago

      This is absolutely incorrect, at least with respect to carnivore diets. You won’t feel like shit, and everybody dies eventually (but carnivore will not reduce your life or health span).

      https://doi.org/10.1097/med.0000000000000576

      Note: This only applies to carnivores who are not eating carbohydrates, people who are just standard western omnivores (70% plant food, mostly processed, and 30% meat) will not see any benefits.

      There are many biological risks in eating humans that should be accounted for, and while you could survive it would be far from optimal.

        • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
          42·
          5 days ago

          The opinion is published in the Journal of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity a peer-reviewed journal- and is edited by Eric Westman

          Does that satisfy your appeal to authority concerns? Any issue with the content of the article itself?

          • OrganicMustard@lemmy.worldEnglish
            34·
            5 days ago

            It’s a fucking opinion piece by a random person that wants to get rich of it. I’m not reading shit of that.

            Have fun getting scurvy.

            • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
              4·
              5 days ago

              Funny you should mention that, they address scurvy directly in the paper. Who is getting rich of a nutrition paper?

            • Amuletta@lemmy.caEnglish
              3·
              5 days ago

              The Inuit avoided scurvy by eating some of their fish and meat raw during long Arctic winters. Apparently there is some vitamin C in raw flesh which is destroyed by cooking.

              The risk of parasite infestation increases, but they probably learned what to watch out for, just as they learned to avoid eating polar bear livers.

              • OrganicMustard@lemmy.worldEnglish
                12·
                5 days ago

                Yeah but the Inuit don’t have the choice to eat a balanced diet, so they do the best they can. Some people now are eating like shit because it’s the new gym bro science scam.

                • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
                  21·
                  5 days ago

                  https://discuss.online/post/25791954/17721035

                  A scam with published literature, documented benefits, and no documented downside. The only issues is from people who don’t like the idea of it and refuse to engage with the available data.

                  Carnivore is just a very strict form of a ketogenic diet, which is the most studied eating pattern in the literature

                • Amuletta@lemmy.caEnglish
                  11·
                  4 days ago

                  Hey, give me some wasabi paste and soy sauce and I will quite happily eat raw fish. 🙂