Are vegans really short?

I think it is the other way around - the ones who eat a lot of meat are generally a little bit taller, because of all the HORMONES they eat with their meat.





I have noticed that my generation (I'll be 28 tomorrow) is on average a couple of centimetres taller than our parents.





This is because meat wasn't full of hormones when our grandparents were young, and they also only ate little of it (about 4kg a year, compared to 60kg today!)





If it was normal that each generation is taller than the previous, this would mean the average height of a person was 1 m (3.2 feet)!!!!! And they were probably 1 inch tall when Jesus was around.





So why are horses, bison, moose, elephants, giraffes, rhinos... not tiny, when they only eat grass, leaves, tree bark and fruit?





Also, have you ever thought why is there so much cancer, heart diseases, strokes, cholesterol problems etc today - but not 200 years ago?

Are vegans really short?
Perhaps my family may be a good example against the idea that vegans are shorter.


My son became a vegetarian, eating a little cheese, rarely drinking milk.


His wife comes from a long line of vegetarians who rarely consume dairy (hence I cannot call them vegans), and both are tall.


Now my grandson, who has never tasted meat and is rarely given dairy is very tall for his age.


As for the health issues, vegetarians/vegans life spans would definitely be longer due to the decreased risk of heart disease and cancer.


Sad how some people become so arrogant and rude when they face a question which doesn't suit their life choices.


I hope I have been of some help, there are many arguments put forward here.


Hope you have a Happy Birthday!
Reply:Thanks M, don't those additives in meat make you shudder - ) Report It

Reply:I don't think I'm short, I'm 1.76 m (5.632 feet) tall.
Reply:Your question seems to be a bit western hemisphere oriented.





Well to be frank........red meat consumption is not that much in Asia as compared to the west.


Hormone treatment given to animals is negligient in South Asia.





But a major mistake in your understanding is that hormones consumed by animals affects a human! .......now thats wrong.


There's no relation at all between the two facts





From Wikipedia-


"East Asian people, who appear to be stereotypically shorter, have been incrementally increasing in height with each new generation through dietary improvements, as seen in nations such as South Korea and some parts of the People's Republic of China"





The "word dietary improvements" is the key here.


Increase in calcium and a balanced vitamin intake which lacks in traditional east Asian diet is the genetic cause for smaller statures of east Asians.





From additional details:





"I am also talking about trends and averages, and I do not claim that one cannot naturally be taller than their parents.


I know people were generally shorter hundreds of years ago, but not THAT much. It wasn't like that every next generation was an inch taller in average."





Remember the human ancestors?....Australopithecines, Cro-Magnon man, etc.....they were infact taller than we are today.


One cannot comment vaguely on the stature of a generation of Humans just on the basis of food!





Abnormal height changes occur only due to MUTATIONS, which can be forced (caused by the organism itself which proves beneficial for the next generation) OR environmental.





200 years ago problems like cancer, heart diseases, strokes, cholesterol problems existed...I'm sure of that if if you take the chronology back to 500 years.


The problem in this argument is DATA evaluation.





Detailed data don't exist. One cant state anything in the abscence of Data!


Another thing needs to benoted is the world population that is approx 6.5 billion now....compared to a million in 1800 hundred!


So naturally the cases of disease reported too would be collosal considering the percentage affecting has remained more or less same over the years.





Infact stress, emotional disturbances and environmental changes have resulted in the recent spurt of cancer, heart diseases, strokes, cholesterol problems etc








I hope my answer helps in some way :)


Well its quite loooooooong!!





♪♫ Happy birthday ♪♫ in advance.
Reply:People are their heights because of genetics not what they eat.





I ate meat when I was growing up (the rest of my family still eat meat) yet we're all short-ar*s.





Sorry, can't agree with you.
Reply:I've been a vegan since two days after I was born (milk allergies).





I'm almost six foot tall and female.





You figure it out.
Reply:I hardly ate any meat growing up and I've been vegan for awhile now but I'm still 5'7, even though my parents are both short. I think it's just an evolutionary thing...people have been getting taller for a long time now...look at houses that were built in the 1700s, the ceilings are so low.
Reply:Well it could also be other things as well.


Remember that during the time that the Spanish came to America, people were about 5 foot tall on average.


Ponce DeLeon was something like 4'10".
Reply:This is addressed in many health articles, sites, etc... The trend has to do with healthier diets now (on average) then in the past as well as advances in medicine. It's the same reason that the average life span is longer and menses starts sooner.
Reply:More than 10, 000 years ago, before agriculture, there were no incidents of degnerative diseases (cancer, parkinson's, macular, etc). There was an expedition in 1812 or so that noted this among natives in African tribes, but no one paid much attention.





Here's what people ate in the caveman days: fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs, meat. Some native tribes still eat these things.





Here's what they did not eat (modern fare) grains, dairy, refined sugar.,beans and legumes, squashes, artificial anything.





Modern diets cause diseases. That is the main reason people are sick these days. Of course, processed and artificial foods don't help either! That has made the situation 10X worse....
Reply:This has very little to do with diet. It is man's continuing evolution along with scientific increases in technology. Most babies are bottle fed,which is normally much higher in vitamins,and minerals that a baby needs. Your growth potential is limited somewhat to genetics, however,just as our bones have thinned and lengthened since modern man started exploring North America, so too have other changes occurred. There are 100 times the drugs now then there was just 10 years ago, So even vegans are taller than our meat eating ancestors.
Reply:no they are not short my friend/teacher is a vegan and he is over 6 foot tall
Reply:now day life is full of easy and full of stress early they used to work hard,now with the latest technology and machine life is simple that's why their are many dieses if they eat on time and do daily excises and yoga avoid all junk food eat home made food and that to vegetarian.
Reply:I grew an inch after becoming vegan, and this was after age 22.
Reply:Did you know that the use of Growth Hormones and Steroids on animals was banned by the EU ages ago. They are still frequently used in the US but not on any meat produced in the UK or imported from the EU. If any farmer uses these hormones in the EU they will be prosecuted and animals are tested for them to ensure they are not used. Therefore there are no hormones apart from the natural ones secreted by animal's glands. Years ago, growth hormones were added to animals.


Perhaps you would be interested in this article which is based on a scientific study as to people being taller , living longer and how certain diseases are actually being found to develop later in life than previous generations.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/health...





You should really find out the actual facts before posting questions without a basic knowledge of EU farming regulations or Scientifical knowledge of research done into the evolution of humans in the past few generations.





I eagerly await your thumbs down!!!





Ok I read your article, now read this which I think is quite good as it does support both points of view. I find this article more balanced as it written by a person who doesn't consume milk. Your article is written by someone who such as yourself disagrees with the consumption of milk to has a biased view and doesn't state all the facts about the benefits in the past of drinking milk.


http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/artic...





Of course you should do research into the question, you are stating that meat eaters are actually taller because of the fact they are eating meat containing hormones when it doesn't. I agree that some people do post nasty questions towards Vegans and Vegetarians which is extremely unnecessary. These people are trying to prove that you are stupid for choosing a view and a lifestyle. That indeed is wrong. But put the boot on the other foot, do you not think that by posting questions like this, you are doing exactly the same thing as these people are doing to you.


Making a comparison to mathematics as well is rather strange. People are taught and study. I presume you did and that you were taught Math by a teacher. Therefore people who post questions regarding this subject do so because they don't understand how to do it. You give very detailed answers to these people's questions rather than just the answers which helps them to understand how to work mathematical questions out which is a big help. You may find them simple but that is only because you have learnt in the past how to do them, other people are still learning.





Farming has been around for thousands of years and it has been proven that humans would not have evolved or survived without the consumption of milk and meat. Therefore we would not be here today if it had not been done in the past. If people choose to not eat it now that's fine, that's their choice, but it is the constant barrage of disapproval thrown at people who choose to continue the diet of our ancestors that gets annoying. I agree that there are a lot of inhumane treatments of animals throughout the world and that does make me sad. But I can assure you that if you ever came to see my farm you would see healthy and happy animals. A calf is NEVER removed from it's mother until it is weaned and no longer needs it's mother's milk (similar to breastfed babies). Most our cows are milked for years (not slaughtered after 2 or 3). They require a lot of looking after. Can you imagine your ideal world where cows and sheep run free in the wild? This would never happen. They need human care, they cannot survive in the world by themselves. You have chosen the life of a vegan which is admirable but you cannot disprove evolution.





Just to add a bit about your reference to herbivore animals to not increasing in size, have you thought about meat eating animals such as tigers, lions, bears who's diet consists mainly of meat who have been around for millions (in the case of tigers) of years and their size has not altered?
Reply:You know what? I think there aren't yet enough people around who are vegan since birth (or were vegan in childhood), to make this comparison. We'll just have to wait another 20 or 30 years to be able to say for sure (whether vegans are shorter than meat-eater or not).


But whatever hormones and additives they are putting in farm animals' food, it is totally unnatural and wrong.
Reply:I think thats pretty general. I am 5'5" my other half is 6' tall. We are both vegans.
Reply:Yeah pale, weak, skinny on deaths door basically.
Reply:i think tigerfly pretty much hit the nail on the head here!
Reply:Huh? DO you feel better now? I don't think it matters whether you are veggie or a corpse eater, you height etc depends on your genes and what is in your food (e.g. protein, carbs, vitamins, iron etc). The reason we're taller now must be because we have better diets that they have before. The reason why there appears to be more cancer etc around today is because we keep records and statistics of what happens (well, it's also because some people abuse their bodies, lifestyle and so on). I don't think you can judge an animal by what they eat - they're different and have differnet genes and different make ups etc.





I don't know any short vegans. The ones I know are kind of average.
Reply:Created questions based on answers is always dangerous.


Whales eat krill (some kind of Crabs)


Sharks does not have cancer and eat meat.


Another examples of really big carnivorous extinct.





Bison is big but rabbit is tiny and ginnea pig as well. Genetic selection create bigger animals because usually they were strong and usually, tall parents will have tall children.





Homo Sapiens developed only because he had a diet rich in protein (MEAT) without it, it would never develop its brain. A lot of big birds are meat eater and monkeys as well. (Sometimes, they eat insects - more rich source of protein)





Pay attention to all chemicals used in agriculture. Agrotoxics and many other related products.


Our way of living is based on Streess, confined speaces, living to work wihtout objective (Not like 200 years ago)


Without a well balanced diet, people starve and growing (Children and teenagers) can suffer from it. Vegans after had you body colsolidated is another complete different thing.





Recently in USA, baby diet due a strict vegan diet.





Until 60 years ago, Homo Sapiens eat also other Homo Sapiens. Why avoid own nature and natural evolution?


Taller humans need complete diet, based on Meat and Vegetables.
Reply:I think that's the oddest question I've ever read. In fact, reading through it again I'm almost positive it's a p*ss take. Are you high?





I must clarify (since I'm getting loads of thumbs down)...she's ranting about one inch people and genuinely wondering why giraffes aren't small because they don't eat meat!!!! Come ON people...
Reply:Oh good grief! we were given canines and bicuspid teeth for a reason.... to eat meat! we dont get vege crushers like a cow or sheep! humans should have meat in thier diet!
Reply:Vegans are as short as .......... never mind. Someone twice your age, the tallest in the family and never liked or eaten a lot of meat, wouldn't think this proves anything. If you think the opposite to the affirmative case to your question why are you putting the case for? You are in bed with mainstream nutritionists, at least, who are doing such a "wonderful" job of keeping us healthy with their advice.


So what hormones did you have for your breakfast?. Are you an XX female? Gender can make a difference when it comes to the hormone business. Going to Britain to eat some meat in the last 28 years could have made a person's brain turn to sponge (Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease). This was organized by feeding the cattle highly nutritious sheep droppings which is purely logical if you want people's heads to be bigger so they are taller just like thinking it would have been easier to nail and tie people to wooden crosses if they are one inch tall. And of course the intestinal workings in elephants and humans are identical - after all they are mammals aren't they?


Finally you flip to the other side and wonder about the price paid for all this hormone meat munching.


Vegans may be better off short than short changed with some of the meat offerings.
Reply:Yes, short, skinny, weak, and they have hippy ideals. Vegan since 2 days old? It's nice to have a choice eh?
Reply:Where are you? I'm coming round to push you off your soap box.