If we have pet food food that sustains pets, why do humans have so much trouble getting the right nutrients?
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What do you think [apes in the lab](https://www.labdiet.com/Products/StandardDiets/Primates/index.htm) might eat as a staple?
You could do perfectly well eating the high-protein monkey diet, but bear in mind it’s basically giant kibbles. People have done it. They did not like it.
Neither, for that matter, do the monkeys.
Beans and sweet potatoes will take care of most of your nutritional needs. Do you want to eat that for every meal, every day of your life?
True nutritional deficiencies like scurvy and rickets are incredibly rare in the kinds of societies that also have the resources to feed their pets special food. When they do occur, or if you want to talk about the kinds of minor nutritional imbalances that kale smoothie-drinkers care about, it’s because humans are permitted to choose what they eat and pets aren’t. Some people choose to prioritize things like cost or taste over nutritional balance. If you afforded dogs the same kinds of choices, they would have the same kinds of problems.
Furthermore, once you’re talking about nutritional deficiencies more subtle than scurvy etc., it can be hard to tell if pets have those problems too. Your cat can’t communicate that it feels bloaty and lacks energy in the afternoon.
Worth noting that pets will go very far out of their way to get food that ISN’T their bland pet food. They eat that every day because that is what’s presented to them.
we can in theory, but humans are picky eaters.
its verym uch possible to engineer a food product that would meet all your needs for the meal, but you would likely grow sick of eating the same thing day after day.
Have you ever smelled/tasted Pet food? People are far too damned picky to eat ‘Human Chow’
because we engineer pet food for nutrients but we engineer human food for flavor and in some cases addictability. If you mostly eat whole foods or homestyle-cooked meals you don’t really have to worry about getting all the nutrients you need
is there a way to make peoples favorite foods contain all of the nutrients we need? like can a burger have everything in it including vegetables and stuff
Just adding on that nutrition is still a highly debatable field. No one knows, probably because there isn’t, a formula of nutrients that just works.
Many have mentioned Soylent. It does a decent job, but it definitely isn’t the epitome of heathy eating.
Additionally overeating, hence over nutrient over saturation, is problematic as well.
Another main problem is that as we are reaching closer to human biological life expectancy limits, more things can go wrong with our body than nutrients along can handle.
Probably can list a couple more big problems if I am not falling asleep.
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