Human health

Animal source foods are evolutionary foods and provide key nutrients. There is no reason to eliminate their consumption from a health perspective, well on the contrary. People who nonetheless decide to do so on ethical or environmental grounds should keep in mind that the robustness of such restrictive diets depends on knowledge, resources, and careful supplementation. Although it needs to be acknowledged that omnivore diets are often not well-formulated either, eliminating some of the most nutrient-rich foods from the human diet would further undermine the prospect of adequate essential nutrition in an already problematic foodscape. Moreover, restricting or eliminating animal source foods may not be suitable for everyone, potentially causing damage in populations with elevated needs, such as the young, pregnant and lactating women, older adults, and the metabolically challenged.