The ancients often said, “Meat-eaters are strong,” so people should not go backwards. Eating meat helps people progress, while eating a vegetarian diet leads to regression.
Pandas transitioned from carnivores to herbivores and ended up on the brink of extinction. This reminds me of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Cao Cao faced issues with soldiers’ diets. At the time, due to a lack of meat protein, soldiers grew weak and their combat effectiveness plummeted. Later, Cao Cao ordered the restoration of meat in the soldiers’ diets, and their physical strength quickly recovered. This decision directly influenced the victories in several key battles. Could the contrast between the change from vegetarian to meat-eating be as stark as the “regression” of the panda?
Hello everyone, welcome back to Jembon’s health channel, I’m Abang.
Humans, on the contrary, transitioned from plant-based diets to meat-eating and became the masters of the Earth. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Lu You often mentioned in his later years that his declining health was due to dietary issues. In many of his poems, he expressed nostalgia for meat, saying that when he was young and ate meat, he was strong, but in old age, after turning vegetarian, he became weak. Similar changes in physical health due to dietary shifts have been seen throughout history, in both Eastern and Western cultures.
There are two main arguments from those who criticize eating meat: First, they claim that human teeth resemble those of herbivores, with front teeth for cutting and molars for chewing. Second, they argue that the length of human intestines is more like that of plant-eating animals. In contrast, typical carnivores, such as lions and tigers, have sharp fangs and short intestines. According to the theory in the Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine), the energy of the spleen and stomach governs the digestive and absorptive functions, and meat is often considered to “replenish energy and nourish the blood.” Modern research also shows that moderate consumption of meat provides high-quality protein, helping repair body tissues and maintain normal immune function. This might explain why our bodies are inclined towards a balance between plant and animal proteins.
This perspective works well for animals that don’t change their diets, like cows and sheep that have always eaten grass, or lions and tigers that have always eaten meat. But when it comes to pandas and humans, this view doesn’t hold up. In the Qin Dynasty, many of the terracotta warrior statues held spears and swords, representing their strength and fierceness. These soldiers were strictly required to maintain a diet rich in meat to ensure physical endurance during battle. This shows that eating meat was key to enhancing human physical performance, while the panda’s transition reflects different dietary adaptations in animals.
Pandas are bears, typical carnivores with sharp teeth, strong muscles, and short intestines. So, “Kung Fu Panda” would indeed be a fierce fighter. In nature, pandas have no natural predators. No other animals eat them. But pandas started eating a vegetarian diet, mainly bamboo, about 7 million years ago, likely due to environmental changes. Over these 7 million years, their reproductive systems have degraded, leading to their endangered status. Interestingly, Shan Hai Jing (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) mentions a “bamboo-eating beast,” which some believe to be one of the earliest descriptions of the panda. While bamboo is their primary food source, it has far less nutritional value than meat, which may be a factor in the degradation of their reproductive systems. Modern conservationists are trying to improve this situation by supplementing pandas’ diets with more protein.
In the 1980s at the Wolong Panda Reserve, 90% of pandas couldn’t reproduce naturally and had to rely on artificial breeding. Only 10% of pandas could reproduce naturally. After giving birth, mother pandas would often be startled by their own babies and refuse to nurse them. Even those rare newborns had only a 40% survival rate. According to the China Wildlife Conservation Association, by 2020, artificial breeding techniques for pandas had greatly improved, and the survival rate of cubs had increased to over 90%. This shows how scientific progress is crucial in improving the survival of endangered species. However, pandas’ natural reproduction rates remain low, directly related to their long-term vegetarian diet and resulting malnutrition.
This transition from being carnivores to herbivores is a big problem. Pandas are heavy and require a lot of nutrition, but bamboo is low in nutritional density. Their short intestines further reduce absorption efficiency. Therefore, pandas have to eat for 10 hours a day, consuming 20 kilograms of bamboo just to survive. This is the typical “996 model”: exhausting work with poor results. As a result, their brains and reproductive systems have regressed, and the species is on the verge of extinction. Rarity makes something precious, and that’s why pandas have earned the status of national treasures. The famous Ming Dynasty painter Xu Wei, in his work Bamboo and Rocks, expressed the bamboo’s resilience, but the nutritional value of bamboo is far weaker than its symbolic strength. Pandas, depending on bamboo for so long, are akin to the literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties who favored a light diet, leading to weakness and even premature death. This demonstrates that a singular diet can lead to serious health problems.
Humans are completely the opposite of pandas. Primates were originally plant-eaters, with teeth and intestines designed for vegetarian diets. But due to environmental changes, humans began eating the marrow and organs of animals, consuming more and more meat. As a result, humans grew bigger, their intestines shortened, their brain capacity increased, and they became smarter, able to cooperate and specialize. Thus, sharp fangs and claws were no longer necessary, as humans could use traps and weapons. There was no need for the intestines to shorten further, as ample food allowed the body to sustain higher resource consumption. In ancient China, people often said, “Food is the most important thing for the people,” especially as recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, where Sima Qian noted how soldiers on the frontier under Emperor Wu of Han couldn’t fight effectively due to a lack of meat. Emperor Wu ordered an increase in meat supply in the rations, which directly enhanced combat effectiveness. Changes in diet had a direct impact on the army’s performance, reflecting the advantages humans gained from transitioning from a plant-based to a meat-based diet.
Human behavior has increasingly resembled that of carnivores ever since. The less time spent eating, the more time there is for entertainment. So, people shouldn’t go backwards. Eating meat leads to progress, while eating vegetables leads to regression. What happens when a meat-eating animal turns vegetarian? Just look at the panda. Modern nutrition research shows that moderate consumption of meat provides rich sources of vitamin B12 and iron, micronutrients that are relatively scarce in plant-based foods. The saying “Meat-eaters are strong” carries profound nutritional science behind it. Humans shouldn’t overlook the importance of dietary diversity, as it’s been a key factor in our long evolutionary journey.
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