I think it's quite likely that God, knowing which foods were healthy and which were not, added some of this stuff as commands because the people didn't yet have the knowledge to understand the health risks, kind of like a parent might tell their child not to touch a hot burner, and even slap his hand when it gets too close, because she doesn't want her child to be hurt before the child is old enough to understand the dangers.
The animals that were allowed as meat were all animals that ate plants/grass, and not animals that ate flesh from other animals. This is also true with the fish and the birds that were allowed. (I often wonder if chickens were okay, because they will definitely eat mice and other small creatures. ) That is why they were considered to be clean; but even then, some of the animals that only eat grass (horses for example) were not considered okay as food. I think that God did give these laws for a dietary guideline, because the other people who worshipped different gods ate whatever they wanted to, whether it was healthy or not. Most of the old laws were concerning physical health and cleanliness, and I believe it was to help the Israelites live a healthier life than the other tribes of people living at that time who didn’t follow the Old Testament food and health laws. Some of the longest lived people eat plant-based diets, @Martin Alonzo ; so why do you say that they die young and meat eaters live longer ?
I have interviewed many 100+ year old people here I made a point to do so all are meat eater some even smoke. I have not found a vegan yet who lived to be 100 year old. The oldest people on earth live in the blue zones around the world they all eat meat and of course eat vegetables too. They are not vegan also if you look at carnivorous which I am not recommending the American Inuit [Eskimos] have no cancer and also no heart disease and eat very little vegetables because they don't grow up there. I don't know where you got the idea of the longest living people are vegetarians.
Many of the long-lived people eat a plant-based diet and live in the mountains, but I don't think most are vegetarian, especially not vegan. I think I pointed out earlier that a NASA study in the 60s and 70s discovered that vegans generally die at a fairly early age and usually of some form of cancer. The author said he wasn't sure of the cause, but theorized that it was due to lack of antioxidants. He stated that while vegans EAT a lot of antioxidants, many PROCESS very few due to the fact that they don't ingest enough fat to process the fat-soluble nutrients. It is also very difficult to maintain adequate B12 (cyanocobalamin) on a vegan diet without supplements, and, while beneficial in many cases, supplements are not natural and are not used in most areas of the world. If my wife (and now several of our children) had to eat only plant-based foods, they would likely starve as they have so many issues digesting them.
Perhaps only marginally on-topic but, while cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they have to eat meat in order to get the high protein that they require, their diets don't consist entirely of meat. In the wild, it might be that they get their vegetable requirements from the undigested foods of their prey. My own cats won't happily dine on a bowl full of carrots, but they do want to include vegetables in their diet. Whatever their age, my cats have never preferred the all-meat cat foods that are popular these days. Blue Buffalo makes its Wilderness brand, which is all-meat, and there are several other high-protein, all-meat, foods prepared for cats. My cats have always preferred foods that include carrots, peas, potatoes, brown rice, and other veggies in a preparation that has meat as its primary ingredient.
We still have an old farm cat who has lived most of her life outside, feeding on mice, voles, and the occasional squirrel, but since she has gotten old she spends most of her time in the heated garage. I have noted the same food preferences in her, @Ken Anderson. I bought her the really expensive dry food and several kinds of canned food. She doesn't like the expensive dry food at all, and only will eat some kinds of canned, mostly that with fish. She won't eat beef, chicken, or lamb-based food. I believe she is 19, while my wife thinks she is only 18, but she is a rugged ol' girl and has been fun to have around.
Mine eat the expensive foods, but not the all-meat ones. Even the no-grain ones, which I'd think would be better for them, they'll eat it but if I set it side-by-side with a brand that includes brown rice, they will turn to that one first, and while they will eat some of the all-meat stuff, I end up throwing away at least half the can so I rarely buy that for them anymore. I think cats require a degree of vegetables in their diets too, and their tastes reflect their needs.
Since I am growing corn for the first time this year, I have found that they prefer corn leaves. I think that helps them throw up furballs. Even when they don't have furballs, they have an instinct to do that. I know they tend to throw up after eating grass. It might also help with digestion.
Okay, I’ll join the party of off topicism. To propose that meat eaters or vegans or vegetarians live longer or shorter lives without substantiating the other environmental influences cannot be truthfully debated without a controlled atmosphere. Most studies I have read on the subject all agree that vegetarians do live longer but there’s also other factors that fit into that scenario. Vegetarians generally do not smoke and only lightly embibe in alcohol (if at all), they watch their living environment, and have a more controlled body weight more so than their carnivore counterparts. Percentage wise, vegetarians also have less obeisity, less heart disease and suffer from less strokes. For most vegetarians, it isn’t a matter of whether they like meat or not but instead they simply opt to live a FULL lifestyle bent on cleaner and healthier living. Unlike we meateaters, vegetarians for the most part are also pretty well studied up on the physiology of the human body which sadly, we as a majority do not normally do. Thus far I’ve only come across forecast speculation but what I would like to see is an apple to apple match up with groups of each over an extended period of time. Even then, to be fully truthful in the research, the genetic makeup of each group would have to be extremely similar which includes gender and race. Bottom line is from all the studies I have read, if there are no other influences involved, vegetarians do have a better diet and can live longer lives than we carnivores.........probably..... Now back to the OP. The Genesis story of the Garden of Eden does indeed lack some detail as to what the two human occupants actually ate and matter of fact, there really isnt any documentation of what Adam ate for the entirety of his 930 years of life. One would imagine that he ate plant life and fruits at first and then possibly went onto meat but still, I’m only speculating.
Right, @Bobby Cole. My comments were directed mostly to veganism; ovo-lacto vegetarians eat a very healthy diet. Long lives in the mountain people is also attributed to the level of exercise those people get. I assumed that the first people ate meat since, as you mentioned, the sacrifice of the sheep was valued more than the grains or whatever. Most shepherds use the wool and the milk, but mostly grow the sheep for the meat.
That seems the most plausible to me. I also considered that maybe Adam and Eve didn't need to eat at all while in the Garden of Eden.
Actually, @Martin Alonzo , I put this topic in religion and not health. I wanted to discuss the Biblical aspect of what people feel was God’s original diet for mankind, before the fall, and people were forced to leave the Garden of Eden that God had planted for them. If you want to discuss the health aspects of either a plant-based diet, or a carnivore diet, then there are several related topics already in the health and wellness area of the forum, or if you do not feel those serve what you want to discuss, then by all means, start a thread under health about carnivores and longevity.
IMO the original diet was plant-based and after the flood, in Genesis 9 God gave Noah and his family permission to eat meat. Interesting thought-provoking questions, keep em coming! Not sure we will come up with any concrete answers but if it gets us to open the book a little more often it can't be a bad thing.