Why rabbits eat their feces, and what does this have to do with a vegan diet?

Recently, at the EU level in particular, there is a growing influence of policies that are characterized by special treatment for all animals used by humans. The most aggressive ones in this direction are even demanding that everyone follow the lifestyle they follow, and insisting that everyone adopt their value system in relation to wildlife. Sometimes these aggressive animal rights activists are equated with vegans, as well as those who do not eat meat and encourage others to follow suit.

Since I have stated in several interviews that at those times when I am unable to exercise, I am vegan, many of my acquaintances have placed me in the group that practices this diet. But actually, it is quite simple. In order to maintain balance in the human body, the amount of food intake must be directly proportional to the amount of energy consumed (physical activity). Several years ago, I changed my lifestyle and got rid of 30 kilograms of excess weight. Life without carrying a 30-kilogram "belly bag" everywhere is so pleasantly different from the previous stage of life that I now carefully follow that the balance of the body remains semi-constant. So, when I do many physical activities, I eat what I want and how much I want. On the other hand, when I find myself in circumstances where physical activity is difficult to do, such as attending a conference in a big city, I reduce the amount of food to what I really need. In such cases, when filling out a conference application, I sometimes tick the box of the vegan diet, and I have never regretted it. I recommend others to try it out. Much tastier compared to the religiously neutral chicken diet. However, as soon as I am back in my regular rhythm of life, where frequent physical activity is possible, I also include products of animal origin in my food.

Whatever the beliefs, humans belong to a mammalian species whose body cannot synthesize all of the amino acids needed by the body. The human body cannot synthesize nine of the amino acids found in protein - phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine and histidine. They must be received from food.

How do herbivores get the essential amino acids? The digestive system of herbivorous ruminants (e.g., common cows) is a symbiosis between the animal's body and a colony of many bacteria and protozoa that live throughout the animal's anterior gastric compartments. The cow grinds plant food, bacteria and fungi break down cellulose into glucose, it feeds protozoa, which synthesize all the necessary amino acids from plant proteins, and these protozoa with the proteins are digested by the cow, thus obtaining all the necessary amino acids. They are excreted in milk, and by using milk or dairy products, a person can take in all the necessary amino acids to regenerate human muscles, brain and other tissues. It is not necessary to eat meat. In Indian civilization, hundreds of millions of people have not eaten meat for decades. They use milk and dairy products, and such a diet has proven itself in the long run.

Theoretically, almost all essential amino acids can be received from plant products, especially if soy is included. There is only one exception. Lysine is found in high concentrations in animal protein, but in low concentrations in plant products. Lack of lysine, when trying to get it only with plant-based foods, is the main argument against the complete exclusion of animal proteins from human food. With a vegan diet, some lysine will enter the human digestive system if the plant-based foods are not washed or rinsed too hard, blanched or peeled. On a normal lettuce leaf, if it is not rinsed excessively, there will be invisible protozoa, aphids, insect eggs and other "animal" products containing a complete set of amino acids, albeit in very small quantities.

Cows and other herbivores obtain the necessary amino acids from protozoa that live in the stomachs of these animals. Humans must ingest essential amino acids. In turn, the most unique way to get essential amino acids is in hares.

Hares - two species live in Latvia: the European hare and the mountain hare - are typical herbivores. In cloven-hoofed animals, the colony of bacteria, fungi and protozoa, from which the animal derives both nutrients and essential amino acids, is located in the gastric sacs, but in rabbits, such a colony of bacteria and protozoa inhabits the caecum and the lower intestinal tract, which is already quite far behind the stomach. At this stage of the gut, there are no more enzymes that can break down proteins into amino acids. Relevant enzymes are present in hares, but they are active in the stomach and intestinal tract immediately behind the stomach. Consequently, all protozoa and their undecomposed nutrients are excreted in the feces, not broken down and not used by the body. How do hares get essential amino acids? That's right! They must eat their stool. That's how it is in nature. Hares are characterized by eating their feces - being coprophages. Consequently,

rabbits that follow a vegan diet perfectly are forced to eat their feces for their body to function normally.

Thankfully, people have many other options.

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