Does Cannibalism Have Implications On Health?

It would not be wrong to state that there are just a few things that would top the list that disgusts people other than cannibalism. The devouring of someone else’s body parts is something that is downright repulsive and vile. It is to Western sensibilities just morally improper. We all know and feel repulsed by the thought of cannibalism, but how does it affect one’s health?

Cannibalism

As you may have already guessed, yes, cannibalism is in fact, not the healthiest option. Even though the mere thought of eating human flesh is absolutely ghastly, the actual morality and ethics that govern these feelings of ours are not as simple as they first appear. There is a lot of complexity that is there in the minds of us human beings.

Reasons For Cannibalism

Cannibalism has been in existence for many years in several species and has also taken place in the human culture for thousands of years. In some cases, cannibalism would mean eating the body parts of enemies so as to gain their strength and powers. In some tribes, the eating of another human’s flesh had a more ritual meaning behind.

Examples Of Cannibalism

When some tribes go through a very rough and desperate time, they often go back to their cannibalistic ways to survive. For example, there were a lot of reports about people committing cannibalism while the North Korean famine struck in 2013, the siege of Leningrad during the 1940s, and China’s “Great Leap Forward” between the 1950s and 1960s.

Cannibalism As Medication

In Europe, following the 14 century till the early 18th century, human body parts were openly sold and bought as medications. They would usually sell or buy bones, blood, and fat. Even priests and royalty would make it a custom to eat human body products to try and dial down their health issues like headaches, epilepsy, and even nosebleeds to gout.

Eating Loved Ones

In other cultures, there are rituals that involve consuming the body parts of a loved one when they die, so that they sort of become a part of you. To “civilized” minds, this practice is indeed vile, but to the minds of the people that are up for these “transumption” practices, the thought of maggots eating away a family member or partner is equally disgusting.

Everyday Cannibals

As we slowly unmask the reason why we recoil to the slight thought of cannibalism, you will be more than surprised as to how complex it is. Some of us eat our fingernails while some mothers eat the placenta of their babies, right? So what about these people, are they not cannibals? Today we will not be talking about the benchmark that determines the levels of cannibalism but we will speak about the ill effects it has on health.