Scientists Say Cannibalism Harms Health, Explains Taboo

Researchers from the University of Wrocław in Poland and Charles University in the Czech Republic examined humans as a food source and found that cannibalism offers no caloric advantage and carries severe health risks. They reported that eating other humans can spread pathogens easily because of the near‑identical physiology of predator and prey. "From a caloric standpoint a human is an average food… the key problem lies elsewhere: the risk of infection," one researcher said. Cooking does not destroy the infectious proteins that can cause neurological diseases such as kuru. The scientists argued that the taboo against cannibalism functions as an "evolutionary insurance" protecting populations from epidemics that could otherwise wipe out entire communities.