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There is some discussion as to whether the prohibition of eating the limb of a living animal was originally given to Adam the First Man or not.
One opinion states that it was, indeed, included in the original commandment forbidding the eating of fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
According to this opinion, Adam who was clearly given vegetation for food, as it is written, "And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the whole earth, and every tree upon which there is fruit of a tree bearing seed, to you these shall be for food."(Gen. 1:29). Adam was not forbidden to eat meat, but was merely forbidden to kill animals for food. If the animal had died of itself, it was permissible as food. What Noah was given, therefore, was a refinement of this commandment, in which God allowed man to kill animals for food, but forbade him to eat the flesh of any animal while the animal was still alive. According to the other opinion, Adam had received six of the Seven Universal Laws and had been forbidden to eat the flesh of an animal in any manner. Only after the Flood was the leniency of permitting animal flesh instituted. (Maimonides)
This commandment is one which is revealed explicitly in scripture, as it is written, "Every moving thing that lives shall be for you for food; just as the green herbs, I have given you everything. But flesh with its living soul, its blood, you shall not eat." (Gen.9:34) This, of course, does not mean that an animal's blood is its soul and that what man was being forbidden was animal blood. It is taught by the sages that the vitalizing animal soul is contained within the blood, and this is what the commandment refers to, for when an animal dies, this vitalizing soul departs. So long as this vitalizing soul remains within the animal, its flesh is forbidden to man as food.
At first glance, this commandment seems peculiarly out of place as one of the Seven Universal Laws.
Answer for yourself: How can eating the limb of an animal take its place side by side with such obvious fundamental principles of human morality such as those prohibiting idolatry or murder?
Besides a few bizarre and isolated sociological perversions in Africa and China, one is hard put to imagine who would even consider eating an animal's meat while the animal lives.
And yet, this is precisely why this commandment may well represent the essence of the Seven Universal Laws. Although mankind is enjoined to obey these commandments as they appear, the letter of the law only serves as a minimum, a starting point, which guarantees God's favor and insures human morality. But if man wishes to realize his greatness spiritually, he must tap into the infinite potential of the seven laws, using them to refine and elevate himself. We see here that eating the limb of a living animal serves as a hint as to the potential refinement that man can attain through his eating habits and by practising kindness to every creature.
For what man ingests as food is absorbed in his bloodstream and in every cell of his body and thereby becomes part of his essential being.
The person who eats snakes and monkeys will surely be different from the man who eats nuts and berries. And the mystical teachings state that the Holy Spirit will never rest on one who kills any creature, even the lowliest insect, purposelessly. (Teachings of the AriZal, Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi)
The early sages differ concerning the act of consuming the blood of an animal. The sages say that the Children of Noah contend that they are not forbidden blood as food. The Children of Noah may eat the flesh of an animal that dies by itself, but there is an opinion that states that only the flesh of an animal killed through slaughtering is permissible. One is guilty of transgressing this commandment subject to punishment by the courts whether he eats the limb of a living animal or for merely the flesh of living animal, even the smallest amount. The actual transgression is the eating of a limb or any flesh while it lives. Use of an animal's hide or any other benefit is permissible. Although a person is subject to punishment for eating the limb or the flesh of a living domestic or wild animal, he is not so condemned for the limb or flesh of a living chicken. It is, however, forbidden to eat this as well. Fish and other creatures, including animals, that are killed may have a limb or flesh taken from them and eaten. Slaughtering does not have to be in a ritual manner as with Jews. However, the killing of any animal for food must be done in as humane a manner as possible. Fish are considered dead the moment they are taken out of the water, but even so, one may not eat a fish while it appears to be alive as this is a lack of refinement and the chief reason for the giving of the Seven Universal Laws was to refinement the nature of man.
When one slaughters an animal, even if its windpipe and esophagus are severed, so long as the limbs are still moving, the limbs and the meat that are separated from them are forbidden to a Gentile because of this law. However, if one eats the limb or flesh of an animal after it has been killed, but while it is still moving, he is not punished for this by the courts, for it is not actually considered the limb or flesh of a living animal.
Everything that is forbidden to a Jew because of the law of the Limb Of A Living Animal is similarly forbidden to a Gentile, except that the Gentile has the added strictness of being guilty for this particular transgression whether the animal is spiritually clean or unclean. The Jew is guilty only if the animal is a type that is spiritually clean. Animals, together with their lives, were given into the hands of mankind. The higher spiritual rank of man dictates that he not eat the limb of a living animal. Even though the flesh of man and the flesh of animal are related, the one may be incorporated within the other through eating. But the soul (in the blood) of an animal may never be incorporated within the soul of man. Therefore the admonition for mankind to not eat blood as did the pagans in their false ritual worship. Another reason is that it is this blood that contains the Divine Life Source in the form of the Soul which God gave as atonement for the sins of mankind.
The soul [blood] of an animal must first be separated from its physical being before the animal body may be absorbed within and become part of the human body. (Samson Raphael Hirsch commenting on Genesis 2:16 and 9:5)
As a Christian Pastor I can say that out of all the Biblical doctrines which Gentile Christianity completely misunderstands and teaches incorrectly I can find no other more misunderstood teaching than what Gentile Christianity teaches concerning ATONEMENT and how it actually was accomplished. The confusion rests in the understanding of the "blood" as the vehicle for the "life" which is contained within the blood for God tells us if we read slowly and think that it is the "LIFE" that is in the blood that He gives mankind for atonement and NOT THE BLOOD. We read over this so often because we are subconsciously or consciously brainwashed by erroneous teaching our whole life to "think" blood when in reality we as Christians got it just backwards. The link above will straighten this all out and I strongly suggest that every Christian read the above information and make adjustments in their religious beliefs systems if they want to meet God with the truth one day. Shalom.