Are humans omnivores or herbivores? show me proof?

Question

this is another question that has been given both answers over and over.. i want to see what you know and if you could give me proofs.

and i think this is a good section to write it on cuz if i write it somewhere else then everyone would say omnivores..i want to hear from both sides...mmm ill write it in the biology section too :p

thanks everyone

Answer 1

You can find any number of links to back up whatever side you would like to believe.  But I would think that many millennium of eating both meat and veges we would easily qualify as omnivore.

Answer 2

Humans are Omnivores. because we as a species usually eat Meat as well as Plant. Which is the most common and easy answer. but also our teeth show that as well. We have sharp K-9 Teeth to bite down on tough meat. And we also have our Molars which help grind down the fibers which are considered the flesh of the vegetation. We have the combination of flat grinding teeth or an herbivore, as well as the sharp ripping teeth of a carnivore, which is a trait of omnivores

Answer 3

omnivorese we eat meat and stuff that grows from the ground! only vegitarians would b herbivores

Answer 4

Humans are scientifically classified as Omnivores.  Our teeth are designed for both tearing thru meat and chewing thru plants.  Furthermore, human bodies were designed to digest both plants and meat, it's the human mind that chooses whether to follow those instincts or eat only vegetables.  

Answer 5

We're omnivores, but that means we don't need meat to survive.  If we were carnivores we would need meat to survive...but we aren't and we don't.

Show you proof?  Most people eat a mix of fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and meat.  That makes us omnivores.  We can survive if we cut out the meat though.

It used to be alright to eat meat before everything was factory farmed.  Now it's all about the money and not a bit about the animals.  www.meat.org.  It is no longer ethical to eat animals.

Plus, our teeth are sharp and dull.  We have teeth for tearing, but they are not that sharp.  I think it would be pretty hard for us to kill an animal with our mouth!

Answer 6

I'd say opportunists.

We can eat flesh but that doesn't mean we should and certainly not the amounts the average person does these days especially in the United States. Even a vegetarian gets twice the RDA of protein.

Part of why we do eat so much meat is modern refrigeration and preservations techniques, and politics which allows major subsidization of the feed crops as well as supports for meat production.

There is nothing in meat that we can't get from a plant-based diet. Even B12 is a soil bacteria which is how other animals get it but we have to wash off because of the way we raise modern meat with the runoffs contaminating and making the soil and sometimes plants dangerous unless sanitized.

We get way too much protein too which manifests in health issues of affluence such as kidney issues, gout, and even osteoporosis (protein is acidic causing calcium to be drawn from our bones).

Not only can humans "survive" without flesh, they can thrive without it. These include:

* A healthy heart

* Lower blood pressure

* Lower cholesterol

* Controlling diabetes

* Cancer prevention

* Better weight control

* Stroke Prevention

* Longer (and more enjoyable) life

I've had an abundance of issues clear up since adopting the diet including much healthier teeth and gums (including better breath), lessened to zero heartburn, less fatigue and more. I've known others to stop having issues with UTI's, yeast infections and athlete's foot, less depression and more energy, clearer skin, as well as better control over chronic health issues such as MS, arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.

Some have mentioned that our intestines are much more like herbivore guts than carnivore. Meat actually rots in our bodies before being eliminated taking 4 to 6 times the hours to get through.

And, our teeth are much like herbivore teeth and some herbivores actually have much more pronounced cuspid teeth in part for defense but the canines are also to get a firm hold on things from taking down prey to carrying back to the den which we do neither with. Our cuspid teeth also have very long roots which help shape our face (meaning they have more than one purpose). Even dogs & bears which could get by quite fine on a plant-based diet have much different back teeth than we do with our grinders which correspond to herbivore teeth. And a dog for instance has a very acidic stomach which allows it to eat the questionable opportunistic things it does such as spoiled meat or e coli laced food.

A bit more on the teeth issue is that meat-eaters tend to have jaws that go up and down only while herbivores have jaws that allow grinding up and down and side to side as well as back and forward; actual chewing rather than gulping.

Cows produce milk for their offspring which are removed from them so we can take it. That's not natural. It's also not natural for them (or chickens) to produce through the winter months. Milk is not naturally high in Vitamin D which is added to it so that the calcium is more absorbable but that calcium came from somewhere and that's from their diet. Other animals don't partake of cow's milk, including adult cows. Most of us are intolerant of milk and more would be if we weren't drinking it from early childhood.

Eggs too are meant to produce more birds. A chicken didn't produce as many eggs naturally as she does now and that's from breeding (plus she's spent after a couple years due to loss of calcium and other nutrients). In the past if she produced an egg that wasn't viable she might eat it herself to recycle the nutrients.

Lately most meats are being supplemented and extended with soy protein so even those who think they are avoiding soy are more vegetarian than they think.

Finally, herbivores can also digest meat and have been doing so quite a bit in factory farming situations. Mad Cow came about by giving cows other cows, sheep, chicken, etc in their feed. Currently they are still given blood products, bonemeal and chicken litter. This doesn't mean it's good for them though.

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There's more to it but I think most that claim omnivore do so from an emotional standpoint in that they want it to be, so they believe it is so (and this means they often reject any evidence to the contrary too).

EDIT TO ADD: Thanks so much for sharing that link. That was very interesting. Just wanted to share a couple I've stumbled on since answering:

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.ht...

http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall...

Answer 7

We are omnivores but can be perfectly healthy eating a plant based diet.  A purely meat based diet would however make humans unhealthy and we certainly are not designed to eat as much meat as most people do.  Being an omnivore does not mean we have to eat meat..it just means we can if we choose to and vegetarians do not choose to.

Answer 8

Omnivores. I sure folks are going to give some silly reasons for either side but the fact is we eat both meat and plants and include/exclude foods from our diets simply by choice/preference.

I love when people say this or that isn't like a carnivore or this and that isn't like a herbivore. Yeah, no kidding. We're neither. We're omnivores.

Answer 9

We are more on the herbivore side. Because we cannot take down a cow without the help of a spear or a gun. While natural omnivores like bears have the molars for eating berries,sharp fangs in the front for killing fish,as well as the largest prey like elk,deer,and moose.

That being said combined with the fact that people who have diets high in meat, ushually have diabetes,high cholesterol,and high blood pressure should sum up that we are more suited to a diet consiting mostly of fruits,vegetables,grain,and legumes.

Answer 10

omnivores, common sense. don't listen to the tree huggers

wow 12 thumbs down!!! ROFL

Answer 11

Well, our teeth says that we are omnivores. But humans are smart enough to choose.

Answer 12

We are whichever we choose to be.  

Answer 13

omnivore, teeth.

Answer 14

have a star.

may i give you a bible based reason?  we were created as herbivores.  animals were created to roam the earth and are in subjection to humans.  later, after sin entered into the world and death through sin, man began to use animals for food.  but god gave us permission to use animals as food.  many of us choose not to consume animals though.  animals today are not as clean and uncontaminated as they were in biblical times.  neither are we.  but we are not to regard our human lives as equal or superior to animals.  god was clear when he said the animals are in subjection to us.  i chose to not eat flesh for health reasons when i was 16.  at 40 i began eating meat again.  i took a long time to get used to.  i was lazy about my health.  i consumed too much cheese and restaurant alfredo sauce.  

after gaining 114 lbs, i put the dairy aside, stepped up my whole grains and added lean beef and pork.  sometimes chicken.  i have since lost 60 lbs in 7 months.  i feel great and energetic.  

long story short, i would say that today humans are omnivores, but were created to be herbivores when the earth was perfect.  it isn't inhumane to use animals as food, but should be a personal choice.  another thing i've been liberated from is my righteous holier-than-thou attitude.

sort of like smokers...as obnoxious as smoking is, it isn't as obnoxious as a non-smoker.

Answer 15

Human bodies are designed as herbivores with emergency carnivorism. Which means we are designed to only eat a plant based diet, animal product based food only on rare emergency situations are body can handle it.

http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.ht...

http://www.vegetarian-society.org/downlo...

http://www.goveg.com/naturalhumandiet_ph...

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/09...

http://www.celestialhealing.net/physical...

Answer 16

Humans are closer physically to herbivores than to omnivores or carnivores. Humans only have two (or maybe four) canine teeth, but the rest of the teeth are flat for grinding and chewing. Also, carnivores have acidic saliva to help in the digestion process of meat. Humans do not. Humans intestines are long and skinny, while carnivores have bigger intestines. Carnivores can eat meat raw---humans have to skin it and cook it for it to be edible. Based on the evidence, humans are herbivores.  

Answer 17

Boilogically speaking, we are omnivores, meaning we can eat both animal foods and plant matter.  Proof is the billions of people worldwide who eat both animal foods and plant matter and live to tell about it.  As a choice, we are capable of thriving as herbivores, but a true biological herbivore would eat little to no animal foods (incidental insects and the like.)  We're unique in the animal world in that we have a choice and have the tools/knowledge to make it.

Answer 18

Humans are omnivores, we have a digestive system that's biologically capable of breaking down both meat and veggie protein. Becoming a vegetarian doesn't make you a herbivore.

Answer 19

First off, behaviour is what determines if you're an omnivore or a herbivore. If you eat just plants you're a herbivore, of you eat just meat you're a carnivore, if you eat whatever is edible, you're an omnivore.

Biologically, humans are built to be omnivores. Our teeth are designed to deal with different kinds of foods. Our body needs nutrients that come from both plants and animals. It's only very recently in human history that non animal food replacements have become widely available. Humans have eaten meat and plants since the dawn of time. But now people have decided that it's wrong and have invented ways to avoid it, and a new morality has been created to support the new belief.

Your diet is your decision. If you don't want to eat meat you don't have to in the modern world. But it is not the natural human diet, it is morally motivated, not biologically.

Answer 20

Thing is we are omnivores.  It's in our teeth as others have stated.  But our seditary lifestyle of recent generations as well unhealthy herding and processing techniques have led to meat being something that Americans especially should eat in moderation.  I would be hard pressed to tell the starving tribes of Africa and other third world nations that they cannot and should not eat meat because somehow *you* think humans are herbivores.

Anyway, why do you need proof?  Choose your lifestyle and be happy with it.  You can't change other people by "proof".  If that were the case, all 1 billion of us would be doing the exact same thing at the same time.  Why waste your time baiting people for an argument?