What is the natural diet for humans?

Question

By looking at human teeth, what foods are we designed by nature to eat? I thought human beings are omnivorous (but our teeth are blunt) however that being said, *how* can people be healthy as a meat eater OR a vegan? Is it a testimony to how adaptable we are as a species?

Thanks in advance! :)

Answer 1

Our incisors are for tearing into meat.   We have enzymes in our bodies that are specific to digesting meat.

We also have enzymes that are specific for breaking down the kinds of compounds in vegetables and fruit.

We have enzymes to break down milk products, though some of us lose those as we age. (Milk is for babies, mostly.)

Humans are omnivores.  We also have a brain and emotions.  Some of us feel sorry for the animals that we eat.  Those people are called vegetarians.

Others have dietary restrictions due to various enzyme or metabolic deficiencies.  So, what is healthy for one person is not necessarily healthy for all.

Answer 2

Humans are naturally omnivorous, with leanings toward herbivorism rather than carnivorism.

Humans of the past ate mostly fruits, vegetables, tubers, and grains with meat as an occasional supplement.  Gathering was generally much easier than hunting, except in more extreme latitudes and during cooling periods (ice ages).

http://www.livescience.com/health/061109...

http://www.livescience.com/history/08042...

Answer 3

A lot of modern feminist and vegetarian literature is today propagating a lie. There is a myth that that “Man the hunter” is a myth. It is not a myth. A huge amount of study has been done on the hundreds of human hunter gatherer societies around the world. There is no tribe in which the women hunt and the men gather. Nor is there any tribe which eats only plants, although there are a few which eat all-meat diets. Typically, hunter-gatherers alive today eat about one-third meat, one third fish, and one third vegetable diets. Of course, today hunter gathers are living on the margins, not in the best hunting territory, and so can’t hunt the big herds they once could, so plants are probably a bigger part of the modern hunter-gatherer diet. In Britain, archaeological data and calculations based on climate and the like make it clear that humans relied on large ungulates (hoofed animals, especially deer) for about 80% of their diet.

Part of the daft modern myth is that our distant hunter-gatherer ancestors did not hunt splendid and dangerous big beasts, but instead for the most part grubbed up worms and the like. This is wrong. Hunter-gatherers try to kill the biggest animals they can find. This is their best strategy for two reasons. The first is purely economic. To feed itself, a group of twenty hunter-gatherers would have to work hard and gather 20,000 mussels per day, which would require access to an enormous mussel bed, which wouldn’t stay enormous for very long. By contrast, one man killing one cow will feed the whole group for nineteen days. The second reason is status. A man who brings down a giraffe will be far more impressive than a man who bests a gerbil. In Africa, elephants only have Man to fear. Humans for many tens of thousands of years have been the predator species which specialises in killing the really big prey. The best theory for explaining the extinction of a lot of giant species such as the auroch and the woolly mammoth, is that human hunters killed them off.

So, smile at yourself in the mirror and observe your omnivore’s teeth, and rejoice in your good fortune that you are a member of a species which gets to eat such a wide and tasty diet. If you want to live more “naturally” then for the latitude of Britain, you will almost certainly have to increase your meat intake dramatically. Remember to eat all the bits, mind. Many modern people make the mistake of eating just the muscles of the animal. Eat the heart, the liver, perhaps the contents of the stomach, and savour the delicacies like the eyeballs.

The equating of natural with good is a mistaken one. There was a time, when few people lived to see old age, and when people celebrated Man’s gradual triumph over the savage natural world. Nature was red in tooth and claw, and life for most was nasty brutish and short. Today, pampered middle-class idiots who have never known which years were bad for crops, let alone feared a bad harvest, have the ludicrous luxury of associating nature with goodness. To them, earthquakes and cuckoos, vipers and vampires are all good, because they are natural. Presumably unnatural things like schools, vaccinations, police forces, and photography must all be bad because they are unnatural.

Answer 4

Well the molars are for grinding grains and nuts. The incisors are for biting off chunks of fruit and the somewhat underdeveloped canines and premolars are instruments to tear off. That could be meat or fish, but also leafs. Millions of years during the evolution our diet has basically not changed. We were hunter gatherers, eating fruits, grains and nuts when available, hunting or fishing out of necessity in periods when fruits and nuts were not in season. So the real natural diet would follow the seasons, would be high carb in the seasons with grains and fruit and low carb in cold, snowy periods, depending on your ancestors of course. Northern Europeans followed this food pattern more than Africans, that could depend on a steady diet. So to answer your *how* question: our knowledge has evolved too, so we can choose to eat all vegetarian or vegan without problems. Human beings are the only animal species that evolved to be capable of thinking and making a moral choice: The choice if killing is a necessity for sustaining our life.

Answer 5

Anything that we can digest as omnivores.

Answer 6

Meats are difficult to digest and contain lots of fat and cholesterol. Our early ancestors ate mostly fruit, nuts, seeds, vegetables, legumes, grains, and meat when it was available. In this era of human history, a bison or rabbit would provide hearty meals and lots of valuable calories to help our ancestors survive harsh winters. Those in especially cold areas adapted to being to being able to digest milk so that they could get more calories. Back then, extra calories would mean enough body fat to survive the cold. Now we don't need these extra calories, and instead they are harmful - Western civilization is now afflicted with heart disease, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, etc, rather than starvation and  malnutrition. Vegetarians show lower risks of cancer and other diseases and have lower body mass indexes.  So I believe that for most people, it is healthier to be a vegetarian. However, if you eat a healthy mostly vegetarian diet supplemented by lean meats, that is certainly not unhealthy. Eating large quantities of meat and limiting fruit and vegetable intake will put you at greater risk for diseases and heart attacks. Another thing to consider is that nowadays the way animals are farmed is very unhealthy for the environment, and hence for humans. Large swaths of the Amazon are devoted to raising cattle.  

Answer 7

Naturally, we'd be omnivorous.

That being said, our body needs NUTRIENTS, not specific foods. Just because our bodies are designed to be able to process peas doesn't mean that we NEED to.

We need calories, of course. We need protein, fat, and carbohydrates. We also need vitamins, minerals, and some enzymes that our body can't produce on its own.

Prior to the agricultural revolution, humans ate more in the way of meat, berries, nuts, and probably a few leaves. But we didn't eat the variety and amount of plant foods that we eat now. It didn't mean that we couldn't do it physiologically. It just wasn't available.

Now, we are on the other end of the spectrum. We can use all plants if we want to and still get the vitamins and minerals we eat.

In short, it boils down to seeing the big (huge) picture: Why do we eat?

Once you answer that question, it's easy to see how humans can survive and thrive on a wide variety of diets.  

Answer 8

teeth aren't the determinate.. there are herbivores who have cuspids.

we really, really don't know.. but what has been determined is.... our digestive tract has been known to become problematic on the processed food diet and a overly abundant meat diet.

that evidence shows,  otherwise,  the conclusive is... we don't know..

i became vegetarian because my body couldn't process all that fat and proteins from meats and processed foods.

i'm much happier.

but i know folks who eat primarily meat and are doing just well.    really genetics is the determination and also a balanced diet with an active lifestyle.

the rest is up to the person or the health situation of that individual if there's any issue or complication due to the current chosen diet of that being.

but one thing is becoming very evident.. the processed foods diet is hard on the digestive tract..   more people should turn to more fresh foods...  instead of getting it packaged, canned, anything on the shelf with a extensive life or something from fast food.. primarily has been causing issues...  if that diet is primary  to that person...   studies show there's plaque buildup in not only our arteries from processed diets with all those additives, adjuncts, chemicals in general but our small and large intestines can build up plaque, residues, impaction of the fecal matter and polyps can develop.

so if one wants meat...   one should get it as unprocessed as possible...    from the butcher...    if one wants veggies... get it from the fresh produce section.. instead of frozen, canned or in a easy to cook package promising less time and great results...  but in most cases that processed food is not something one should eat daily.

and one other thing is determined.. we don't intake enough water or fresh fluids such as fresh or 100% juices not from concentrate.

the primary key here is.. lesser garbage and chemicals in the food the better and one must get off their heinder and exercise,  drink enough fluids and don't eat treats and convenience foods more than 30% of the time.

pick up an apple...   eat fresh chicken or beef...   lesser processed meats like sausage or that t.v. dinner,  big mack or tom's entrails with new nacho flavor!!!!

simple...

but scientifically with most things it's not been officially determined..   most make the teeth claim but teeth as of late have been cancelled out and the digestive tract has replaced that theory as the determined factor one what we should be eating generally if not primarily.

not saying one can't eat their processed foods.. just don't make it your basic staple..   treat it as a treat!       it's good for mass production and for putting back on those special occasions like cake mixes,  oreos,  canned foods for those big snow storms and hurricanes when the power goes out and all you have is the stove and a place to stay dry while things boil over...

and on and on..    i think everyone got the point here.  :D

Answer 9

being a vegetarian is tooo hard but if you cut down on the sugar that will help ur teeth  

Answer 10

see food...

Answer 11

As a tooth-decay preventive, I'm  experimenting with a six-weeks diet (starting with no sugar or carbohydrates and gradually increasing the allowance) which seems to discourage the enamel-eating lactobacilli for six months to two years afterward.

I guese that a sugarless diet may encourage the growth of germs that fight lactobacilli. The best recipe for good teeth: drink fluorine-containing water. If fluorine, which lactobacilli detest, is introduced into the enamel while the teeth are being formed, the teeth get permanent protection.

Answer 12

Well it is highly suspected that humans were able to evolve greater intelligence from a meat eating diet. Much of this had to do with the fact that meat is very calorie dense, and vegetarian food is not. So with just gathering, our ancestors had to spend more time looking for food, and less time developing a culture or crude-inventions.

That being said, the way we get our food now makes this reason currently unnecessary.

See my source from Berkeley.edu. Some quotes from it:

“"I disagree with those who say meat may have been only a marginal food for early humans," said Milton. "I have come to believe that the incorporation of animal matter into the diet played an absolutely essential role in human evolution."”

But earlier, it also says:

“"We know a lot about nutrition now and can design a very satisfactory vegetarian diet," said Milton, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management.”