Question:
What proof is there that humans were created to be omnivorous?
anonymous
2007-06-23 05:28:36 UTC
We do not have sharp teeth/claws and we live perfectly without it. Surely if were meant to eat it, we would not have guilt?
Sixteen answers:
SST
2007-06-23 06:26:27 UTC
sweetie..... it doesn't really matter..... but humans are developed to be omnivores..... they have the digestive enzymes to break down meat..... they have premolars to puncture/crack bone. they have canine teeth that are a pure meat adaption. but we also have teeth for eating plants. incisors are for both but molars are more for vegetation. As far as the guilt..... it is only in recent generations that this has really become a significant problem.... It comes a lot by the media bringing to light video such as how the shark-fin soup is originated. or how conditions of animals are treated are sometimes considered horrific. it was really born of a conflict really..... we have the aspca to protect our dogs and cats from neglect and abuse.... but no one to protect any other animals that aren't an indangered species. That's where the guilt originated. It's not a species guilt.... just a subcultural guilt and realization of the need of more regulation.... that's the best I can tell you the way I think.

but I am quite the hipocrite...... love my dogs and cats...... eat steak.

Hope it helps.
arcomart
2007-06-23 12:45:56 UTC
Surely are canines and incisors would be considered sharp teeth. And I believe all omnivorous can live with out eating meat. Most people don't have any guilt when eating meat (aside from vegans and vegetarians) and if they do its usually when they see a film about how the kill animals and inject them with steroids or are told about it from an animal activist group and still thats at the most going to get them to stop eating meat for a week at the most(unless they become a vegan or vegetarian) then they are back at eating burgers and steak.
kamkurtz
2007-06-23 19:19:10 UTC
Our eyes are located in the front of the head, binocular vision, so we can gauge distance to our prey. Herbivores have eyes on the sides of the head to see if we are coming up on them.



Our teeth are neither all molars like herbivore's, or canines used for taring flesh, like carnivores.



Our tongues have spots for salty, sweet, bitter, and sour. Two kinds for meat, two for vegetables.



Our family units are "mixed herds". We keep carnivorous scavengers around us, even regard their looks as cute. Dogs developed an innate companionship with us. Cats are said to have developed purring to attract human companionship. These small scavengers would not have formed such intimate relations with us if we didn't provide for them - meat. (of course cats have great use to agrarian cultures in the use of rodent control).



There is other physiological evidence of omnivorous attitudes in Homo Sapien development. The great thing is our brain; which we can choose to live vegetarian lifestyles and transcend any dependence on flesh. Chooses are wonderful.



I am concerned about your feelings of guilt. You must have some issues to work out. One should be vegetarian for themselves, not from peer pressure.
anonymous
2007-06-23 12:44:41 UTC
Right...firstly, proof that we are omnivorous is our teeth, we have incisors, canines and molars so that we can eat the majority of food types (the canines are not quite as sharp due to our evolution, we cook our food and use our hands or cutlery to tear the meat before we put it in our mouth, rather than using our canines to tear it)...Secondly there is the fact that humans have enzymes to digest proteins from meat and vegetation...Thirdly, the positioning of our eyes indicates that humans are predators because we have binocular vision, herbivores have eyes set to the side of their head so that they can see pretty much 360 so they can see any predators approaching....Finally, your point on claws, we have evolved so that we do not need claws, we have learnt to use spears and other weapons so we do not need the claws to grip or kill our prey (as it were)...thanks, hope this helps
High-Fruit Low-fat
2007-06-23 19:35:43 UTC
"can actually digest anything"



But, recently, cows have been fed meat. (cow meat! of all things). AND, carnivores have been fed non-meat diets. They survive, even though cows are herbavores and cats are carnivores. So that's not proof.



BTW, the cows didn't do well - "Mad Cow Disease"



Humans do adapt to their life style: eating meat will make your teeth adapt. That doesn't mean we should eat it. Our organs are still suited for vegetation, and us vegans are having a blast. http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=d6279db8ba93207df470ca9b1b36cc85



AndyB's Pro-meat post below is a great mix of scientific info and grammar. It's all the more saddening that he does a great job of presenting false information.



He wrote: "60% of vegans even now have some level of B12 deficiency, as opposed to no meat eaters, which says something about how well adapted we are to a vegan diet"



This shows you have your facts upside down. There ARE meat-eaters with B12 deficiency. B12 isn't absorbed well. Fact is - B12 is made in the intestenes by "friendly" bacteria. That's how the cows get it in the 1st place.
anonymous
2007-06-23 19:24:57 UTC
People feel guilty about having sex, does that mean we aren't meant to have sex?



I would like to point out to the person that basically stated we are only predators because of our tools this: we are not prey any more because of our tools(in most cases, anyway). We have absolutely no natural defenses, but I don't see you having a problem with us developing unnatural ways to protect ourselves, why the problem with us developing unnatural ways to help us feed ourselves?o.O
AndyB
2007-06-25 16:13:02 UTC
No sensible vegetarians can contest that we were deigned to eat meat. Even most vegan scientists agree that human's are designed to eat meat, that is not in question.

That we do not have claws, talons, or incisors to hunt proves nothing. When early hominids ate meat they scavenged it, as vultures do, using their fingers to get the sinews and meat other animals couldn't. It was only after that that they began to hunt the meat themselves, and only much later they began to cook it. It is interesting that even now if someone was brought up eating raw meat he would have no problem with it.

The last few million years of human evolution have revolved completely around tools. We used advanced stone tools long before we began to hunt our own meat, and as such there was no need for evolution to bestow us with large claws or teeth to kill prey.



Simple research into human biology reveals how we are meant to eat meat. For one thing, our body produces hydrochloric acid and meat splitting enzymes that herbivores don't produce and are solely used for the digestion of meat. There are adaptations to our teeth (not incisors, rather the size of the jaw), stomach and intestines which have made a human being very adept at meat digestion. There is nothing wrong with the way our body digests meat, and we are so adept at eating it no scientists are of any doubt we've evolved to eat it.



In contrast, there are many reasons we aren't naturally herbivores. We cannot naturally get all the nutrients we need without animal products naturally. Vitamin B12 cannot be got, even now, without animal products or supplements, and a lack of it can cause anaemia and impending death. 60% of vegans even now have some level of B12 deficiency, as opposed to no meat eaters, which says something about how well adapted we are to a vegan diet.

All other nutriets can be got natually. That owes to that vegtables can now be sold all year round, even out of season, and can be flown into the country from all over the world. In bygone times people could only eat the relatively small range of plants that grew in their ecosytem, and only when they were in season. Thus many more nutrients would have been unavailable and still more unavaillable for most of he year. Until very recently it would have been impossible for a vegan human to live naturally without dying very quickly.



Now, meat makes up for all these lost nutrients very nicely, and it really shows how we aren't naturally vegans, as until very recently it was impossible to live like that.



@ Beebs



Our opposable thumbs were designed for gripping trees, but they later became bloody useful for holding spears.

Also, don't generalise 'meat-eaters' based on the order 'carnivora' which contains most meat eating mammals like cats and dogs. They are very closely related to each other, and as primates we are not, so it is no great surprise we are not very much like them, but that doesn't affect our ability and design to eat meat.

Also, when humans did have to catch their own meat, and it was only a few centuries ago when most people lived in the countryside and would have often have to have caught, killed and butchered their own meat, there were pretty much no vegetarians around.
fred
2007-06-26 04:53:23 UTC
We were and that much is obvious but the point that most vegetarians make is that if you don't have to it is unnecessary and cruel.
Emily Huff
2007-06-23 21:48:35 UTC
well, we are predators.our eyes are on the front and our teeth are kanine and molars. if we were meant to be like these vegans want us to be, than we would have eyes on the side of our head and teeth like horses.
beebs
2007-06-23 13:09:58 UTC
I think its obvious that the human body is better designed for gardening. We do not have the ability to hunt, catch, kill, and devour prey without the use of tools, nor do we have the teeth for consuming raw flesh. We do, however, have an imposable thumb, perfectly designed for picking fruits and vegetables. We have two tiny incisor teeth, and the rest are flat like other vegetarian creatures. Natural predators have a mouth full of sharp canine teeth, and the claws to and speed to capture their prey. I think if more people had to hunt, kill and butcher their own prey, there would be more vegetarians. Its only because meat is so readily available that most people can eat it.
nikiyayo
2007-06-23 12:42:31 UTC
for as long as man was able to subdue animals, that's how long he has been omnivorous. all civilizations have been omnivorous. if you love your animals you should have a problem with the way that they are treated during their lifetime, not what happens after they die. read up on halal.
anonymous
2007-06-23 13:20:33 UTC
It is really a question of ETHICS, creatures are sometimes TRICKED and brainwashed to think that it is OK to DEVOUR that other creature ~when in reality it is not...



look at NAZI GERMANY or SLAVERY in early america (how did that stuff happen and why was it justified?)
rinoao
2007-06-23 14:16:41 UTC
Look at the food pyramid.
krishna
2007-06-23 15:28:58 UTC
Frank S gave an excellent answer.

I second it!
zs_a_rose_by_any_other_name_zs
2007-06-23 12:37:27 UTC
we can sustain ourselves by eating whatever we want, and our stomachs can actually digest anything we can consume



i'd say that's pretty good proof
rome
2007-06-26 02:58:01 UTC
the bible


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