Are we omnivores or herbivores?
- Thread starter marty
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I think the author wrote this paragraph first:
"In conclusion, we see that human beings have the gastrointestinal tract structure of a 'committed' herbivore. Humankind does not show the mixed structural features one expects and finds in anatomical omnivores such as bears and raccoons. Thus, from comparing the gastrointestinal tract of humans to that of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores we must conclude that humankind's GI tract is designed for a purely plant-food diet."
And ignored any evidence to the contrary: canines & incisors for teeth, a metabolism that responds to fats as well as carbs, and millions of years of weapons technology development & application...
"In conclusion, we see that human beings have the gastrointestinal tract structure of a 'committed' herbivore. Humankind does not show the mixed structural features one expects and finds in anatomical omnivores such as bears and raccoons. Thus, from comparing the gastrointestinal tract of humans to that of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores we must conclude that humankind's GI tract is designed for a purely plant-food diet."
And ignored any evidence to the contrary: canines & incisors for teeth, a metabolism that responds to fats as well as carbs, and millions of years of weapons technology development & application...
haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
From the article cited:
"According to evolutionary theory, carnivore gut structure is more primitive than herbivorous adaptations.”
This must have been some interesting world back then. All those carnivores, and nothing to eat but other carnivores? Since the earthly bio-energy system in based on photosynthesis of carbohydrates by plants, I guess the early carnivores that lived in the carnivore only world must have had solar panels on their backs.
Man, evolution is really much cooler than I ever thought!
Ha
"According to evolutionary theory, carnivore gut structure is more primitive than herbivorous adaptations.”
This must have been some interesting world back then. All those carnivores, and nothing to eat but other carnivores? Since the earthly bio-energy system in based on photosynthesis of carbohydrates by plants, I guess the early carnivores that lived in the carnivore only world must have had solar panels on their backs.
Man, evolution is really much cooler than I ever thought!
Ha
Khan
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Nords said:
Humans aren't capable of digesting uncooked whole grains or grasses or most leaves.
True story. Vegetarian 22 years. heavy duty exericiser. Health starts going down hill. Metabolism whacked all out. So much so Drs keep telling me I MUST have a brain tumour . Two MRIs disprove that but they keep bringing it up like they're too lazy to go look it up. But they still want me taking lipitor for cholesterol. (Stopped unilaterally after they failed to properly diagnose adverse reaction specifically listed in patient handout)
May 2005. Low carb diet which includes an Atkins compatible 2 pounds of broccoli/similar per day (more than most vegetarians I know eat). Four months later down 33 pounds. Feel better than any time in last 10 yrs. All that metabolic brain tumour business has mostly cleared up. Metabolism almost normal. Horror! Cholesterol is up. Dr pissing pants but still can't tell me what my risk is. But we should treat it anyway....? Two hearts scans show "no significant plaque burden" but I still need to lower my cholesterol even after cardiologist says "You're doing great. That stuff takes decades to build up".
Morals of the story is:
Vegetarianism is like smoking 2 packs of unfiltered cigarettes per day. Some people can live a long time and never seem to suffer any ill effects. Some get very messed up.
Vegetarianism is like smoking 2 packs of unfiltered cigarettes per day. Neither is guaranteed to extend your life or make you healthier. But both can make you sick and cost you shot-loads of unnecessary medical spending!
Eating meat is not bad unless you some have some kind of allergy or other intolerance to it. And some people do better with it than without it.
Doctors only know what they want to know and most of that, apparently, comes from watching too much TV.
Crusading vegetarians and neurotic hypercholesterolemiacs can jam it sideways
May 2005. Low carb diet which includes an Atkins compatible 2 pounds of broccoli/similar per day (more than most vegetarians I know eat). Four months later down 33 pounds. Feel better than any time in last 10 yrs. All that metabolic brain tumour business has mostly cleared up. Metabolism almost normal. Horror! Cholesterol is up. Dr pissing pants but still can't tell me what my risk is. But we should treat it anyway....? Two hearts scans show "no significant plaque burden" but I still need to lower my cholesterol even after cardiologist says "You're doing great. That stuff takes decades to build up".
Morals of the story is:
Vegetarianism is like smoking 2 packs of unfiltered cigarettes per day. Some people can live a long time and never seem to suffer any ill effects. Some get very messed up.
Vegetarianism is like smoking 2 packs of unfiltered cigarettes per day. Neither is guaranteed to extend your life or make you healthier. But both can make you sick and cost you shot-loads of unnecessary medical spending!
Eating meat is not bad unless you some have some kind of allergy or other intolerance to it. And some people do better with it than without it.
Doctors only know what they want to know and most of that, apparently, comes from watching too much TV.
Crusading vegetarians and neurotic hypercholesterolemiacs can jam it sideways
Interesting topic. I wonder why the author of the article didn't compare humans to apes and monkeys? Chimps and baboons eat meat occasionally. Gorillas never do. We are genetically closest to chimps.
I remember from anthropology class that humans have the thickest dental enamal of any animal, and the strongest jaw strength. Grinding and chewing grains and other tough foods is clearly something we evolved to do (even though we adapted to eating cooked grains, which allows us to get more food value with less wear and tear on teeth and jaws.) Carnivores don't do a lot of chewing, they tear off chunks and gulp it down (See Animal Channel, but not during dinner.) But that still doesn't make us vegetarians.
True herbivores never eat meat, not even occasionally. You'll never catch a dear munching on a drumstick. They would not be able to metabolize protein. Animals that evolved as scavengers and opportunistic feeders can eat and digest a wider variety of foods. Baboons, chimps and humans fall into this category. In fact we must have evolved as omnivores, because there are amino acids we need that can only come from animal protein. Because humans have big brains, devoted vegans can find alternative ways to get these amino acids.
Because humans can adapt to a variety of diets, we are able to become vegetarians if we want--but the fossil record points to widespread meat eating among our ancestors. They obviously didn't choose to eat only veggies. Some cultures are vegetarian, but most of them eat at least some animal protein, like eggs, milk or fish. In many cultures, eschewing meat is a form of special self discipline, because meat is a prized food and abstaining from it is hard to do.
Omnivores can become vegetarians if they want--but true herbivores cannot become omnivores.
I remember from anthropology class that humans have the thickest dental enamal of any animal, and the strongest jaw strength. Grinding and chewing grains and other tough foods is clearly something we evolved to do (even though we adapted to eating cooked grains, which allows us to get more food value with less wear and tear on teeth and jaws.) Carnivores don't do a lot of chewing, they tear off chunks and gulp it down (See Animal Channel, but not during dinner.) But that still doesn't make us vegetarians.
True herbivores never eat meat, not even occasionally. You'll never catch a dear munching on a drumstick. They would not be able to metabolize protein. Animals that evolved as scavengers and opportunistic feeders can eat and digest a wider variety of foods. Baboons, chimps and humans fall into this category. In fact we must have evolved as omnivores, because there are amino acids we need that can only come from animal protein. Because humans have big brains, devoted vegans can find alternative ways to get these amino acids.
Because humans can adapt to a variety of diets, we are able to become vegetarians if we want--but the fossil record points to widespread meat eating among our ancestors. They obviously didn't choose to eat only veggies. Some cultures are vegetarian, but most of them eat at least some animal protein, like eggs, milk or fish. In many cultures, eschewing meat is a form of special self discipline, because meat is a prized food and abstaining from it is hard to do.
Omnivores can become vegetarians if they want--but true herbivores cannot become omnivores.
trunk said:
I don't understand the motivation for writing this kind of crap. A lot of people seem to feel obligated to convert the rest of the humans on the planet to eating the exact same diet as themselves. Why?
Hey, go eat nothing but grass if you want. Or bite the heads off of rattlesnakes and suck the life juices from them. Why would I feel obligated to convince you that my diet was better?
And why would I bother to write such obvious rationalizations into an article to convince you? 
wabmester
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It's clear that we are adapted to eat meat, but it is kind of interesting that we're not as fierce as most carnivores. The lack of claws, large jaw, etc does seem to support the idea that we were scavengers rather than hunters.
Natural selection. What evolutionary development most benefits the hunter? claws? large jaws? or a big brain that allows you to develop spears, bow and arrows, guns, . . . ? I think history has answered the question.wab said:
I never understand why people assume that they know what nature would and should select. Nature made the selection (brains is most valuable to the hunter) and it clearly was correct.
wabmester
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sgeeeee said:Natural selection. What evolutionary development most benefits the hunter? claws? large jaws? or a big brain that allows you to develop spears, bow and arrows, guns, . . . ? I think history has answered the question.
I never understand why people assume that they know what nature would and should select. Nature made the selection (brains is most valuable to the hunter) and it clearly was correct.
Just wait till you meet our replacements. Big brains + big jaws + big claws!
mathjak107
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man didnt claw his way to the top of the food chain to eat carrots..
besides if it was wrong to eat animals they wouldnt have been made out of meat!
besides if it was wrong to eat animals they wouldnt have been made out of meat!
mathjak107
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the truth is man is not really geared to be a true meat eater.animals that are, handle the digestion of meat very different than humans do.ever see a tiger or lion with a cholesterohl problem? i have to admit many years ago i tried becoming a vegan for health reasons.the first thing i noticed about 4 days into the process was i was becoming almost hyper.i didnt understand why so i did a little research.it seems that because it consumes 3x the energy breaking down high fat products compared to carbs or proteins that when that energy is not needed it on a large scale it makes you almost like the energizer bunny.
of course after about 2 years of this i needed my dead animals back.nothing like a barbacued dead animal but if i didnt get so bored and miss meat it really did make me feel great.
if anyone doubts it i say try it for 10 days and report back to us...
of course after about 2 years of this i needed my dead animals back.nothing like a barbacued dead animal but if i didnt get so bored and miss meat it really did make me feel great.
if anyone doubts it i say try it for 10 days and report back to us...
mathjak107
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there are lots of things humans eat that we really shouldnt.did you know humans are the only species that continues to drink milk after infancy?.guess what the number 1 food allergy is?yep milk...
what a surprise right? its ironic too that doctors tell osteoporouses patiants to drink more milk..besides the excessive protein in milk straining your kidneys the high protein leeches calcium from the body making you drink more milk..between propaganda from the food industries and doctors knowing alot about treating you when your sick but very little about keeping you well we are blasted with untrue crap
first eggs were good,then they were bad, now they are good
meat was great,then it was bad,then it was good ,then it was great now back to good
fruits and vegatables were great ,now we learn number 1 food poisoning comes from fuit and vegatables soooo fruits,vegatebles bad
thats why im going back to my candy cake and pie diet,all things being equal im going for the heart attack
what a surprise right? its ironic too that doctors tell osteoporouses patiants to drink more milk..besides the excessive protein in milk straining your kidneys the high protein leeches calcium from the body making you drink more milk..between propaganda from the food industries and doctors knowing alot about treating you when your sick but very little about keeping you well we are blasted with untrue crap
first eggs were good,then they were bad, now they are good
meat was great,then it was bad,then it was good ,then it was great now back to good
fruits and vegatables were great ,now we learn number 1 food poisoning comes from fuit and vegatables soooo fruits,vegatebles bad
thats why im going back to my candy cake and pie diet,all things being equal im going for the heart attack
Ed_The_Gypsy
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It's a religion, squeeeee.
mathjak107
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oooooh man i can be the minister!
mathjak107
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Another lil tid bit is true meat eating creatures are able to make their own vitamin c from within their own body since meat has none.
Khan
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mathjak107 said:
Most mammals make their own Vitamin C.
What do guinea pigs, apes, some fruit bats and humans have in common? They all share the inability to produce their own ascorbic acid (vitamin C). All other animals produce vitamin C endogenously, or inside their own bodies.
http://www.advancedscientifichealth.com/pweb_research_animals.asp?SID=554893
