Proof that humans are biologically omnivores?!

kiyog, if humans are omnivores then they are biologically omnivores. Its the same thing. Biologically speaking they can eat both plant and animal matter. So saying humans are omnivores (which you did) but then saying they are not biologically omnivores makes no sense. And humans used their brains to come up with these tools and weapons. And much of the food they caught they only needed one set of tools, their hands. Just because they eat meat doesn't mean the meat is always big game that has to be speared. Insects, frogs, turtles, fish, and many other animals can be caught using hands.

kiyog, your quote is ridiculous. Lions are carnivores, but even baby lions drink their mother milk when they are babies, they don't even eat meat as babies. But since you say a human baby won't eat meat you think you have proof of something.

And you say we aren't made to use arrows and spears? Then why did they use them? Their human brains thought of them and made them. Whats more natural than that?

friendof chip, there is no such thing as Tamahumara indians. There are Tamahumara indians, and guess what? They ate meat. The Himalayan tribes in Hunza and Gilgit were NOT vegan. And Ancient Egyptians DID eat meat, why do you keep of your lies?

I see your source Lilly Denyer is a vegan website. You might want to check out other websites so you get the truth. Here try this one, http://www.biology-online.org/articles/h…

I don't see the diet of one people as "proof" of anything, though I do consider humans to be omnivores. We humans are incredibly adaptable, and we had a tendency to eat what was available when we actually had to work for our food. Today, our diets reflect personal tastes (or maybe a lack thereof).

Personally, I believe a diet based on plant matter with some lean, appropriately raised meat can be very healthy, though I'll stick with an entirely meat-free diet for myself. In other words, I think it's possible to have a healthy diet including meat. But it will take a lot more than speculation to make me believe that a meat-BASED diet can ever be very healthy.

I think you are correct. In recorded history there has never been a civilization, a tribe or any known successful group of people who were strictly vegetarian. Humans need vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is not available from plant foods. Proof, IMO, that humans are natural omnivores.

I think humans are omnivorous because we CAN digest meat.
I just think that we're supposed to have more of an herbivorous diet because...
1. We can't digest most raw meat properly.
2. Too much meat is bad for us in the long run.
3. Our bodies are closer to that of an herbivore's.

Humans have canine teeth. Canine teeth did NOT develop as an evolutionary advantage for ripping the flesh of wild cabbages!

So what if Native Americans ate meat?
THey scalped and killed the white man too, and the white men killed them back. So what?
Are you really saying that's proof of humans being omnivores?
I'm pretty sure there were people around before cave paintings existed too.
And so what if hidden tribes in Kalimantan and Halamhera eat monkeys sometimes?
That proves some people eat meat.

The Tamahumara indians are vegan and always have been. They weren't even documented by white outsiders til the 1600's when explorers from Europe came across them. Since many tribes in SOuth and Central America are very traditional, they could have been this way for millenia.

The Himalayan tribes in Hunza and Gilgit are vegan, and have been that way since first being seen by European explorers over the Hindu Kush.

Indian veg/ans- Early Bronze Age Hindu civilizations have vedas and scriptures of their culture. They are vegetarian and in many cases vegan.

Ancient Egyptians ate vegetarian, excavation have proved that they ate bread herbs, fruit, but no meat- it was too expensive and hard to get- the ones on the coast ate fish , but inland, and Egypt is one of the most ancient civilized lands on earth-they are vegetarian.

Why is it so hard to imagine that where humans were possibly formed- the dry african continent, was the place ( similar to Egypt) that they also relied on plant foods during that time?

Why do you even need proof- you want to win?
Fine.
That still proves nothing.

Humans aren't BIOLOGICALLY omnivores. That would mean it is in our makeup to eat meat. I don't know too much about indians, but I know they used arrows and spears to hunt their animals. We aren't meant to use arrows and spears, so we can't be meat-eaters. I do think humans are herbivores. Everyone knows a vegetarian/vegan diet can sustain us. If we were really meant to be omnivores then there would be something we would be missing from a veg*n diet, and there isn't. Yes, humans are omnivores, but not biological omnivores.

Also, here's a quote I really like -
"You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car." -Harvey Diamond

From what I've read in the way of articles etc, human biology isn't adapted to eating meat. For example people say that as we have canines that makes us omnivores, but canines are just the name for that kind of tooth and we don't have the jaw strength to tear apart raw flesh. Also, the fact that we have to cook meat before we eat it says it all. Carnivores/omnivores are able to eat it without any bother and have short intestines to quickly process it. Humans and herbivores have long intestines which means that when a human eats meat we end up absorbing all the fat which can cause several health problems. Also at one stage in our evolution we simply couldn't eat meat AT ALL! we just eventually adapted to it during events such as the ice-age as there weren't many vegetables etc about. So yes, we are adapted to eat meat when there's NOTHING else but it's not good for us on a long-term basis. Just do some more research. here's a good site below.

http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=600

Looking at the teeth of modern and earlier humans is often used as a way of theorizing about the role of meat, fruit, grains etc, in our diet. For as long as 2.5 million years, humans have had teeth that are sharper and better adapted to tearing meat than any of our ape relatives. It seems that further back, the ancestors were primarily fruit eaters. Later, grains and fruits remained important even as the teeth got adapted for meat so, apparently we ate darn near everything just as most human societies do today. And that's what omnivorous means - eating everything.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn41…

Interestingly enough here is a link on native americans & vegetarianism, as for how creditable the source is & such i'd be wary. I've also read that Native americans weren't half as big into hunting as thought, that this was a practice that came about when displaced off their lands by europeans (bury my heart at wounded knee source)
http://www.ivu.org/history/native_americ…

As for are we omnivores etc, i'd honestly bring this up on some biology forum not Yahoo answers & certainly not V&V section. Its just too biased in most cases, from what i studied of it its a mess, the herbivore arguments do certainly put up some burdens of proof on omnivore believers, but it seems that we are omnivores & very likely so

vegetarian