Are humans omnivores or herbivores?!

Humans are omnivores and the indisputable fact that man has been eating meat for thousands of years, thriving during that time proves it. Humans are not"obligate plant eaters" either" because of the idea is humans cannot survive on meat alone. that is not true. Humans do survive on meat alone as evidenced by Inuits. As omnivores, they survive on a diet that is mainly meat and some vegetation only if and when possible. Perhaps they don't live as long as other people do, (ave lifespan is about 58-62 years old. But then again neither do Indians, in a country where vegetarians enjoy the highest population density whose male life expectancy is only 58 years old too) but they do survive. And note that pre meat eating humans, the "obligate herbivores" that vegetarian fanatics like to talk about mostly died at a ripe old age of 25.
If you compare humans with other omnivorous animals, you will obviously see many physical/physiological differences. But that holds true for other animals as well. Pigs don't look anything like bears and neither animal looks anything like a rat all three being omnivores. They don't look like chimpanzees either, our closest genetic cousins, who are also not only omnivores but hunters. The one thing we do have in common with all different animals is that we can all eat meat and plants and "survive".
Vegetarianism and veganism are both lifestyles that people choose to become. A true herbivore like a horse will not even consider meat as food because it is not physiologically capable of digesting meat in any amounts period. It might as well be looking at a rock.

If the fanatics are going to insist vegetarianism is more natural because we are "designed to eat a more "vegetable based diet" then they just contradicted themselves and confirmed that you can be a partly vegetarian. Because any diet that is made up of more than 50% plants is "vegetable/plant based".which according to them is the "more natural human herbivore/vegetarian diet".

Go past teeth, eyes etc and look at the gall bladder. Only animals who need to break down meat need bile. Herbivores produce very little bile or have underdeveloped gall bladders. Humans on the other hand produce copious amounts of bile. That's the "vomit taste" you notice when you throw up. Snakes don't have canines and eat meat. Neither do raptors and most birds. Teeth has purposes other than for eating.


The problem with the argument that vitamin b12 is present in seaweed and other sea based plants is "what about those societies who live far from the ocean? What's their option?". Oh yeah, being omnivores, they ate meat and dirty food, something vegans and vegetarians do not do. And there is no evidence whatsoever in any historical or archeological manuscript or relic where human were depicted to be supplementing their food with GMO derived B12. "Somewhere in between herbivory and omnivory" is a false statement because it is omnivory is the the "something in between" of herbivory (plants only) and carnivory (meat only).
To say that humans vegetarians are "evolved" is even more stupid. That statement implies that there are two classes of humans, one omnivorous and the more "evolved" "vegetarian". So any "evolved vegetarian" who eats meat again are "devolving" themselves physiologically? Guess what Goldilocks, even as a vegetarian, you can eat meat today because despite your childish denials, you are still omnivorous.

Humans are Omnivores. Simply look at our teeth. We have sets of teeth for ripping chunks out of meat, and we have teeth for grinding up vegetables.

We also cannot survive as Vegetarians, without careful consideration to the foods we eat. As humans, we require quite a bit of protein and very few species of natural vegetation has protein. We can also not eat very many species of natural vegetation.

We can also not survive strictly on meat.

Edit:
I love the thumbs down. Vegetarians and Vegans, obviously don't like to accept the truth.

Ignore Daisy's lies.

Humans occupy the boundary between herbivory and omnivory. We can survive in perfect health consuming no animal products, or consuming small amounts of animal products. For those of use who consume no animal products, all our vitamins are available from foods. Vitamin B12 is present in nori (the seaweed in sushi) and other algae like chlorella. All other vitamins are available from plant foods.

The problem with trying to categorise humans as EiTHER omnivores or herbivores occurs because biology doesn't work that way. There are rarely clear cut boundaries to biological categories which may be applied to every single species, instead there are fuzzy boundaries found among one or some species in most cases. And in this case humans are on one such fuzzy boundary. If we weren't we could not survive without plants or animal products. We can survive without animal products but not without plants. High intakes of animal products are associated with diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc but high intakes of vegetables are not associated with disease. So we are on the boundary, but closer to herbivory than omnivory.

vegan biologist

Seems to me we're omnivores. I've done small bits of study into this topic & whilst there is opposition to the accepted view that we are omnivores by cardiologists & other people in other fields, it seems rather weak.
I'd say based on my knowledge in biology which i study both at school & have a huge interest in pursuing, that there is an exception to the rule of what an omnivore is just like everything.
Humans for example often have to cook their meat & catch it via intelligent means of weapon-design over natural physical traits that other omnivores have, still doesn't negate the ability that we can digest & utilise meat. And as science has proved time & time again, we thrive off a large plant diet. Meat which is consumed by as far as i'm aware every tribe in teh world though some native-americans weren't keen at all on meat-eating & grew agricultural crops, seems to stand against the fact that we are herbivores.

I'm sure it'd be fairly evident by now if we were herbivore animals over the 500 odd years that the sciences have been revitalised & heavily studied.

vegetarian

Omnivore is a social adaptable word.
Omni- means "everything". HUmans will eat rotten cheese and piss- it's even in the bible- they eat feces in the bible. We eat mud, wax and tree bark too.
Humans are plant eaters, but if they have no plant food- they can eat meat, not for long, but to keep alive long enough to last until plant foods are available.

Omnivore simple means an organism that can use plants or meat for energy.

Humans thrive on fresh plant proteins, fats, and sugars. Humans make their own cholesterol and are the only species of animal to eat ( some think wrongly, and unnaturally) another animals' flesh and by products, get sick off that product ( animal foods have cholesterol) and die from it.
Literally, no other animals do this.
Why do we? We like the taste of meat, some humans do. We are greedy.

It is not for survival of the human race. When vegetation is scarce, humans sometimes look for animals. not the other way round.


We are more naturally plant eaters. Out anatomy suggests that.
Omnivore teeth are similar to meat eaters.
Humans make b12 from spinach, mushrooms, potatos, leeks- all plants grown in proper soil- it's easy to get b12 from a grain of dirt. The way food was created- out of the soil, not waxed and covered in pesticides.
We don't have claws and sharp teeth.
We don't have short intestines.
We make out own Cholesterol, we never need more- we get sick off it.
We have saliva to digest starch.
We don't have saliva to digest meat.

Omnivores are just opportunistic eaters- of course we CAN eat meat, but we don't need to. No carnivore gets heart disease or colon cancer from long term meat eating. Just because we CAN do it, doesn't mean we're suited to it naturally.

We are obligate herbivores who are capable of omnivorism.

Our teeth, jaw, taste buds, intestinal tract length, saliva, stomach acidity, etc resemble those of herbivores far more than carnivores. As evidenced by the proportional relationship between meat consumption and many diseases, meat is not part of our ideal diet.

I don't lose much sleep over what the ideal diet is for humans. Mainly because I don't think there is an ideal diet, and that our physiology allows both healthy vegan and healthy omnivore diets. I wouldn't want to argue that meat or milk is inherently unhealthy and I don't think I need to.

Ginny Messina wrote a good blog post on "How the Health Argument Fails Veganism": http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/11/how-th…

Despite what any "facts"
are. the human bodies has been shown great results on many different types of diets
i have personally met RAW vegan body builders
that out lift most meat eating ones
and get amino acids and nutrition there muscles fromavocado'ss and coconuts
and of course we have all seen
the high school foot ball jocks
healthy *** could be
surviving off burger king (not for long)
i think it just depends on the person
and what they can adjust to
and how learn how to portion and balance there diet

We can digest meat and plants, and if you look at human teeth, you'll notice bicuspids(fangs) as well as a set of molars that can grind plants to a pulp. So yes, we are carnivorous and herbivorous. And we're right up there with the rest of the primates when you consider that only a few of us in the group are true plant-only eaters.

humans are omnivores, and it's not a lifestyle, you're either a human omnivore, or you're not human. you don't have the option of being herbivore or carnivore. you can be a vegetarian, or one of those meat-lovers, but you're still an omnivore.

herbivorous is natural to Humans!

Omnivores. Ignore the argument about gut length, set of the eye, etc. The fact is humans need vitamin B12 to live. Vitamin B12 is not available in any plant food source. We could not have evolved without eating meat to get our B12. Who says we need to supplement for B12? The Vegan Society, VRG, theveganrd are a few who say vegans need to supplement for B12. From veganhealth:

"B12 is generally found in all animal foods (except honey). Contrary to rumors, there are no reliable, unfortified plant sources of vitamin B12, including tempeh, seaweeds, and organic produce. The overwhelming consensus in the mainstream nutrition community, as well as among vegan health professionals, is that plant foods do not provide vitamin B12, and fortified foods or supplements are necessary for the optimal health of vegans, and even vegetarians in many cases...."

What does B12 do? Again from VeganHealth:

"Overt B12 Deficiency

B12 protects the nervous system. Without it, permanent damage can result (e.g., blindness, deafness, dementia). Fatigue, and tingling in the hands or feet, can be early signs of deficiency.

Vitamin B12, like folate (aka folic acid), is needed to help red blood cells divide. In some cases, vegans may get so much folate that even with B12 deficiency, their blood cells continue to divide properly. In other cases, their blood cells will fail to divide properly and they will become fatigued and suffer from macrocytic (aka megaloblastic) anemia.

Mild B12 Deficiency

Homocysteine is a byproduct of protein metabolism. Elevated homocysteine levels are linked with increased risks of heart disease and stroke. From 1999 to 2003, there were many studies comparing the homocysteine levels of vegans and vegetarians who do not supplement their diet with vitamin B12 to those of non-vegetarians (more info). In every study, the vegans or vegetarians had higher homocysteine levels than the meat-eaters and in the range associated with heart disease and stroke."

http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/vita…

Human beings are not carnivores, and we have evolved as omnivores mostly but now we are evolving even more by using conscience and higher thought to dictate the things we eat to help stop suffering and cruelty. So although we have evolved as omnivores, the majority of our diet was composed of veggies, fruits and grains. Human beings will die on a meat only diet, which dictates that meat is not important for human survival anymore. Hence, vegetarians have evolved.

Vegetarian

All depends on the human beings personal preference. Naturally Humans are developed to be Omnivores, However there are vegetarians. And some people only eat meat. Just all personal tastes and preferences.

Common sense

I don't care about that designed to be omnivore bullshit. I'm an herbivore. ;)