Are humans omnivores herbivores or carnivores?

Answer 1

Humans are omnivores. The evidence that 98% of the human population consumes meat or some form of animal product (like milk and eggs) as well as fruits, nuts, fungi and vegetables on a regular basis is the most obvious of this fact.

What the experts below fail to acknowledge is the primal instinct to be the hunter or act like a predator instead of the prey. Our forward-facing eyes with binocular vision is key to this, as well as the activity of hunting dating back to the dawn of time and beyond. Prey animals like deer, bison, antelope, cows and horses naturally see us as the predator, not a fellow prey member that eats grass or fruits only. Though we do not kill and eat like a lion or wolf does, we have the brain capacity to develop tools and exploit fire--though there are and have been groups of people that readily eat meat raw or partially rotted as a delicacy, like that of the Alaskan Eskimos--to kill and eat the animals and use all parts of the animal for our own continued existence, such that has been done hundreds of years ago, not so typically practiced today in modern society, although similar things are done with the animals that are slaughtered. In a survival situation, a rabbit is a better means of survival than a celery stick, and will be eaten along with the celery stick.

We do not have a functional cecum like a horse or rabbit, nor multiple-chambered stomachs like a ruminant and pseudo-ruminant animals do. We do not have bacteria that are able to break down coarse plant material to get at the nutrients within, nor do we have bacteria that can generate their own vitamins B12, vitamin A or riboflavin like cows, rabbits or horses can: We have to get that from animal sources. Stomach acidity with food in it varies depending on the type and acidity of the food consumed. Since the stomach produces a highly acidic chemical Hydrochloric acid, the stomach is very acidic with a pH of 1.5 to 3.5. Acidity may remain the same or increase depending on what is being consumed. Basically, though, our simple stomach secretes enzymes intended for the digestion of dense protein and fats, not plant matter. As far as stomach capacity is concerned, a cow can have 50 gallons of digesta in her rumen, and has a stomach, including its fore-chambers, that takes up a large portion of the digestive tract (unlike which is mentioned below, which seems to have only accounted for that of horses and donkeys, not ruminant animals).

Human jaw structure isn't the best indicator that we are "herbivores" as indicated by an expert analysis below. For instance, jaw joint location isn't the same among all carnivores. Wolves and coyotes have their mandible joints well above the plane of the molar teeth unlike those of the feline world. Bears also have their mandible joints above the molar plane. Carnivores have well-developed facial muscles, especially those of the big cats, for crushing bones and tearing flesh. And a quick Google Image search on human facial jaw muscles revealed that the two strongest and largest muscles in our faces is the Temporalis and Masseter muscles, not Masseter and Pterygoit muscles as mentioned below.

As far as chewing is concerned, herbivores are as notorious for swallowing food whole without extensive chewing as many carnivores. Horses don't extensively chew the grass or hay they eat, and cows will only chew partly digested matter only after they've eaten their fill, and the cud they chew is just that: partially digested. Cows lack amylase in their saliva, as well as sheep and goats. Horses, pigs, rats and mice do not lack this enzyme. So just because humans have amylase in their enzyme and horses do as well does not make a human more of a herbivore.

As far as Vitamin A toxicity is concerned, ruminants are quite tolerant to high levels of Vitamin A due to the microbial activity that is capable of breaking down excess levels of Vitamin A. The fact that herbivores "cannot detoxify Vitamin A" is wrong when that context is taken in, and not simply by how horses are more sensitive to such toxicity levels.

One source by a vegan doctor "proving" that humans are herbivores does fails to take into account the varied structures and responses of various species of animals to the foods they eat and the nutrients they are able to process. As the expert answer by Peters indicates, there are subjects that are over-researched and arrive at conclusions that completely miss what is clearly obvious.

Answer 2

it depends on what you eat. most humans eat both plants and meat, so therefor we are omnivores
Many people believe that humans are omnivores. Omnivores (omni = all) eat meat as well as plants; carnivores (carni = meat) eat only meat, and herbivores (herbi = plants) eat only plants.

That's not to say that human beings can't survive perfectly well on a herbivorous diet with no meat. But most people live as omnivores. Humans (like other herbivores) cannot digest cellulose, so they depend on microbes in their digestive tracts to do so. Humans can synthesize all the amino acids they need, except for essential amino acids, which they are able to obtain in abundance from plants.

Summary of Dr. Milton Mills' The Comparative Anatomy of Eating:

:

Facial Muscles

Carnivore: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape

Herbivore: Well-developed

Omnivore: Reduced

Human: Well-developed

Jaw Type

Carnivore: Angle not expanded

Herbivore: Expanded angle

Omnivore: Angle not expanded

Human: Expanded angle

Jaw Joint Location

Carnivore: On same plane as molar teeth

Herbivore: Above the plane of the molars

Omnivore: On same plane as molar teeth

Human: Above the plane of the molars

Jaw Motion

Carnivore: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion

Herbivore: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Omnivore: Shearing; minimal side-to-side

Human: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Major Jaw Muscles

Carnivore: Temporalis

Herbivore: Masseter and pterygoids

Omnivore: Temporalis

Human: Masseter and pterygoids

Mouth Opening vs. Head Size

Carnivore: Large

Herbivore: Small

Omnivore: Large

Human: Small

Teeth (Incisors)

Carnivore: Short and pointed

Herbivore: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

Omnivore: Short and pointed

Human: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

Teeth (Canines)

Carnivore: Long, sharp and curved

Herbivore: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none

Omnivore: Long, sharp and curved

Human: Short and blunted

Teeth (Molars)

Carnivore: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped

Herbivore: Flattened with cusps vs complex surface

Omnivore: Sharp blades and/or flattened

Human: Flattened with nodular cusps

Chewing

Carnivore: None; swallows food whole

Herbivore: Extensive chewing necessary

Omnivore: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing

Human: Extensive chewing necessary

Saliva

Carnivore: No digestive enzymes

Herbivore: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Omnivore: No digestive enzymes

Human: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Stomach

Carnivore: Simple

Herbivore: Simple or multiple chambers

Omnivore: Simple

Human: Simple

Stomach Acidity

Carnivore: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

Herbivore: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

Omnivore: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

Human: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

Stomach Capacity

Carnivore: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

Herbivore: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract

Omnivore: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

Human: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract

Length of Small Intestine

Carnivore: 3 to 6 times body length

Herbivore: 10 to more than 12 times body length

Omnivore: 4 to 6 times body length

Human: 10 to 11 times body length

Colon

Carnivore: Simple, short and smooth

Herbivore: Long, complex; may be sacculated

Omnivore: Simple, short and smooth

Human: Long, sacculated

Liver

Carnivore: Can detoxify vitamin A

Herbivore: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Omnivore: Can detoxify vitamin A

Human: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Kidneys

Carnivore: Extremely concentrated urine

Herbivore: Moderately concentrated urine

Omnivore: Extremely concentrated urine

Human: Moderately concentrated urine

Nails

Carnivore: Sharp claws

Herbivore: Flattened nails or blunt hooves

Omnivore: Sharp claws

Human: Flattened nails
Humans are omnivores.

Omnivore! which means we can eat all types of food.. meat, fruit, veg etc. except for some people who choose to unnaturally cut out meat from their diet.

The guy that answered before me is right exept people that are in a diet so they don't wanna eat meat,they are actually eating meat!For example yogurt might not look like meat but it gets its color because of the dead bodies of ants (I saw it in discovery so it must be true)!
We, as humans, are naturally omnivorous. However, some people may only be herbivores and some only carnivores. It depends on the person and their preferences.

Physiologically and anatomically humans are most definitely NOT omnivores. We CAN eat meat but so can most other herbivorous animals. The evidence is overwhelming that we are not natural omnivores.
omnivore

Answer 3

Most people believe humans are omnivorous or even carnivorous creatures who have been eating meat since the beginning of time.

Humans are unable to kill most animals without weapons, and they are unable to consume bloody raw flesh right from the bone without having it cause. All carnivores and omnivores eat their prey's fur, skin, eyes, nose, face, brain, blood, internal organs, genitals, anus, toes, and tail, raw. Humans must cook small parts of the dismembered carcass so they don't become violently ill in the short term.

Dr. Neal Barnard, MD, states, "We're not carnivores. We've never been carnivores, ever. And even today, the most you can say is that people have become honorary omnivores. And that's only because a) we are creative and find ways to do things that are not natural for us; and b) the dangers of eating animal products occur after the age of reproduction. If people developed cardiovascular disease that was fatal by the age of twelve or thirteen, eating animals would have died out long ago. You get it after you've already reproduced."

Likewise, Dr. William Roberts, editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Cardiology and a professor at Baylor University, states, "Human beings are not natural carnivores. When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh--which contains cholesterol and saturated fat--was never intended for human beings who are natural herbivores."

Dr. Milton R. Mills, MD, in his paper, The Comparative Anatomy of Eating, writes, "Mammals are anatomically and physiologically adapted to procure and consume particular

kinds of diets. (It is common practice when examining fossils of extinct mammals to

examine anatomical features to deduce the animal's probable diet.) Therefore, we can look

at mammalian carnivores, herbivores (plant-eaters) and omnivores to see which anatomical

and physiological features are associated with each kind of diet. Then we can look at human

anatomy and physiology to see in which group we belong."

He concludes 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."

Answer 4

Notwithstanding the opinions of several experts, humans are omnivorous as is evidenced by the variety of food we eat. Some subjects can be over researched and arrive at conclusions at odds with what is clearly obvious.

Answer 5

Omnivores, although we can choose to be vegetarian or vegan.
We are omnivorous carnivores.

Answer 6

We are omnivorous carnivores.

Answer 7

Omnivores.