Human teeth prove we are herbivores?

Question

I can't remember where I read this, it was a long time ago, but I read that the shape, placement, and limited ability of our teeth prove scientifically that we are not meant to eat meat.

Our teeth are flat and dull, ideal for tearing and chewing leaves, and our teeth closely compare to all animals who share our (vegetarian) diets, such as horses, giraffes...ect.

Not to mention the fact that all meat eating animals are able to digest raw meat, while we are unable to. And they have razor sharp teeth made for killing without the use of a weapon and tearing animal flesh.

Any thoughts (besides arguments without proof)? Also, anything to add to this?

Answer 1

Scocasso and mousehet72 are absolutely right.

Human teeth are (and always have been) designed for plant food.

And apes like gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees survive on plant food.

It is funny how some people admit apes and monkeys are genetically very close to us and give that as a reason for cruel medical testing on these animals - but when it comes to teeth they say we're different. They also seem to forget how smart and social these animals are, which results in a great psychological, as well as physical suffering of the poor lab animals.

Not only teeth, also the digestive system of humans is designed for plant food. The enzymes in our stomach and intestines are different to those of carnivorous animals and our intestines are very long and the meat does not only take very long to go through, but also begins decaying within our bodies, before it is secreted.

Humans (as well as Neanderthals, for that matter), had to eat meat to (try to) survive the Ice Age. Luckily, by then they knew how to use fire, so they cold cook the meat - as we cannot digest raw meat very well.
This is proven by the cave paintings - do you know of any human hunting activities before the Ice Age?

Now Ice Age was a kind of a natural catastrophe and special measures had to be taken in order to survive. But humans continue to eat meat!
It is like continuing to take medicine after you got well!

Below is a ling to an article, which says

--- "African mole rats, which live underground and eat starchy plant organs such as bulbs, have similar chemical signatures in their teeth to those of two ancient hominin species found at the same site, the new research shows. This suggests that they may have had similar diets."
--- "Hominins had teeth like ours, which were designed to eat something really, really hard, like small seeds — not tough grasses or raw meat"
--- and more

And the second link:
--- "During the warmer period in Eurasia and in the forests of tropical and subtropical Africa there was no reason to switch to meat. More than 100 food plant species suitable for primates are available in the equatorial forest."
--- and more

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Of course, this debate could go on for days... I hope that, in my answer, I managed to grasp the essence of the matter.

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EDIT.
OMG how heavy some people are. Those of you who describe our "incisors" and the rest of it: I would like to see you bite yourself through fur and skin and then chew raw meat.
Bollocks! Not only our teeth are not designed for that, but we do not have enough strength in our jaws and necks!
Grow up and open your eyes!

Answer 2

Herbivores With Sharp Teeth

Answer 3

We may be able to eat meat, but not very well. We certainly cannot kill our own meat with our own natural tools. Could we even pick up a live rat and bite its head off -- no too tough and our jaws are just not strong enough, especially to tear into a larger animal as say, wolves or lions do. Just look at a dog that's the size of a human -- they can crush bones with their jaws (of course they usually bury them and dig up later to make this easier). All meat eaters jaws only move vertically -- they do not move horizontally as they rip and swallow chunks of meat, whereas animals that grind their food before chewing also have lateral as well as vertical movement (not to mention forward and back). Biology 101 will explain all about digestion and how that works in animal as well as humans. Sure, we can digest meat, and eating raw meat is easier to digest for us too (hence the raw meat eaters of the north), but again, eating such food requires tools. Sure, otters use rocks, and chimps use similar tools, but ... spears, knives, fire... I think such tools are far removed from using a rock to smash a nutshell or a coconut. We cannot even run fast enough to catch an animal without tools. Anyway, humans, and all animals are very complex. No one ever mentions all of the vegetation that meat eating animals consume. They do not survive on a 100% meat diet, as humans do not survive on a 100% vegetation diet. We, historically speaking, eat what is available to us and most natural for us to eat. There's a reason we have an aversion to killing, blood, etc. and there's a reason the screams of an animal in distress do not make our mouths water, so-to-speak. I don't know, there are lots of things to support a mostly vegetation diet.

Well, those are my contributions to the topic.

Answer 4

"Humans are not and have never been carnivores. A lion is a carnivore as is a wolf, as is a tiger, or a shark. Carnivores eat live animals. They stalk them, they run them down, they pounce, they kill, and they eat blood-dripping meat at body temperature. Nature - brutal red in tooth and claw.

I've never met a human that can do that. Yes we found ways to run down animals and kill them. In fact, we've come to be rather efficient at the killing part. But we can't eat the prey until we cut it up and cook it - and that usually involves some time between kill and eating. It could be an hour or it could be years.

You see, our meat-eating habits are more closely related to the vulture, the jackal, or other carrion eaters. This means that we can't be described as carnivores. We are better described as NECROVORES - or eaters of rotting flesh."

Answer 5

Recent research shows that human teeth are just as strong as those of some sharks...there are many people who eat raw and even rotten meat like fish...Have you ever heard of sushi? I have eaten many times sushi and I'm just fine...and chimps eat meat sometimes

Answer 6

Truthfully,I could care less whether or not someone believes we are herbivorees, omnivores,or carnivores.We can survive perfectly fine without meat and that's all that really matters.So many people think that because we are classified as omnivores that means we HAVE to eat meat,they don't realize the difference between being able to and having to do something.I do agree that we do sem better suited as herbivores.I've read that human breastmilk is only 5% protein,an animal requiring to eat meat would have a much higher protein content.

Answer 7

Human teeth prove that we are Omnivores.

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel Prize 1921


It is true, that evolution has caused humans to become more dependent on plants than animals. Our teeth point to an omnivorous diet of both plants and animals.

I think that humans, today, eat far to much meat. I wonder if all of the "I need meat" people would still need it so badly if they had to hunt for it using homemade tools and their two legs to track the animal. If a person actually researched about the meat industry these days, they would find there is a lot of proof that the costs of raising livestock for slaughter, the affects raising these high numbers of livestock has on the environment, the way meat reacts to most human bodies digestive systems, and a lot more... all point to a cost that far outweighs the benefits of eating the amount of meat consumed.

Answer 8

If Darwin is correct we should look at the diets of our nearest wild cousins. I believe it is the orangutan. Just a thought.

Answer 9

We have incisors - the four sharp teeth on either side of our front teeth - used for meat.

Many people, in certain cultures can eat and digest raw meat - Japanese, Italians, for example.

In the Bible there are many examples of people eating and digesting meat - perhaps the earliest is Abraham who ate Rachel's goat stew.

True, there were many laws as to how meat could be eaten, but that was down to the fact of preservation, there was no refrigeration in those days, and the weather could be extremely hot. Therefore meat would obviously spoil. Therefore it needed cooking.

Stone age men would eat and digest meat until they discovered fire could change the meat. They have incisors.

Apes, Chimps, Gorillas, Monkeys ...... all have incisors.

So, sorry, but your arguments do not stand up.

Answer 10

No, our teeth prove that we are omnivores.

Yes we have flat teeth for grinding, but we don't have ONLY those kinds of teeth. He have canines for gripping food and we have incisors for cutting. A human's teeth are designed to deal with a wide variety of foods. If you look at an herbivore's teeth you'll see they are all flat grinding teeth, like our molars. Any claims that human teeth prove we are herbivores is either mistaken, or vegatarian propaganda. We are designed to eat meat, we're just not designed to eat only meat.

Sure, we cook our food now, but I'm sure you've heard of "steak tartar"? That's raw hamburger, served as dinner.

And our "claws" are tools, instead of being built in.