How do Vegetarians argue against the science that Human beings are omnivores?

Question

If we were intended to feed from plants exclusively, our tooth enamel would be much thicker. How can a vegetarian claim it is "natural" for humans to eat no animal when our biology points to the contrary?

Answer 1

I think that basing a pretty large evolutionary question on tooth enamel is bad science to begin with. There are many other parts of our body which would suggest that we are not omnivores. For instance:

We have a very long digestive tract. This is an herbivore trait designed to extract the fiber from vegetables and foliage. Carnivores have much smaller stomachs and shorter intestines.

We lack the ability and anatomy to kill our food. We have no claws, no enlarged canine teeth, and pitiful land speed. You cannot run out into the forest and tear into a wild boar for dinner.

We also have the classic grinding back teeth of an herbivore.

There are many others, of course, but these are just a few facts that dispute your claim. Before you make your next one, a little more research might be in order. The most important point to make is that it is our choice and it won't really matter what you think of our choice.

Answer 2

Just because you don't eat meat doesn't mean you aren't an omnivore. Humans are naturally omnivores, meaning that we can eat meat if we want to, but it is not 100% necessary for our survival. You shouldn't listen to the extreme "scientists" out there. Those aren't people who have anyone's best interests at heart, they are people who create diet scams to make money off of honest people who are trying to lose weight and better their health. The reality is that a person can be healthy whether or not they eat meat, dairy, etc. The real question is how the person prepares their food, how they balance their diet.

Answer 3

Research has found that tooth enamel grew at much faster rates earlier in our evolutionary history. Modern humans' relative lack of tooth enamel is likely the result of our prolonged childhood years as well as a steady decline in good nutrition.

Answer 4

True, at the beginning of human development, it was necessary to eat meat in winter or in times of starvation to stay alive. But now that we're not cavepeople, we don't have times of famine like that and it's not necessary.

Everyone was an omnivore in "back then" because they would basically starve if they didn't eat meat. So, true, we were designed to be omnivores, but it's not necessary to be one anymore because we can still have the nutrients we need eating no animal products.

Answer 5

We are omnivores, it is a scientific fact. As a Vegetarian, I would never argue otherwise: neither would most of my Vegetarian friends.

Vegetarians make a decision not to eat meat for religious, moral or health reasons, not because meat is 'against nature'. Personally, I do not need to eat meat to survive and so I don't.

Answer 6

Biology huh?

Do you have the speed to catch prey?
Do you have the strength to break a neck of an animal with your hands or jaws?
Do you eat raw meat?


No? Enough said.

Answer 7

Why do meat eaters with an obvious agenda keep coming here posting "questions" obviously meant to upset everyone? If you can't rise above your animal nature, keep eating platefuls of irradiated feces. But don't disparage those who choose not to do so.

Answer 8

You're right humans are omnivores. However, through our own intellect it is no longer nessicary to eat meat. I don't think I've ever heard any one try to deny that humans were designed to digest meat.

Answer 9

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Why do we have to "argue" against science at all ?

my choice to be a vegetarian has nothing to do with what i was designed to do, its a moral choice against caging, controlling, abusing and killing animals.

If we were intended to cage animals and treat them barbaricly maybe we would be born with cages on our backs and stun guns built into our arms ?

You cannot argue that man was made for this-and-that when the meat industry is so unnatural. The "its natural" arguement lost all credibility about 50 years ago.

How can a meat-eater claim it is "natural" to cage animals, inject them with hormones and feed them on thier dead relatives.

Answer 10

I don't argue that. Some monkeys and apes eat meat. Chimpanzees have been known to attack and eat little monkeys.

But I'd like to raise above that stage of evolution If I have any say so about it.