Vegetarianism: Is it natural for humans?

Question

It is often debated whether or not humans are suppose to be vegetarians. People on both sides of this debate will point out human physiology and even history to prove their point. So is vegetarianism natural and how commonplace has it been for humans?

Answer 1

Your question is phrased in such a way that suggests that we are meant for one thing or another - we are no more meant to eat vegetables than meat than a combination of the two. Second, there is no single prehistoric diet, and current ethnic diets across the world very a lot. Prehistoric diets depended on what was available in the region, and there was not always a herd of cattle (or fish, chicken, etc) waiting in the lot over to eat. Humans are generalists: we are capable of living healthy lives on a wide range of diets. We are capable of eating both meat and vegetal foods, but do not absolutely have to eat meat in order to survive. As for the Vitamin B12 issue, since, unlike vegans, vegetarians can still eat dairy and egg products, they will not have a problem getting enough B12. As to whether or not it is natural, humans have the ability to live by such a diet if they so choose or if their environment requires it of them. As to how commonplace it has been, certain cultures and religions have taboos against eating any meat, meat from certain animals, certain vegetal foods, and other things. The number of people who have been vegetarian over time has fluxuated depending on ideology and availability.

Answer 2

Humans did evolve as omnivores. It's pretty unlikely that we ate as much meat as modern Americans do, but we definitely ate at least some. The general idea is that most hunter/gatherer groups have a 60% gathered/ 40% hunted caloric spread, with things like insects falling into the "gathered" category. This doesn't mean 40% of the diet was meat, of course. Meat has more calories than celery does.

You can be perfectly healthy on a vegetarian or a largely vegetarian diet, you just have to be a bit careful about what you eat so you get everything you need. Vegetarianism is also better for the planet in a lot of ways. Really, either choice is valid, but don't really listen to either side when they bring up evolution. Vegetarians are wrong because we did evolve eating meat, and carnivores are wrong because we didn't eat _that_ much of it.

Answer 3

Early hominids were vegetarians, but that line died out & the meat scavengers survived. Most primates are omnivoirs, meaning they are designed to eat both meat & vegetable matter. The extra protien in meat appears to have been responsible for the larger brain & without this birth defects are likely to develop. However, one can subsist & do well on a vegetarian diet with the large number of fruits & vegetables available to the modern human. Some vitamin supplements are recommended to make up for likely short comings in a vegetarian diet.
I could give you a long lecture on evolution, but will forego that since you didn't ask for an indepth explaination.

Answer 4

"Likewise, humans do not exist as omnivores - just because humans can eat (some) foods of both animal and fruit as well as (processed) plant origin does not make them an omnivorous species!" The fact that humans can eat both meat and vegetation is the definition of an omnivore. We are omnivores, it's a simple biological fact. Humans are not carnivores, because a carnivore diet does not provide all the nutrients that humans need to function. Throw around as many big words as it takes to make yourself feel important, but the simple science is that humans are omnivores that can safely live on a vegetarian diet. Edit: "In any case the amounts of vitamin C which a huan needs (as per ratios derived from all other mammal species) far exceeds that which anyone could comfortably obtain from eating fruits all day." Comfortably? You get enough vitamin C from less then a cup of strawberries. From one third of a papaya. From a quarter cup of bellpeppers. Where you don't get vitamin C from is meat. Likewise vitamins E and K, folic acid and fiber: all thing humans need which don't come from meat.

Answer 5

actually - the anwser about our ancestors being predators is on target - binocular stereoscopic vision and the grasping hand - things that all primates have - along with dentition patterns suggest that the earliest ancestors of all primates (long before we were human) were insectivores - animals that eat insects. Over time many different ways of surviving have developed among primates. In the human line, the evidence suggests that our most successful ancestors (those that eventually led to modern humans) have always been general eaters - surviving on a combination of nuts, fruits and the occasional meat product - usually scavenged rather than hunted early on.

One of the most succesful primates of all time - the robust Australopithecines - seemed to have had a very specific diet (based on dental and facial structure) and although they existed for over 1 million years - eventually as the climate changed, their focus on a single food source is what probably did them in. Our ancestors, by being more able and willing to adapt to a wider variety of resources were able to survive. Bottom line is that humans do seem to be ominvores - able to survive on whatever is available. Even into recent times there are the extremes of some groups that hardly ever eat meat and those that hardly ever eat anything but meat - (some eskimos for example - there is no vegetation available - except for the seaweed they take from the stomachs of their prey).

With respect to the one answer about "we have canines of course we eat meat.." the canines actually developed for protection in many species more than for killing. Gorillas have huge canines but are strictly vegetarian...

Answer 6

In plant-eating vertebrates, the appendix is much larger and its main function is to help digest a largely herbivorous diet. The human appendix is a small pouch attached to the large intestine where it joins the small intestine and does not directly assist digestion. Biologists believe it is a vestigial organ left behind from a plant-eating ancestor. Interestingly, it has been noted by paleontologist Alfred Sherwood Romer in his text The Vertebrate Body (1949) that the major importance of the appendix "would appear to be financial support of the surgical profession," referring to, of course, the large number of appendectomies performed annually. In 2000, in fact, there were nearly 300,000 appendectomies performed in the United States, and 371 deaths from appendicitis. Any secondary function that the appendix might perform certainly is not missed in those who had it removed before it might have ruptured.

Answer 7

As far as the archaeological and anthropological record go, early humans gained their intelligence through the eating of marrow and meat. As far as I know (although i could be wrong) there are no vegetarian sources of protein that occur naturally in the wild (No, insects do not qualify as vegetarian). I do know that soybeans had to be cultivated and since they were developed mainly in East Asia it is unlikely that our early Homo habilus and Homo erectus ancestors would have eaten them on a reagular basis.

Answer 8

It is not natural. People need B-12 to live and that is only found in animals. It can be done if someone is careful about the combination of foods and takes B-12 but that should indicate that it is not natural. Most primitive tribes are "hunter" gatherers. That means they consume some meat. I have never heard of a primitive group of humans with the luxury of exempting a valuable food source. That only happens in modern societies that can afford to be very selective.

Answer 9

No. Clearly we are omnivores. We can process proteins as well as carbohydrates.

People who don't eat meat can supplement their diets to ensure that they get all the protein that meat does not provide. However, vegetarians can eat sugar and oils, and often, dairy, so they can be as overweight as the rest of the population.

The bigger issue is that we do tend to enjoy food that is high in calories, whether or not we eat meat. Not so very long ago, on the cosmic calendar, our ancestors had to consume calories when they were available. Now, of course, calories are as close as the kitchen.

Answer 10

I believe that humans are supposed to eat anything. That is why are teeth are made for vegetables and meat. It isn't natural to not eat meat. It is all part of the food chain.