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>Humans are physically much closer to herbivores than true omnivores and, of course, carnivores. Where can I read more about this? >If anything we're opportun

>Humans are physically much closer to herbivores than true omnivores and, of course, carnivores. Where can I read more about this? >If anything we're opportunistic primates that evolved to take advantage of calories where we found them. That sure sounds like "omnivore" to me. >These appeals to nature generally ignore the fact that the things we ate over the millennia don't exist now. They also fail the other way: for example, humans have evolved new metabolic pathways for adult consumption of lactose at least twice in the last 100,000 years, and they're different pathways! (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048992/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048992/) homestasis doesn't mean "everything is constant", it means "everything's moving all the time, and the set point doesn't change a lot if things are going well because we're always compensating"

cageface 7y ago
I think we agree that what humans ate as we evolved doesn’t really dictate what we should eat now, particularly when the plants and animals we ate along the way are so different from what we eat now. As for humans being closer to herbivores, our dentition, stomach acid and saliva composition, and digestive tract are much more like those of herbivores than carnivores. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancest...
- TheCraiggers 7y ago
  After reading that article, that doesn't seem to be what they're claiming (despite the title / URL). It says that we were opportunistic, and what opportunities presented changed over the years (and our guts with them). I disagree that our teeth and guts are more akin to herbivores, and so does the article you link. Hell, if you google image search for "omnivore teeth" the first result is literally a human mouth. Do some omnivores mouths look different? Sure, some have evolved to eat more live prey than others- some canines are bigger than others because of this. But the same teeth are present; most herbivores literally do not have canines. The ones that do, such as elephants, aren't used for eating but instead for defense or manipulating their environment so I don't think that counts.
  - cageface 7y ago
    Most people have small or even non existent canines. Not much use for the jobs real carnivores need them for. Again I’m not claiming that humans are pure herbivores. Just that we’re closer to that side of the omnivore spectrum.
    - inawarminister 7y ago
      >Most people have small or even non existent canines. Not much use for the jobs real carnivores need them for And smaller jaws generations by generations... I believe anthropology concluded this adaptation was caused by cooking. Certainly, gorillas who are almost obligate herbivores have proportionally bigger fangs than us. Incidentally, human guts don't ferment plants at all, so I'd argue we are closer to the carnivore half of the omnivore spectrum. Or perhaps we outsource the fermentation to our tools and storages, which is actually a valid animal feeding tactics.. [0] https://ucdintegrativemedicine.com/2016/03/youre-not-cow-gorilla-dont-eat-like-one-either/ https://ucdintegrativemedicine.com/2016/03/youre-not-cow-gor...
      - marci 7y ago
        Incidentally, humans don't need meat, so I'd argue we are closer to the frugi/graminivore half of the omnivore spectrum, like chimpanzees, our closest relatives.

cageface 7y ago

I think we agree that what humans ate as we evolved doesn’t really dictate what we should eat now, particularly when the plants and animals we ate along the way are so different from what we eat now. As for humans being closer to herbivores, our dentition, stomach acid and saliva composition, and digestive tract are much more like those of herbivores than carnivores. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancestors-were-nearly-all-vegetarians/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/human-ancest...

TheCraiggers 7y ago
After reading that article, that doesn't seem to be what they're claiming (despite the title / URL). It says that we were opportunistic, and what opportunities presented changed over the years (and our guts with them). I disagree that our teeth and guts are more akin to herbivores, and so does the article you link. Hell, if you google image search for "omnivore teeth" the first result is literally a human mouth. Do some omnivores mouths look different? Sure, some have evolved to eat more live prey than others- some canines are bigger than others because of this. But the same teeth are present; most herbivores literally do not have canines. The ones that do, such as elephants, aren't used for eating but instead for defense or manipulating their environment so I don't think that counts.
- cageface 7y ago
  Most people have small or even non existent canines. Not much use for the jobs real carnivores need them for. Again I’m not claiming that humans are pure herbivores. Just that we’re closer to that side of the omnivore spectrum.
  - inawarminister 7y ago
    >Most people have small or even non existent canines. Not much use for the jobs real carnivores need them for And smaller jaws generations by generations... I believe anthropology concluded this adaptation was caused by cooking. Certainly, gorillas who are almost obligate herbivores have proportionally bigger fangs than us. Incidentally, human guts don't ferment plants at all, so I'd argue we are closer to the carnivore half of the omnivore spectrum. Or perhaps we outsource the fermentation to our tools and storages, which is actually a valid animal feeding tactics.. [0] https://ucdintegrativemedicine.com/2016/03/youre-not-cow-gorilla-dont-eat-like-one-either/ https://ucdintegrativemedicine.com/2016/03/youre-not-cow-gor...
    - marci 7y ago
      Incidentally, humans don't need meat, so I'd argue we are closer to the frugi/graminivore half of the omnivore spectrum, like chimpanzees, our closest relatives.