16 Surprising Reasons Humans Are Actually Herbivores

In 2012 the U.S Department of Agriculture states that the average American consumed 71.2 pounds of red meaty and 54.1 pounds of poultry. It is now the norm for people to have meat with every one of their daily meals, but past generations survived by eating meat just once or twice a week.

This over consumption and dependence on meat has lead researchers to ask the question: Are human beings actually meant to be herbivores? This thought stems from the damage that meat processing does to our environment and bodies.

Humans:

We chew side to side. Similar to other herbivores like cows, and unlike omnivores who cannot break down their food this way.
Bad Cholesterol only comes from eating animal-based products.
Human’s tongues don’t have fat or meat receptors. This means that we cannot taste much of anything when we eat raw meat. We do taste salt and plant seasonings, but neither of those are animal products.

Herbivores:

Many doctors believe that humans are herbivores. DR. William C Roberts believes that eating animal products actually hurts our health and clogs our arteries. Since heart disease is the number 1 killer in the US it is important to take care of our arteries.
In a study when other herbivores were made to eat animal products they started to get clogged arteries. This won’t happen to your dog.
Herbivores have an ideal weight. They are the only category of human to be within the recommended “healthy” BMI averages.
Psychologically, humans are herbivores because blood, guts, and gore gross the majority of us out. Omnivores and carnivores are not disgusted when they see these things.
When the gut bacteria in vegans was studied researchers discovered that it contained the healthiest types of bacteria. Once the vegans started to eat meat they quickly developed harmful types of bacteria.
Herbivore and human intestines are 10-12 times their body lengths and omnivores intestines are only 4-6 times their body length.
Many people argue that if humans were supposed to be herbivores, then the B12 vitamin wouldn’t only come from meat. The truth is that B12 actually comes from bacteria in the soil, which is how many herbivores get it. You can also get it from unpurified drinking water. Many vegans choose to just take a supplement.
The Okinawan people of Japan are one of the most herbivorous cultures on the planet and they are also said to be the healthiest and live the longest. There is no way that this is a coincidence.
Our teeth aren’t shaped like other meat eaters, especially when it comes to our canines. They simply aren’t designed to pierce skin and eat flesh.

Omnivores:

Omnivores have sharp molars that hang over their lower jaw. These molars are designed to chomp and break bones. Our molars are located on top of each other.
Omnivores have large opening mouths and throats designed to swallow meat whole. Humans have much smaller mouth opening, and small throats just like other herbivores.
Similar to other herbivores humans have a stomach PH between 4 and 5. Omnivores, on the other hand, have an extremely acidic PH of 1, which is used to digest meat. For instance, a wolf can devour 20 pounds of meat in a single meal. Humans would have to eat over 100 burgers in one sitting in order to compare.
The stomachs of omnivores are 2/3rds the size of their digestive systems, whereas humans and other herbivores have stomachs that are 1/4th the size of our digestive tracts.