Let us examine what humans are supposed to eat by nature’s design. Physiologically and by our body structures, are we close to carnivores ie. Meat-eating animals or are we made distinctly different than them and closer to Vegetarian animals such as cows, horses, etc.
Walking: We have 2 hands and 2 feet, and we walk erect. All of the carnivores have 4 feet and perform their locomotion using all fours.
Tongues: Only the truly carnivorous animals have rasping (rough) tongues. All other creatures have smooth tongues.
Claws: Our lack of claws makes ripping skin or tough flesh extremely difficult. We possess much weaker, flat fingernails instead.
Opposable thumbs: Our opposable thumbs make us extremely well equipped to collect a meal of fruit in a matter of a few seconds. Most people find the process effortless. All we have to do is pick it up. The claws of carnivores allow them to catch their prey in a matter of seconds as well. We could no more catch and rip the skin or tough flesh of a deer or bear barehanded than a lion could pick mangos or bananas.
Births: Humans usually have children one at a time. Carnivores typically give birth to litters.
Offsprings: The non-meat eaters’ offsprings have their eyes open at the time of their birth like our children have, while meat eaters’ offsprings have their eyes closed at the time of their birth.
Colon formation: Our convoluted colons are quite different in design from the smooth colons of carnivorous animals.
The bowel: The bowel walls of non-meat eaters and men are full of pouches where meat could easily get stuck and putrefy. The meat eaters’ bowel walls are smooth.
Intestinal length: Our intestinal tracts measure roughly 12 times the length of our torsos (about 30 feet). This allows for the slow absorption of sugars and other water-borne nutrients from fruit. In contrast, the digestive tract of a carnivore is only 3 times the length of its torso. This is necessary to avoid the rotting or decomposition of flesh inside the animal. The carnivore depends upon highly acidic secretions to facilitate rapid digestion and absorption in its very short tube. Still, the putrefaction of proteins and the rancidity of fats are evident in their feces.
Mammary glands: The multiple teats on the abdomens of carnivores do not coincide with the pair of mammary glands on the chest of humans.
Sleep: Humans spend roughly two-thirds of every 24-hour cycle actively awake. Carnivores typically sleep and rest from 18 to 20 hours per day and sometimes more.
Microbial tolerance: Most carnivores can digest microbes that would be deadly for humans, such as those that cause botulism. Perspiration: Humans sweat from pores on their entire body. Carnivores sweat from the tongues only.
Vision: Our sense of vision responds to the full spectrum of color, making it possible to distinguish ripe from unripe fruit at a distance. Meat eaters do not typically see in full color. Their eyes can see in darkness and have a stronger sense of smell. These qualities are helpful in catching the prey.
Meal size: Fruit is in scale to our food requirements. It fits our hands. A few pieces of fruit are enough to make a meal, leaving no waste. Carnivores typically eat the entire animal when they kill it.
Drinking: Should we need to drink water, we can suck it with our lips, but we cannot lap it up. Carnivores’ tongues protrude outward so they can lap water when they need to drink.
Placenta: We have a discoid-style placenta, whereas the carnivores have zonary placentas.
Vitamin C: Carnivores manufacture their own vitamin C. For us, vitamin C is an essential nutrient that we must get from our food.
Jaw movement: Our ability to grind our food is unique to plant-eaters. Meat eaters have no lateral movement in their jaws. The jaws of the meat-eaters open wide to capture prey but don’t move sideways necessary for grinding plant foods. However, the jaws of non-meat eaters, and also of man, don’t open wide enough but move sideways to grind the produce of vegetation.
Dental formula: Mammalogists use a system called the “dental formula” to describe the arrangement of teeth in each quadrant of the jaws of an animal’s mouth. This refers to the number of incisors, canines, and molars in each of the four quadrants. Starting from the center and moving outward, our formula, and that of most anthropoids is 2/1/5. The dental formula for carnivores is 3/1/5-to-8.
Teeth: The molars of a carnivore are pointed and sharp. Ours is primarily flat, for mashing food. Our “canine” teeth bear no resemblance to true fangs. Nor do we have a mouth full of them, as a true carnivore does. I am reminded of one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite retorts: “If you counted a sheep’s tail as a leg how many legs would it have?” Invariably, people would answer, “five”. To which Lincoln would respond: “Only four.” Counting the tale as a leg doesn’t make it one.
Tolerance for fat: We do not handle more than small quantities well. Meat eaters thrive on a high-fat diet.
Saliva and urine pH: All plant-eating creatures including healthy humans maintain alkaline saliva and urine most of the time. The saliva and urine of the meat-eating animals, however, are acidic.
Diet pH: Carnivores thrive on a diet of acid-forming foods, whereas such a diet is deadly to humans, setting the stage for a wide variety of disease states. Our preferred foods are all alkaline-forming.
Stomach acid pH: The pH level of the hydrochloric acid that humans produce in their stomachs generally ranges from about 3 to 4 or higher but can go as low as 2.0. (0=most acidic, 7=neutral, 14=most alkaline). The stomach acid of cats and other meat-eaters can be in the 1+ range and usually runs in the 2s. Because the pH scale is logarithmic, this means the stomach acid of a carnivore is at least 10 times stronger than that of a human and can be 100 or even 1000 times stronger.
Uricase: True carnivores secrete an enzyme called uricase to metabolize the uric acid in flesh. We secrete none and so must neutralize this strong acid with our alkaline minerals, primarily calcium. The resulting calcium urate crystals are one of the many pathogens of meat-eating, in this case giving rise to or contributing to gout, arthritis, rheumatism, and bursitis.
Digestive enzymes: Our digestive enzymes are geared to make for easy fruit digestion. We produce ptyalin-also known as salivary amylase-to initiate the digestion of the fruit. Meat-eating animals do not produce any ptyalin and have completely different digestive enzyme ratios.
Sugar metabolism: The glucose and fructose in fruits fuel our cells without straining our pancreas (unless we eat a high-fat diet). Meat eaters do not handle sugars well. They are prone to diabetes if they eat a diet that is predominated by fruit.
Intestinal flora: Humans have different bacterial colonies (flora) living in their intestines than those found in carnivorous animals. The ones that are similar, such as lactobacillus and e.coli are found in different ratios in the plant-eaters intestines as compared to those of the carnivores.
Liver and kidney size: Carnivores have proportionately larger livers and kidneys in comparison to their body size than humans. Meat eaters’ larger liver and kidneys are capable of removing the toxins from their meat-based foods.
Cleanliness: We are the most particular of all creatures about the cleanliness of our food. Carnivores are the least picky and will eat dirt, bugs, organic debris, and other items along with their food.
Natural appetite: Our mouths water at the sights and smells of the produce market. These are living foods, the source of our sustenance. But the smell of animals usually puts us off. Meat eaters mouth water at the sight of prey, and they react to the smell of animals as though they sense food.
Meat eater Animals are Mercy-Killers and/or Scavengers: Every species has a purpose. A greater understanding will one day make it clear to us what role that particular species has to play and how it helps in maintaining the ecological balance on our planet. When carnivores kill for food they kill fast or scavenge the remains of the already dead animals. They don’t go hunting for entertainment, but solely to feed themselves. Man is neither a mercy-killer nor a scavenger.
Sense of smell: Humans have a weaker sense of smell whereas carnivores have a strong sense of smell to hunt.
Sight in darkness: Humans have much weaker sight in the darkness. Carnivores/Meat-eating animals have much stronger sight in darkness to catch the prey.
It’s clear from the above features that nature has designed the human body for us to be Vegetarians. Our body is distinctly different than meat-eating animals or carnivores.
Source: From the book The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas N. Graham
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