I’m going to cut to the chase:  Humans are omnivores.  There is little point arguing what 5000 years of biological study tells us (and yes the field of biology is around 5000 years old!).  Biologists classify things based on sets of rules that help to group living things into bins of similar organisms that differ in predictable ways from other dissimilar organisms.

The easiest (and for me, the most compelling) evidence that humans are omnivores comes from our teeth.  Herbivores have flat, broad molars for grinding up plant materials.  Carnivores have so called “carnassial” molars which are equivalent to blades that can cut through meat and hides.  

For a great read on the science, check out this post from veganbiologist.com .

 Comparison of herbivore teeth at the top and Carnivore teeth at the bottom (Photo: author created with Canva pro)


And Omnivores have molars that don’t fit either of those two categories well and so they form a separate group that shares more in common with each other, than with either herbivores or carnivores.

 Herbivores (e.g. horse), omnivores (e.g. humans) and carnivores (e.g. dogs) all have different types of teeth (Photo: author created with Canva pro)

Human teeth are very clearly neither herbivore nor carnivore.  That leaves us grouped in with the omnivores.

By their nature and the design of their teeth, omnivores eat many different things and that includes both plants and animals.

There is a difference between being born an omnivore, based on the classification of your human teeth, and choosing to eat a specific diet.  

Humans can survive on a vegan diet if they supplement B12 (which only comes from animals sources).

Humans can choose to eat a meat-based diet.

Humans can choose to eat an omnivore diet.


There is no single answer as to what your diet should be (read more: What does it mean to be an ancient human trapped in a modern world?).  Your biology makes you uniquely suited to choose a diet that you prefer, and have access to, rather than being like a horse committed to eating grass and plants, or a meat-eating canine or feline.

 

So my point in writing this is to say get over the idea that there is “ONE TRUE HUMAN DIET” because that is an outright lie.  Just look at the vast diversity of traditional diets around the world and you will get what I mean.  The Inuit traditionally survived on arctic char, seal, polar bear and caribou.  On the other hand, Indian culture has been largely vegetarian for thousands of years.

There is no right answer.  There are only choices.


At least half of all the plants on earth (approx. 200,000 plants) are edible for humans, even though we rarely try to eat them.  I couldn’t find a similar estimate for how many types of animals can be eaten by humans.   Just as with plants, some animals are toxic for people to eat and so would not count. 

Regardless of this vast diversity of edible plants and animals in the world, the UN estimates that: “Today, 75 percent of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species.”  Thanks Mega-Food-Corporations for that “win”?  (Read more:  How biodiversity loss threatens your future)

The bottom line is that your diet is only as limited as you choose to make it.  So think outside of the box! Literally.  
Stop chowing down on the hyper-processed crap being sold in stores.  

Learn more about your basic biology and what your body needs to thrive.  

Discover the abundance of food choices the world has to offer.  

And live your life.  

 

Ready to learn more?  The Mind-Body-Food Connection program is starting soon.   Learn how your senses have evolved to help you find food, and how Big-business uses your senses to manipulate you into buying more of their food.  Join the waitlist today!