A few facts that support the fact we evolved as a Herbivore's and not opportunist prats.

Facial Muscles

Carnivore: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape
Omnivore: Reduced
Herbivore: Well-developed

Human: Well-developed

Jaw Type:

Carnivore: Angle not expanded
Omnivore: Angle not expanded
Herbivore: Expanded angle

Human: Expanded angle

Jaw Motion

Carnivore: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion
Omnivore: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion
Herbivore: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Human: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Major Jaw Muscles

Carnivore: Temporalis
Omnivore: Temporalis
Herbivore: Masseter and pterygoids

Human: Masseter and pterygoids

Mouth Opening vs. Head Size

Carnivore: Large
Omnivore: Large
Herbivore: Small

Human: Small

Saliva

Carnivore: No digestive enzymes
Omnivore: No digestive enzymes
Herbivore: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Human: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Liver

Carnivore: Can detoxify vitamin A
Omnivore: Can detoxify vitamin A
Herbivore: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Human: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

And the list goes on and on and on and on

Get the message.

RealUnreal - I'm confused why you put this post here. So much of the world eats meat, why spend your time on this little low carb site?? Oh wait, it's because you have gotten the wrong impression that low carbers are only eating meat and big chunks of it all the time.

Sorry to inform you, but there is no need to try and disturbe the low carb people here. Sure, many of them enjoy their meat, but you don't have to.

Don't hate, low carb the vegetarian or vegan way.

- From one non meat eater to another

*yawn*

Get the message.

Pass the chicken wings.

You left out the simple, yet rather critical fact, that humans are the only animals who use fire to cook meats - making them more digestible and functional to eat with our teeth set. In addition, the use of tools allows us to eat foods that mountain lions have dentition for......... Our large brains evolved because we had access to proteins of high quality. And our larger evolved brains allow us to figure out how to eat almost anything. We are not carnivores or herbivores - we are the most opportunistic species ever evolved and more omnivorous.

Thanks to protein from meats, our abdominal cavity shrunk while our brains got larger. Our bellies cannot hold the amount of vegetation we would need to survive.

Pass the prime rib....

We have actually evolved at dietary generalists, able to eat both vegetation and meat. It is also true that complete folivores like gorillas have extended guts that are used to digest cellulose-something that we do not have. The hominids that were herbivore dietary specialists (the Robust australopithecines) died out when in competition with our direct ancestors Homo habilis. In fact, there seems to be a correlation between our larger brains and reduced gut size. Digestive systems require a lot of calories when used to digest nothing but vegetative foods. Higher quality (meaning more calories per gram) meat foods allowed for a reduction in gut size and more calories to be expended in the equally costly expanding brain. In addition, many of our digestive enzymes are there to digest meat products.

There is archaeological evidence that as early as Homo habilis we scavenged the remains of animals. Primarily brain and bone marrow. They are high fat, high calorie parts that could be gotten with little effort with stone tools.

Oh, and by the way-I am a vegetarian.

Some selected references:

Blumenschine, R. J. Prey size and age models of prehistoric hominid scavenging: test cases from the Serengeti: 121-147.

Blumenschine, R. J. (1986). "Carcass consumption sequences and the archaeological distinction of scavenging and hunting." Journal of Human Evolution 15: 639-659.

Blumenschine, R. J. (1986). Early hominid scavenging opportunities: implications of carcass availability in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Ecosystems.

Blumenschine, R. J. (1987). Characteristics of an early hominid scavenging niche. Current anthropology, Chicago. 28, no. 4, 1987: 383-407, ill.

Aiello L (1992) "Body size and energy requirements." In: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, Cambridge University Press, pp. 41-45.

Aiello LC, Wheeler P (1995) "The expensive tissue hypothesis: the brain and the digestive system in human and primate evolution." Current Anthropology, vol. 36, pp. 199-221.

Here is a good article that summarizes recent findings that includes the hypothesis that australopithecines did eat meat:

http://www.iub.edu/~origins/X-PDF/Teaford&Ungar2000.pdf

And the steak tartare.

But hold the fries!

Karen

Exactly! Brain and bone marrow are ... in addition to fish body oil .. the richest known sources of the essential fatty acid DHA, which humans cannot manufacture in their own bodies.

Nuts and oily fruits can provide short-chain fatty acids. But the long-chain essential fatty acids -- EPA (eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (docosahexanoic acid) specifically ... are found pre-formed in nature only in animal-source fat. Long chain fatty acids are the chief constituents of our nerve cells and larger brain.

Humans may be able to synthesize DHA from plant-based alpha-linolenic acid (ALA or LNA) eg. from oil-bearing seeds, but the process is inefficient and incomplete. It's bioligically simpler to acquire DHA directly from animal-source fat. In fact humans are born lacking the desaturase enzymes necessary for the conversion of plant-based fatty acids -- human-breast milk is necessarily rich in pre-formed DHA. As well, a substantial percentage of human adults are deficient in these enzymes. This would suggest that the ability to synthesize DHA (and EPA) from plant-based fatty acids is not part of natural human evolution. Rather, it's an inefficient survival adaptation to the lack of pre-formed long-chain fatty acids from animal sources.


Doreen

opportunistic prats? grins

i think that was a dig but i don't know what a prat is .. is that similar to a brat(as in bratwurst)? The cheddar ones are really good with eggs. i have low sodium so i can eat them occasionally but they might be too salty for some.

Where do birds fit in to that data presented in the original post, since they represent quite a diverse mix, some basically carnivores, some not.

Great responses by Paleoanth, by the way.

Realunreal..
Thats great you are a vegan, so is my daughter, and my sister..If that works for you fantastic...Why??? Because that is your personal choice. You can't fairly "dis" people who eat low carb diet..Why??? Because thats our personal choice...Apparently you seem to be somewhat confused about what low carb eating is anyways...its not all meat, veggies also play a big role...Your post therefore, one can assume that you are not only bashing low carbers, but all those who eat meat. This argument could go on for ever (vegitarian vs. non-vegitarian), but what would be the point?? I highly doubt either of us is going to change the others viewpoints...It would be helpful to come to the realization that different folks have different strokes!!

Of course, our incisors are pointy. No as much as a cat's, but certainly more than a horse's.

"prat" - several definitions...

noun: "someone who is low or mean"
noun: "buttocks" (vulgar)
noun: "trick"
verb: "to shove someone with one's buttocks"

in context, I think meat eaters were being called "opportunistic a$$e$" or worse.

"prat" - several definitions...

noun: "someone who is low or mean"

Gosh .. looks like someone who would make such a sweeping statement and call a group of people a "prat" might fit the definition of being one.

Plant-eaters: Eyes on sides of head (to spot predators).
Meat-eaters & humans: Eyes in front of head (to track prey).

Plant-eaters: make their own vitamin B-12.
Meat-eaters & humans: must get B-12 from animal products (even Vegans must do this or eventually perish).

Plant-eaters: restricted to temperate areas where plants are plentiful.
Meat-eaters & humans: can populate extremely cold environments as long as meat can be found there.