So I had an argument with a friend, who is one of those annoying INSISTENT vegetarians. She wants everybody to convert because it's not ethical or whatever.

I had a debate about it, and I'm tired of it, so I figured I'd ask a wider group of people.

Are human beings meant to eat meat? And thus, are we omnivores? (I'm assuming the average person also eats vegetables.)

Or are we designed to be vegetarian?

Do not include generalized opinions. Do your research on the matter, and give clear concise reasons for why you think one way or the other.

What we can do is have a choice on the matter since we can both be or not to be vegetarians. That's how I think we were designed.

I prefer not to eat meat but I hate these converter types. And there are ethical and ecological reasons for not to eat meat but I have bee explaining those until my mouth went try my whole adult life and don't want to do it again. Sorry. Eat what you wish or don't eat what you dont want to eat.

If animals aren't meant to be eaten, why are they made out of meat?
Vegetarians: -8
Everyone else: 27

In all honesty, yes. There has been evidence that even early men ate meat. Our bodies are made to be able to eat both plants and meats. If you want more proof, than if humans weren't suppose to eat meat, than how can humans survive eating only meat. They can also survive eating only plants and fruits/veggies, ergo humans are omnivores.

Billions and billions of years ago... the human beings created existance in order to survive, the humans needed to search for food, they managed to make weapons like the club.
Eventually, humans discovered the fire, the fire kept them warm and allowed them to COOK their food, because raw MEAT is no good.

This may seem like a weird comment, but if you pay attention, this explains that the human being INDEED was designed to be omnivores, being a vegetarian or not is up to the person's choice.

So there you go, my explanation is that humans is actually designed to be omnivores.

Millions of years ago, humans as they were, were mostly herbivores(hence the appendix, which is more or less a vestigial organ from when we used to eat grass). Over time as the environment changed, and jungles turned to savannah's we adapted to a more carnivorous diet. Instead of evolving sharp claws, we were able to invent tools to kill for meat and use fire to cook it.

Meat tastes great because it used to be a rare meal, and it's rich in nutrients and fats which we need. Now meat is eaten every day, and it's no wonder that heart disease is the number one killer of humans world-wide.

I try to eat mostly vegetables and get my protein from beans, but of course I eat steak once and awhile.

Seishiro Leonhart : Exactly this.

I don't feel the need to find references and quotes but enough historical research shows humankind made developmental progression once they learned the skill of controlled fire.  They could heat and increase the caloric value of meat, which allowed them to develop better as a species.  

You can also look at the physiological similarities we have with meat-eating predators and omnivores.  We have the large, meat-slicing teeth in the front of our mouths, meant to rip and rend flesh.  We have forward-facing eye sockets that let us see depth.  Generally herbivores are prey and have eyes further to the sides of their skulls so they can see defensively.  Obviously not all but many do.  Very few predators have that same trait.

We have digestive systems built for consuming meat, which is readily broken down, and not plants.

Lastly, I read a book about running.  Humans are unique in our ability to control our breathing and cool our bodies while on the run.  Research and studies show we were meant to do that so we could outrun prey.  Gazelles are faster and horses are faster but humans have the slow twitch endurance to run those sort of animals into the ground and eat them.

Humans climbed to the top of the food chain and I, for one, will not eat salad after what my predecessors have done.

maguc :

This joke is so old it has grey pubes.

Otherwise, I agree. Though I don't think it is healthy to eat only meat for long times. Man cat live on proteins alone.

To put some biological perspective on it, we are physically not meant to be purely herbivores. The difference between a carnivore and an herbivore on a biological level are the amino acids that their bodies can synthesize on their own. In eukaryote organisms, protein synthesis requires 21 different amino acids. Essential amino acids are the ones that the body cannot synthesize on its own, therefore it needs to get it from other sources.
Carnivores and Herbivores are defined based on what their essential amino acids are. Herbivore organisms can synthesize amino acids present in flesh of all animals. Therefore, they don't need to consume flesh to acquire those amino acids for protein synthesis. Their essential amino acids are present in plant life, so they must eat those plants. Carnivores, on the other hand, cannot synthesize the amino acids present in flesh, so it must consume the flesh of other animals to acquire it. If they don't, their ribosomes cannot undergo protein synthesis. The amino acids present in plants, carnivores already synthesize them naturally, so they don't eat plants.
Omnivores are animals that have a mix of essential amino acids that require consumption of both plants and flesh in order to get all the acids they need for protein synthesis, or their essential amino acids are present in BOTH plants and animal flesh.
Whether humans are omnivores or not purely depends on how you look at it. If you look at the natural world in which we do't have the vast technological as well as agricultural prowess that we do, we are omnivores. Our essential amino acids are the ones that are found in flesh. HOWEVER, there are many plants that do contain small amounts of the amino acids we need for protein synthesis. But it is MUCH lower quantity than from meat sources. So the only way we can be herbivores or even omnivores is because we have the prowess to produce those plants in mass quantities to sustain us. Without that prowess, we can only get small quantities of human essential amino acids from plants/seeds, so we need that meat source. But since some of our essential amino acids are present in both, we are omnivores. But because plants have ours in such low quantities, we need the meat to sustain protein synthesis.
Okay. Once again, that previous paragraph was on a pure biological level without factoring in our intelligence and prowess. We have created a world in which we can not only produce the plants with our essential amino acids in such large quantities, we don't HAVE to eat meat. And we breed animals in such large quantities, we have all the meat we need. We can also make artificial proteins, in which we can consume the whole proteins instead of building them in our bodies with amino acids. In a technological world like what humans live in, you are whatever you choose to be. But if you want to go to what we are on a biological level, we are omnivores, but we lean more on the carnivorous side. We are more on the carnivorous side because the plants that do contain our essential amino acids have very low amounts of it within them.

There is an answer that has 100% no opinion whatsoever, just like you asked

God designed us to eat whatever we want so yes, we are omnivores.

mariowin13 : But what classifies someone as a biological omnivore/carnivore/herbivore has nothing to do with eating whatever we choose.

Thanks for all the answers, so glad to see so many intelligent people here, who recognize facts!

I also appreciate the vegetarian view, that recognizes not eating meat as a personal choice, not something that is physically wrong with 99% of the human race.

yes we eat sleep and digest and you know what

As a species yes we are omnivores. Since we can eat both meat and vegetables and fruit. Its a personal choice if someone wants to be a vegetarian or a vegan.

OK without going into as much depth as rcarter, but still being factual.

Look at our teeth and compare that to the teeth of herbivores and then to that of carnivores. We have these dagger shaped teeth that herbivores lack but yet these dagger shaped teeth are found in the jaws of carnivores.

The basic structure of human teeth is essentially the same as it has been for the past 195,000 years when the modern version of humans, homo sapiens, came onto this planet. That can be verified by going to any museum.

Also consider that chimpanzees, agreed by palaeontologists to be the common ancestor of all the human evolutionary paths, also do include meat in their diet.

Sources:
http://www.newscientist.com/movie/becoming-human
http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~stanford/chimphunt.html

[edited]

Sorry for the late answer. I hope you don't mind me posting this still, or posting it from a Christian standpoint.

According to the Bible, humans originally only ate vegetables and fruit (garden of Eden). However, God later told Noah and his family (after the flood) that they could eat meat. This is still not a contradiction of science though, as the Bible also shows us that God knew man would fall from grace, and He made a plan for them to come back to Him. Believe it or not, that plan actually required them to eat meat (such as how they had to eat lamb at the passover). Still, our bodies don't run well on meat only, obviously, and we need far more veggies than meat.

So simply put, we were meant to be omnivores, though I am a vegetarian. I have no issues in the least with others eating meat.

Carnas : Chimpanzees are not agreed by?paleontologist to be the common ancestor. That implies we evolved from chimps, which we did not. Chimpanzees and humans are different creatures that share a common ancestor. But the chimp itself is not an ancestor of us. Chimps are just as evolved as we are. They just evolved differently.

Eirinn : Quite the opposite, in fact, from the end of your second paragraphs. We do not need far more veggies than meat. As a matter of fact, we typically don't even use half of the stuff in veggies. Meat has much more of our essential amino acids than veggies do. We don't run well on meat alone because of factors such meat being processed now, high sodium, etc. But look at vegetarians. In order for them to truly be healthy, they have to really keep track of exactly what they eat so they know they are getting EVERYTHING they need. That is why it is more difficult to be a healthy vegetarian. Our bodies essential amino acids are the ones more found in meat than veggies. So you actually need more meat than veggies unless you have a very well planned out regimen of specific types of veggies and even supplements (artificial nutrients) if you can't acquire enough food variety to fill all needs.

rcarter2 : I stand corrected. I haven't studied these things out though. It was all just an opinion. I do know that (probably due to additives) a vegetarian greatly reduces their risk of cancer, as well as heart disease. I just erroneously assumed that was a natual thing to some extent

Our front teeth, such as the incisors, are designed to slice through meat; our back teeth, namely the molars, are designed to crush vegetables.

If she's the religious type, tell her that God put animals on the earth so that we may partake of their bacon meat.

Yes, we're designed to eat both vegetables and meat. Whether eating meat is ethical when all necessary nutrients are found in vegetables (and possibly seafood) is the true question. Personally, I think eating meat is ethically wrong, but I eat it just the same.