Men love to propagate the myth that humans are carnivorous by nature. Man-food is almost always associated with MEAT, MEAT, and MORE MEAT! Some have put out scathing critiques of vegetarian lifestyles, and most people cannot imagine life without meat. Humans at some point in our evolution figured out how to hunt and use fire efficiently enough and cook food thoroughly enough to make meat a fundamental supplement to the human diet, but all of those tasks point directly to our brain’s unique creativity, not our physiological disposition to consume flesh.

Case in point, let’s look at shock-and-awe YouTube celebrity Louis Cole, a shaggy-haired 28-year-old living in Roehampton, south west London. Louis started a video channel called Food for Louis, where he eats some of the most disgusting Fear Factor-esque concoctions. From eating live cockroaches to chugging down another person’s regurgitation, Louis’ extreme habit has paid-off, earning him international fame and over 90,000 subscribers.

But what caught Frugivore’s attention was his latest video, where he eats Roadkill in the form of a bunny rabbit. No one knows if the rabbit was placed there by Louis’ crew, but whatever the case, Bugs Bunny was clearly in rigor-mortis. So let’s dig in with Louis and see if humans are true carnivores.

Interestingly, you can see Louis tries his hardest to break through the rabbit’s fur and tough skin; it takes a monumental effort. He actually bites the other side of his lip before he cracks the rabbit’s casing. Humans just don’t have the teeth to eat an animal raw … sorry folks. Additionally, can you imagine having to go through all this work to eat this small mammal; now imagine trying to kill and eat a cow or pig, raw … please, there is no way.

Not only is Louis’ attempt to eat this rabbit gross, but it is seemingly proof that we are NOT carnivores. Lions, tigers, bears, and all other true omnivores and carnivores still love dining on the warm blood and muscle from a kill, but our human sensibilities will not allow for such carnage. I’m not saying that we cannot eat or thrive on a meat-centered diet, but this should show us how humanized our meat consumption is compared to other animals (although most of our production processes are sociopathic).

It appears we are Frugivores after all!

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12 Comments

  1. Men as you put it will never stop eating meat so why complain. I do think it’s ridiculous to try to eat road kill but it was funny.

  2. Ever heard of carpaccio, kitfo, sushi, jerky, oyesters. This guy chewing on days old leathery roadkill doesn’t prove anything. Some cuts of meat are more tender the less they’re cooked. Try to eat a well done filet mignon, a well done pork chop or well done lamb, which is the tenderest of meats.

    • @lsc2005: I hope you read the article, but nowhere did I say that humans can’t consume animals but we are not true carnivores.

      I’d pay to see you kill a cow with no weapon and tear through its flesh with your teeth and jaw. If you can, please film it and I’ll pay and post it on here.

      • @Shane Roberts:
        Humans developed rudimentary tools very early in evolutionary advancement. A prehistoric rabbit or fish would be VERY easy for early humans to kill and eat. You are correct, we are not carnivores. The term carnivore would imply that we eat ONLY meat. We are omnivores.

        • @lsc2005:

          Not quiet. True omnivores present the physiology and, above all, biochemistry of carnivores. If anything, we are unique as our physiology and, above all, our biochemistry shows signs of frugivorism, if not fruitarianism.

          Yet, one thing is certain. We do not present any evidence, or even clue, of omnivorism. We also need to remember that evolution comes in a package: it’s never one thing that changes but all that it’s connected with it…it’s a very long process. Thus, those rudimental tools that, possibly, may have “allowed” us to hunt would have not changed one bit in evolutionary terms.

          Yet, again, even if they had, for million of years (not just few hundred thousands) we had been evolving with a frugivore/fruitarian biochemistry and physiology. If anything, our bodies may have “adapted” to survive on meat not certainly to thrive. See the eskimos, see the panda.

          Take care,
          Gio

    • @lsc2005:

      Rudimental stone-based tools to kill animals that are two/three times bigger/taller and faster. Interesting…

      Having said that…so a cow is given occasionally some meat for the next two millions years and becomes carnivore…interesting. Never mind the panda!

      Take care,
      Gio

  3. The idea that cooking was somehow evolutionarily fundamental to a meat based diet is ridiculous. I’m from the arctic and my traditional diet is 99.99% animal based. It’s only in recent memory we’ve started cooking some of our meat, to this day most of our meat is consumed raw.

    • @Jasmine: Thanks for your comment

      If this is true why didn’t we evolve with the proper saliva to breakdown meat, raw or cooked?

      You live in the Arctic, far away from the equator or where we come from, scientifically. There is not much vegetation or fruit so your ancestors weren’t going to starve, but that doesn’t mean eating flesh raw 99% of the time is good for you … and I partake in raw flesh from time to time.

      I definitely agree that we have no problem consuming meat although we have similar guts as every other anthropoid primate — though we have totally different colons — who eat a primarily vegetarian diet. There is no denying this. We are primates.

      We are somewhat different from the other primates, but not that much. The human digestive system is remarkable but there is no evidence that shows that humans ate a 99% meat-centered diet.

      You sound like a Paleo movement advocate, which is great, I like the science on it, but it pretty much excludes me, as a black person, which is why conferences look like who MAY have ate a meat-centered diet — European/white. This is not to say black people can’t eat and thrive off a meat-centered diet. The black and white race categories are arbitrary anyway …

      Why didn’t your Arctic ancestors pass down this digestive predisposition to raw meat to the many indigenous people of the Americas, who ate primarily vegetarian, our whole anatomy suggests as much.

      I’d love you to send me a video of you eating an organic 99% raw meat-centered diet and I’ll post it. shane@frugivoremag.com

    • @Jasmine:

      Have a look on how your teeth close when you “cut” through the raw meat….which I’m interested to see how you do it without tools.

      Take care,
      Gio

  4. I wouldn’t generalize the human diet and make it so small. The European diet to the African diet. ancient Europeans consumed mostly meat, raw, and rotting meat (as some still do) while
    the ancient African diet consisted of MOSTLY fruits and vegetables. Seeing this man eat abominations, raw, rotting food, and filth is not surprising at all….

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