As humans, what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, and how much we eat can affects our physical and mental health. How? Let me explain. First of all, not all foods are created equal, nor are all foods created for human consumption. There are foods for each type of animals, and living organism, like heterotrophs. Of all foods to be consumed by living creatures, foods originally designed for humans were unique.
There are three basic types of animals: herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. These animals consume foods especially designed for their physical or structural makeup. For example, herbivores, such as elephants, deers, zebras, giraffes, koalas, rabbits, horses, rhinoceroses, kangaroos, pandas, and cows, caterpillars, butterflies, etc., eat exclusively on plant matter. To meet their specific nutritional needs, the type and quantity of plant substance vary. There are vegetation, location, and seasonal variables that determine what foods are available, obtained and consumed by each species at any given time.
Carnivores are animals that feed primarily on other animals for survival. These animals include leopards, wolves, crocodiles, tigers, cheetahs, bears, hawks, eagles, lions, great white sharks, vultures, and their species. Their dental structure and physical design, such as claws, sensory hearing, sense of smell, eyesight, digestive system, speed of motion, coordination, and weight play a part in how they hunt, capture, kill, and devour their prey.
Omnivores consume both plants and animals. These include humans, land beavers, foxes, jackals, bears, raccoons, opossums, ostriches, pigs, warthogs, snapping turtles, baboons, monkeys, chipmunks, skunks, wood mouse, rats, squirrels, chimps, chickens, dogs, crows, and their species.
Humans were not originally considered omnivore during the early days of human existence, but herbivores. According to scientific evidence, humans had maxillary and mandibular teeth constructs aimed at occluding together (including the musculature and skeletal components), causing the masticatory system which is a complex system using the masticatory muscles, associated with mandibular movement in pairs in the jaw, face. tongue, and cheeks, and other bone structures in the mouth and skull to perform the eating or chewing process, primarily on fruits and vegetables, nuts, and grains. Man was not originally predatory.
After a catastrophic flood devastated the entire earth destroying vegetation, humans, and unsecured animals, the eight known humans who survived and become hunter-gathers, began to consume certain animals and living creatures that were spared the devastation. Thus, flesh, and later, leafy vegetables became the primary source of nourishment and survival for the human race. Since that time, the dental structure had changed to include incisors, canine, premolars, and molars with their specific function in the human eating experience. The types of foods eaten by humans had evolved also. To be continued in a future post.
NIH National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, www.ncbi.nih.gov1
Medical News Today www.medicalnewstoday.com 2
Noah and the Flood, Genesis 7: 11-14; 9:1-43
Smithsonian, www.smithsonian mag.com4