I have been working on a more complete look at the anatomy and physiology of the 4 main types of vertebrate land animals and have compiled the chart below.
Please take a look and let me know what you think. I once thought we were Herbivores but now know we are more like other Frugivores. While I do believe many factors come into play with regard to our specific and individual biochemical make up, I will agree that it does appear that the Human physiology is designed to ideally consume these types of foods. In what quantities, combinations, and times is left up to the eater and how it all feels in the body.
While we can eat anything we want, if we look purely at the science and desire optimal health, we will experiment eating these foods in various combinations, quantities, and even times of the day to find what creates optimal health for our unique biochemical makeup. We are each very unique and have at least 7 factors to consider as we make our food choices and experiment with how it feels in our body. I will discuss this more in depth in another blog next week but a quick over view of these important considerations are:
- Blood type
- Ayurvedic Constitution
- Dominant Endocrine System
- Fast or Slow Glucose Oxidizer
- Acid/Alkaline
- Anabolic/Catabolic
- Sympathetic/Parasympathetic
A Comparison Chart of the Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates:
Carnivores | Omnivores | Herbivores | Frugivores | |
Species Included: | Cats, Cheetahs, lions, etc. | Birds (chickens, turkeys, etc.), hogs, & dogs | Horses, cows, sheep, elephants, deer, giraffes | Humans & primates (apes, chimps, monkeys) |
Diet: | Mainly meats, come veggies, grasses & herbs | Some meat, vegetables, fruits, roots, & some barks. | Veggies, herbs, & some roots & barks | Mainly fruits, nuts, seeds, sweet veggies, & herbs |
Skeletal Structures: | ||||
Facial Muscles | Reduced to allow wide mouth gape | Reduced | Well-developed | Well-developed |
Jaw Type | Angle not expanded | Angle not expanded | Expanded angle | Expanded angle |
Jaw Joint Location | On same plane as molar teeth | On same plane as molar teeth | Above the plane of the molars | Above the plane of the molars |
Jaw Motion | Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion | Shearing; side-to-side motion, minimal front-to-back | No shear; grinding side-to-side, front-to-back | Multidorectional, dimentional, efficient masticating |
Major Jaw Muscles | Temporalis | Temporalis | Masseter and pterygoids | Masseter and pterygoids |
Mouth Opening Vs. Head Size | Large | Large | Small | Small |
Teeth: Insicors | Short and pointed | Short and pointed | 8 on front part of jaw; Broad, flattened and spade shaped | 8, Broad, flattened and spade shaped |
Teeth: Canines | Long, sharp and curved | Long, sharp and curved, tusk like or beak | 2 Dull and short or long (for defense), or none | 2, Short and blunted |
Teeth: Molars | Sharp, jagged and blade shaped | Sharp blades and/or flattened | 5 on each side of jaw; Flattened with cusps vs complex surface | 14, Flattened with nodular cusps; includes cuspids & bicuspids |
Chewing | None; swallows food whole | Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing | Extensive chewing necessary | Extensive chewing necessary |
Tail | yes | yes | yes | some |
Digestive System: | ||||
Tongue | very rough (for pulling and tearing) | moderate to rough | moderately rough | smooth, used mainly as shovel |
Saliva, Salivary Glands | No digestive enzymes, no glands | No digestive enzymes, underactive glands, acid | Carbohydrate digesting enzymes, alkaline | Carbohydrate digesting enzymes, alkalline |
Stomach Type | SImple structure, small round sack | Simple structure | oblong, ringed, multiple chambers (complex) | oblong, 2 compartments (simple) |
Stomach Acidity | Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach, Strong and continuous HCL flow. | About pH 1 with food in stomach, moderate gastric acids (HCL & pepsin) | pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach, weak acid | pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach, weak acid |
Stomach Capacity | 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract | 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract | Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract | 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract |
Small Intestine | 3 to 6 times body length (short), smooth | 4 to 6 times body length, somewhat sacculated (accounts for ability to eat veggies). | 10 to more than 12 times body length, long, sacculated (ringed) for extensive absorption | 10 to 11 times body length, sacculated for extensive absorption |
Liver | Can detoxify vitamin A, 50% larger than a humans; very complex with 5 distinct chambers; heavy bie flow for heavy gastric juices. | Can detoxify vitamin A. Complex and larger proportionally than that of humans | Cannot detoxify vitamin A. Similar to Human but larger in capacity | Cannot detoxify vitamin A. Simple, average size (not large & complex like carnivores) |
Eliminative System: | ||||
Colon | Simple, short, smooth (non-sacculated), minimal ability for absorption. | Simple, short and smooth. Minimal absorption. | Long, complex, sacculated for extensive absortion | Long, sacculated for extensive absorption |
GI tract | 3 times length of spine | 10 times the length of the spine | 30 times length of spine | 12 times length of spine |
Urinary System: | ||||
Kidney | Extremely concentrated urine, acidic | Extremely concentrated urine, acidic | Moderately concentrated urine, alkaline | Moderately concentrated urine, alkaline |
Extremeties (limbs) | ||||
Hands (upper front) | claw type | hoofs, claws, and paws | hoofs | fingers for picking, peeling, and tearing |
Feet (lower back) | claw type | hoofs, claws, and paws | hoofs | toes |
Quadrupeds | walks on all four | walks on all 4 extemeties; except for birds which have and walk on 2 legs only. | walks on all 4 extremeties | walks upright on 2 extremeties |
Nails | Sharp claws | Sharp claws | Flattened nails or blunt hooves | Flattened nails |
Integumentary System: | ||||
Skin | 100% covered with hair | Smooth, oily, hair or feathers | pores with extensive hair covering entire body | pores with minimal hair |
Sweat Glands | Uses tongue and has sweat glands in food pads only. | very minimal; only around snout (hogs) and foot pads (dogs and none on birds. | includes millions of perspiration ducts | includes millions of perspiration ducts |
[…] more on this topic in my discussion on the comparison of vertebrate physiology. Are we carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, or frugivores? You decide. http://andrealambert.net/?p=1776 […]