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EpiHackr t1_iy0csux wrote

They eat a lot of calories. Herbivores have enzymes that let them digest "insoluble fiber" aka cellulose, aka plant fiber. They get a lot more nutrition from plants than humans. These enzymes break open the plant cells, giving them access to proteins and fats not available to us. Plus they never stop eating.

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readitreaddit t1_iy0ok5n wrote

This is fascinating. I did not know this.

Then are humans herbivores? If we are vegetarian, and eat some plant stuff but not all, why? Why don't we get the special enzymes? It'd be cool to munch on grass. We already eat vegetables so what makes the key difference?

Cows and Buffaloes literally chomp down on dried grass. DRIED GRASS! Why didn't we get those enzymes? They sound cool.

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duranbing t1_iy0q75q wrote

We're not herbivores (your teeth are one of the best indicators here, no herbivores have front teeth like ours). The main reason we don't have enzymes like cows is because there was no evolutionary pressure for us to, our ancestors have been able to get by on more easily digested vegetation and meat.

On a similar vein, the reason we can't eat raw meat like other meat-eating animals is because digesting it takes enzymes that we lack, which we probably lost because they take energy to produce so our ancestors eating cooked meat could survive more easily without them.

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YardageSardage t1_iy0t6yh wrote

Basically, because those special enzymes (and the gut mechanisms to make use of them) are a trade-off. It takes a long time and a lot of digestion to break down tough plant materials like cellulose into stuff an animal body can use. Herbivorous animals have long, complicated digestive tracts, especially the ruminant (four-stomached) ones like cattle and buffaloes, and they spend all day long grazing, chewing, fermenting, and re-chewing stuff like grass to make it useable. (Some don't have these long digestive systems and instead rely on easier plantstuffs like fruits and leaves, but then, those are the kinds of things that we can eat too.) This is worth it for them, evolutionarily, because it gives them access to a semi-exclusive food source.

Humans, along with other omnivore/carbivore species, have opted for a different strategy. Instead of investing a bunch of our time, energy, and body mass into specialized plant-digesting equipment, we developed stuff that makes us better hunters and more discerning gatherers. We can't eat grass, but we don't have to spend 12-18 hours a day doing it, because we can just climb a tree and eat a banana or catch a squirrel instead and get the same amount of nutrients. Obligate carnivores like cats have really simple digestion and can't digest any plant material, but they can sleep 18 hours a day instead. Dogs are slightly more carnivorous than us, and will supplement their diets with plants where necessary, but still mostly need meat. We humans are juuust about herbivorous enough to get by on plants alone if we choose to, but we have to be careful about it, and usually fare best with some animal product supplementation.

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EpiHackr t1_iy0wm1d wrote

Well they have enzymes, and special bacteria ... as well as multiple stomachs and have to rechew their food over and over after its been in this stomachs. AND if we had that ability, we'd have no fiber in our diets, which would lead to high cholesterol and high rates of colon cancer.

Besides, do you want to be chewing 13 hours a day?

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readitreaddit t1_iy18i9z wrote

Why would we not have fiber?

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RandomPosterHey t1_iy1cpri wrote

The fiber in our diets he refers to is the fiber from fruits and vegetables that we cannot digest. I imagine if we could digest the grass it wouldn’t count towards the fiber that aids in passing matter through the digestive tract as it would have been digested already

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readitreaddit t1_iy1dacl wrote

Is that why cow poop is gooey and not like... Well, like a banana shape?

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Kay1636 OP t1_iy2i6xs wrote

Thank you for your explanation! I remember this topic being taught in my high school years but I forgot.

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