It has sometimes been said to me that we are omnivores with canine teeth and therefore it is natural and right that we should eat meat.
To start with, that is faulty logic : we become omnivores if we eat food of both plant and animal origin, not because we are born as such.
Regarding teeth, we have eight incisors at the front, primarily used for cutting, then the four canines used for tearing, and the remaining premolars and molars for crushing and grinding.
But this does not mean that canines are necessarily used for eating meat as the following cases show.
The hippopotamus has the largest canines of any land animal and is entirely plant eating, so it is clear that the possession of canines does not mean you are a meat eater. The hippo uses the canines to defend itself against crocodiles and other hippos, not to eat meat.
The vegetarian gorilla also does not use his formidable canines to eat meat, but to defend against threats and to fend off other male gorillas.
A further consideration is that humans have weaker stomach acids and much longer intestines compared to natural meat eaters. Our longer intestines mean there are health risks associated with meat eating if there is insufficient fibre in the diet.
So canine teeth would have been more useful in the past for eating tough fruits and nuts than eating meat. And still are today (along with slicing through sellotape.)
But there is another point to be made. Just because we can eat a particular food doesn’t mean we should.
