The Human Being as part of a Food Chain

Antonio Martín

• The human being, although it has been shown that originally was herbivore, scavenger and cannibalistic, after some time, the change in his diet and the high industrial development has come to be regarded as the most powerful predator in the world and in many occasions has been part of the extinction of many species, either by need for food or for fun.• This description can be debated from the time that man

became omnivorous and ceased to be exclusively carnivorous, its nature and behavior also is different from other species due to his freedom of choice and his ability to transform and recreate the environment; addition, the human being does not occupy a specialized ecological position within any particular ecosystem, as it does with all other species, whether they are predator or not.

• The human digestive system has adapted to the type of omnivorous nutrition because with the help of attached glands can digest and absorb almost all kinds of food, among which we can mention: the fats, sugars, etc..

• The human being is part of a food chain, as it is a heterotrophic organism (eats other living things) and, as we saw previously, it belongs to the group of omnivores. • It has evolved from the hunter-gatherer

stage. Like other living things, need, besides the water that is vital, a varied and balanced diet, which depends on the location and climate where it lives. • Thus, people who live at the tropics usually

feed on vegetables and the ones who live at the poles are fed of animals.

Healthy Eating Plate• The Healthy Eating Plate, created by nutrition experts at Harvard

School of Public Health and editors at Harvard Health Publications, was designed to address deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s MyPlate. The Healthy Eating Plate provides detailed guidance, in a simple format, to help people make the best eating choices.

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