Pure herbivores’ main advantage over us is their ability (through their gut bacteria) to make use of all the carbohydrates in cellulose.
For protein, cattle and other herbivores do have a higher ability to extract usable amino acids from plant sources within the actual structural matrix of how they exist naturally in the plant, but we humans deal with that by processing and cooking our food instead of eating raw plants. Herbivores also have to do a lot more mechanical processing, especially chewing, to break down the structure of the plant matter for their guts to process.
The fact is, herbivores have to eat so much more food than meat eating animals do. Gorillas eat 30 kg of food per day. Elephants eat 75-150 kg of food per day.
And in captivity, fruit-eating primates need protein supplements, to make up for the fact that human-bred fruit tends to be much higher in sugar and lower in protein (per calorie, at least) than what these animals eat in the wild, especially when you account for insect parts that are common in wild fruit.
Pure herbivores’ main advantage over us is their ability (through their gut bacteria) to make use of all the carbohydrates in cellulose.
For protein, cattle and other herbivores do have a higher ability to extract usable amino acids from plant sources within the actual structural matrix of how they exist naturally in the plant, but we humans deal with that by processing and cooking our food instead of eating raw plants. Herbivores also have to do a lot more mechanical processing, especially chewing, to break down the structure of the plant matter for their guts to process.
The fact is, herbivores have to eat so much more food than meat eating animals do. Gorillas eat 30 kg of food per day. Elephants eat 75-150 kg of food per day.
And in captivity, fruit-eating primates need protein supplements, to make up for the fact that human-bred fruit tends to be much higher in sugar and lower in protein (per calorie, at least) than what these animals eat in the wild, especially when you account for insect parts that are common in wild fruit.