Human primate non-ruminant plant cellulose digestion?

Googling tells me this

“Although cellulose is indigestible by humans, it does form a part of the human diet in the form of plant foods. Small amounts of cellulose found in vegetables and fruits pass through the human digestive system intact. Cellulose is part of the material called “fiber” that dieticians and nutritionists have identified as useful in moving food through the digestive tract quickly and efficiently. Diets high in fiber are thought to lower the risk of colon cancer because fiber reduces the time that waste products stay in contact with the walls of the colon (the terminal part of the digestive tract).”

from http://science.jrank.org/pages/1335/Cellulose-Cellulose-digestion.html

I think it is largely because we aren’t subsisting on a diet of grass and stems. Flower petals and fresh young veggies are easy to digest. Tree leaves, grasses and shrubbery are so much fiber that they must put through a heavy duty digestion process, like a ruminant does. Dandilion greens are not very fibrous and we don’t eat them in great quantity.
I think that if we try to live on the same diet as a cow or a horse, we would starve because we couldn’t eat or process enough food with our systems that are only capable of softer, less fibrous plant material.

We extract some carbohydrates and lots of vitamins and minerals from leafy vegetables (there are actually more carbs than fiber in fresh dandelion greens), but it would be nearly impossible to sustain an active lifestyle on greens alone. Not calorific enough. That’s where the high-carb content of roots and fruits comes in, and the fat and protein content of seeds.

Where’s the beef?

I want a shrubbery!! And then I want another shrubbery! When you have found the shrubbery, you must place it here, beside this shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get the two-level effect with a little path running down the middle.

@aprilsimnel,

Yes, shrubberies are my trade. I am a shrubber. My name is [Jewel] the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history. ;o)

@a a path! A path!!