Tag: Cooking evolution

For almost 99% of human history, hunting and gathering was the basis of nutrition, indicating a long evolutionary period of omnivorous diets before agriculture reshaped what humans have evolved to eat. This diverse past highlights our incredible dietary flexibility and genetic adaptability to a variety of food sources.

Over the last 2.8 million years, the human diet has undergone a dynamic evolution, diverging dramatically from our closest primate relatives. This shift wasn't a linear progression but a complex adaptation involving meat consumption, cooking, and eventual agriculture. The answer to what humans were "originally" made to eat is not a single food but a broad, omnivorous approach shaped by changing environments and technological advancements.

For almost 99% of human history, humans were hunter-gatherers with an incredibly varied and flexible omnivorous diet. This ancestral pattern sheds light on what do humans eat naturally, revealing a complex mix of plants and animals shaped by environment and technology.

Over millions of years, human ancestors developed remarkable physiological and cultural adaptations that enable a diverse omnivorous diet. This dietary flexibility is a defining characteristic of our species, allowing humans to eat almost anything by utilizing both plant and animal food sources across vastly different environments.

Did you know that hundreds of thousands of people fall ill from foodborne diseases each year, often linked to contaminated food? Understanding **why can't humans eat raw meat** is crucial for public health, as cooking is a key defense against the pathogens that raw animal products harbor.