Tag: Diet and evolution

Scientific evidence shows that humans did not consume grains in significant quantities until the agricultural revolution began around 10,000 years ago. The core principle of the paleo diet is to avoid grains because they were not part of our ancestral diet and are believed to contribute to modern health issues like inflammation and blood sugar problems.

According to the 'expensive-tissue hypothesis,' the energy demands of a larger brain were offset by a reduction in the size of the digestive tract, a trade-off made possible by a shift to a more nutrient-dense diet. This illustrates precisely how does nutrition help in evolution, driving significant anatomical and physiological changes over millennia.

According to food anthropologist Claude Fischler, humans face a constant tension between two conflicting instincts when it comes to eating: neophilia (a curiosity for new foods) and neophobia (a fear of the unknown). This psychological dynamic is known as the omnivore's paradox, and it has played a critical role in human survival and dietary evolution. It explains why we crave variety but also approach new ingredients with caution, a behavior shaped by millennia of trial and error with potentially toxic substances.

According to a Harvard study, humans consume up to 85% more energy per day than other non-human primates of similar size. This massive energy budget helps explain why humans need so many calories compared to other animals and is driven by several unique evolutionary adaptations.