Diets through the ages
Jaw and teeth
Humans have weaker jaw and smaller teeth
The human jaw is much weaker, with less powerful musculature , Eg. A chimp could bite a human hand off, humans could not
However the human brain is bigger
The gut
Large colon is good for digesting fibre (plant based, uncooked food)
Bigger small intestine for compact, soft food that is pre pre-prepared by chopping, grinding and cooking. Lots of enzymes for quick digestion and absorption
The gut in humans is also proportionally smaller
The difference between Humans and Neanderthals
Cooking
The rapid development of tools for food preparation and cooking
Food has less volume and is easier to digest
Bigger Brain
Language passes on knowledge of food hunting, gathering and preparation
Dexterity for food preparation and tool making
Early man and cooking
Alters starch making it more digestible, 30% more energy
Gelatinises food such as tough grains and tubers making them accessible
Kills pathogenic microorganisms
What did early man eat?
Using the 12C/13C stable isotope ratio of fossilised remains, it is clear that more than 3 mya hominid species were mainly eating plants and grains.
Modern Hunter Gatherers
The Greenland Inuit
True hunter-gatherers
Don’t raise livestock
Don’t farm
Eat whatever is available
Meat is prized and craved
Much time getting food
The Hadza
Survive through hunting and gathering in the same East African region where early man originated
Quite a high sugar/fructose content
The gut microbiome
Bacteria make up 55% of the dry weight of the faeces
Bacteria ferment food, synthesize vitamins, fatty acids , aid immunity
The flora of the Hanza is much more diverse and probably reflects that of ancient man
Flora have probably evolved considerably since early man
The flora of the Hadza was compared to that of Italians
Fished, hunted, and gathered locally- walrus, seal, beluga whale, caribou, polar bear, muskoxen, birds (including their eggs) and fish
Little plants, few berries and grasses
Calories
50% from fat
35% from protein
15% from carbohydrate (glycogen from animals)
Vitamin C is (very unusually) mainly derived from animals- skin of beluga whale, mammal liver
The Change to Farming
Evidence for:
Wheat, barley, peas, figs, almonds about 9000bc
Maize about 3000 bc
Early domestication of animals
What anthropologists think
Predictable food supply increased the population
Human guts are smaller because of adaption to meat
Meat is high quality, energy rich
Less energy used in digestion and assimilation
More energy directed to the brain
Lactose tolerance
Europe, Middle East and African nations are from herding ancestors transcribe the lactase gene throughout life.
Eastern nations are often lactose intolerant
Indigenous people:
Rapid diet change
The Maya, South America
Virtually no diabetes until 1950s
Abandoned traditional diet and lifestyle
New diet high in sugar- High diabetes
Siberian Yakut
Nomadic lifestyle, heavy meat diet but no heart disease
After fall of Soviet Union, now live in towns, eating market food and half have hypertension