Catching Fire: How cooking made us human Flashcards
What is the first argument that the author tries to convey?
Controlling fire & cooking meals makes us human
Advantages of cooking food?
1)Increases the values of our food
2)Changed our bodies, brains, use of time & social lives
3)Made us dependent on fuel
4) Passing on more genes
5) Better survival
6) Greater competitive ability
7)Longer lives
8)Better reproductive success
What is the second argument that the author tries to convey?
Eating meat makes us human
Aided in the transition from Australopithecines to Homo erectus
Advantages of eating meat?
Fostered many human traits: 1) long distance travel
2) Big bodies
3) Rising intelligence
4) Increased cooperation
What is Australopithecus ?
What is Habilis ?
What is Homo erectus ?
Characteristics of Australopithecus ?
Non-human ape characteristics : 1) Walked up right
2) Size of a chimp
3) Climbed well
4) Ape-sized belly
5) Apelike muzzles
6) Ape-sized brain
7) Low forehead
8) Big brow-ridge
9)Massive jaw
10) Short legs
11) Long arms
12) Tool makers
13) Organized behavior
What is the Man-The-Hunter theory?
Explains the change from Australopithecines to human
What is the author’s argument about the theory?
Incomplete b/c it doesn’t describe how hunting was possible without the support of Gatherers, doesn’t explain the second transition of Habilines to Homo erectus
What was the assumption of cooking by the social science divisions?
Cooking & fire had little biological importance, assumption that cooking was a late addition to the human skill set, & to separate ourselves from animals
Advantages of cooking?
1)Makes our food safer
2) Creates rich and delicious tastes
3) Reduces spoilage
Biological advantages of cooking?
1)Survive and reproduce better
2) Genes spread
3) Bodies biologically adapted to cooked foods
4)Changes in anatomy, physiology, ecology, society,etc
Giessen Raw food study results?
Resulted in chronic energy deficiency, lack of evidence for long-term survival on raw wild foods
Giessen Raw food study results for women and men?
Women-50% entirely to menstruate, reduced reproductive function
Men- decreased sexual appetite
Advantages of meat eating?
1)Easier to digest
2) Promotes efficient growth
3) Smaller gut, mouth, teeth, colons
Anatomy differences between Humans and Apes?
(Humans)
Humans:
1) Smaller mouths
2)Weaker jaws bc of mutation in gene responsible for producing the muscle protein myosin/MYH16
3)Soft, high caloric density foods, low fiber, high digestible foods, increase efficiency, saves us from wasting unnecessary metabolic costs on features that don’t serve our diet
Anatomy differences between Humans and Apes?
(Apes)
1)Chimp mouths are 2x as large
2) Stronger jaws b/c of sagittal crest- accommodates jaw muscles
What is the author’s cooking hypothesis?
Long periods of exposure to Maillard compounds could’ve made primates resistant to its damaging effects compared to other mammals
What is the Digestive system processes?
1) Digestion by our own bodies. Starts through mouth-stomach-small intestine, Produce calories that are useful
2)Fermentation- By more than 400 types of bacteria & protozoa in large intestine, only a fraction of available energy
Example of intestine digestibility ?
Ileal digestibility- calculation of how much energy a food provides, samples intestinal contents at the end of the small intestine
What was the experiment on the effects of cooking?
1990s Belgian team of gastroenterologists tested the effects of cooking. Investigated the fate of eggs after they’ve been digested
What were the results of the experiment?
1) Cooking increased the protein value of the eggs about 40%
2)Concluded that denaturation of food proteins impacted the value
What factors promote denaturation?
1)Heat
2)Acidity- kills bacteria that enter with food, activates the digestive enzyme pepsin, & denatures protein
3)Sodium chloride- Increased digestibility
4) Drying- Increased digestibility
What are the results of the effects of cooking and digestibility conducted by William Beaumont?
1) Tender food is completely digested at a rapid rate
2)Minutness of division
