EATING BEHAVIOUR- evolutionary explanations of food preference Flashcards
what are the 3 essential food stuff?
salt, sugar , fat and protein
why is salt essential?
essential for cell activity & transmission of nervous system
what is salts chemical name?
sodium chloride
why is sugar essential?
good & bad sugar
what are the types of sugar?
glucose, fructose,sucrose
what is glucose sugar?
natural
what is fructose sugar?
fruit-only avail at certain times
what is sucrose sugar?
bad - man made sugar
why is fat and protein essential?
muscle & brain development/repair
speed up nerve impulses (myelin sheath)
what are these 3 essentials needed for ?
diet
what have modern society said about food?
we have outdated biology and go for cravings. we associate sweet & salty food with pleasure
what are the foods to be avoided in evolutionary point of view?
kale is bitter lemons are sour
why do we avoid kale?
chemical with in brussel sprouts and lemons down to genes. some cant taste that make bitter and others can.
evolutionary reasons why we like certain foods in order to survive?
4 common taste we devolved/evolved
what are the 4 common taste we devolved/evolved from?
salt
sweet foods
sour foods
bitter
why salt foods?
is critical to cell functioning and therefore salty foods need to be identified to provide this nutrient
why sweet foods?
enable us to identify foods which are rich in carb and provide us energy
why sour foods?
associates w food that has gone off and therefore food to be avoided as full of harmful bacteria e.g kale/brussel sprouts
why bitter foods?
taste is associated with being poisonous & therefore needs to be avoided
what is the evolved response to meat?
unami: recent discovery & is highly savorly e.g meaty tastes which are high in protein
research in relation to evolutionary diets? (unami)
in evolutionary terms we can compare our diet w great apes (nearest rel) split from years ago
unami research:what was the diet of our early ancestors?
likely to be fruit,nuts, & plants as this is the diet of modern day apes
unami research: what are chimps?
chimps are occasional meat eaters (grubs,insects & sometimes smaller monkeys
unami research: what are we today?
we are omnivores- eat meat aswell as fruit,nuts, plants etc
who is the researcher in support of the unami research?
buss (2008)
what did buss say?
for chimps meat is apporx 4 % of diet in modern hunter- gather societies meat is btw 20-90% of their diet dependant on season
buss do?
muscle & brain development
what is dueodenam?
for extracting protein
what did buss say?
for chimps meat is approx 4 % of diet in modern hunter- gather societies meat is btw 20-90% of their diet dependant on season
what does the human digestive system suspect?
we are meat eaters even though some humans are vegetarians for health/moral reasons
what is dueodenam (part 2)?
part of small intestine & is no longer than in apes. it is equipped to digest & absorb protein
what does dueodenam differ from?
chimps who have long large intestine which is equipped to digest plants
what have we as humans developed?
digestive system that holds on weight longer to get something out of it
evidence for evolution- what are omnivores?
we can eat anything. omnivores eat a diet rich with different food sources. but this means vunerable to toxins & infections from food they eat.
what cases support evolution providing coping methods with food?(cooking)
wrangham
lucas
what did wrangham say?
half m years ago food started to be cooked. killed bacteria in meat and amde it tender & easier to chew
what did lucas say?
result is humans molars became smaller. as teeth got smaller allowed to tounge to develop and speech/communication to develop
-cooking makes the protein fibre in meat easier to digest= more protein= bigger brain
cases supporting another aspect of cooking?
sherman & hash
steiner et al
why do we like spicy food?
we evolved ability to use for 1 reason- adding spices used in cooking= effective in killing bacteria & stop food poisioning
what did sherman & hash say? (spices)
spices used more in hot countries where food could go off more rapidly
what did steiner et al say?
bitter & sour foods lead to a facial expression of digust (universal expression)- suggests food off- disguest likely tp avoid food in future
what is expression also known as & in depth?
motions- designed as communicator
what is the developed idea of this?
food aversion which happens quickly due to the severity of consequences
who did research support on food aversion?
neese & williams
profet
buss
what did neese & williams suggest?
some children have a range of minimal range of food they eat. may be linked to fact some veg toxic to young children e.g sprouts. adults tend to have reasonably stable diets except for preg women where changes occur in early pregnancy- includes avoiding foods completely.
what did profet say?
75% women suffer from morning sickeness (EPSI)
what is evo expl (embyro protection hypothesis) as an evolved reponse? (buss)
preg women tend to avoid coffee, tea, meat,alcohol,egss + veg
morning sickness waves after 1t transfer. during this trimestor major organs form & baby is most vunerable. caffeine can damage organs & meat & eggs contain bacteria,some veg toxins. so morning sickness helps to protect baby.
what is eval of epsi?
now an evolutionary hangover but good example for survival of species.
aids for evolutionary exp of food pref? (4)
reductionism
nature v nurture
determinism
scientific meth
why reductionism?
ignores environmental factors & focuses on past events and ignores current cultural religious influences
why nature v nurture?
interactionism- nativist- development of physical changes
empiracist- learnt to cook,use of spices to make food more lasting/easier to digest
why determinism?
suggests eating only certain foods e.g free will (vegan,veg)
why scientific meeth?
not scientific
based on subjective interpretation of similarities btw human & non humans
largely based on ‘fossil records’
extra in aids?(3)
gaps in fossil records
no soft tissue preservation to see changes in physical structures
interpret difference and hypothesise why they happen & how it may fit evolution
