Evolutionairy Explanation For Food Preferences Flashcards
Outline + evaluate evolutionary explanation for food preferences
LIST ONLY
1) early diets
a) preference for meat
B) preference for sweet + support (iceland)
2) taste aversions (adaptive advantages)
3) APP: cancer scapegoat
4) neophobia
5) EVAL: support for heritability: Knaapila
6) EVAL: negatives of neophobia: poor diet in children
Point 1: early diets + eval
Early humans were hunter gatherers and ate plants and animals. Preference for fat was due to low energy sources in environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA)
A) preference for meat: fossil evidence showed animal based foods. Meat was catalyst for growth of the brain, began w bone marrow
B) sweet taste due to high concentration of sugar needed for survivAl. Fruits during the EEA provided sugar and minerals
EVAL: early exposure isn’t necessary for ppl to develop a preference for sweet food. E.g in Alaska Inuits tried new sweet western food and didn’t reject it
Point 2: taste aversion
2) learned response to toxic and poisonous food. Animals avoid food if it makes them I’ll. Discovered when trying to poison rats; they learn to avoid it by trying a tiny bit and getting ill. It has adaptive advantages as its not only taste but odour. Once learned, taste aversions rarely go (useful to survive)
Point 3: application cancer
App: chemo causes intestinal illness. When illness is paired with food consumption, taste aversion occurs. Study gave pps ice cream before and patients learnt to dislike/avoid that flavour. Led to a new scapegoat technique where you give normal food and new food so they avert the new instead of normal.
4)
Neophobia
4) neophobia is reluctance to eat new food as it protects animals from being poisoned. Animals face world of potential foods and safety is unknown. Species with broad diets tend to show food neophobia, for example tats are extremely neophobic and will avoid unfamiliar foods which make them ill. In humans neophobia is reluctance to try new food due to culture and diet. We have expectations of what food will be like and if it doesn’t fit this criteria, we reject it. It’s stronger for animal based products as they pose a larger threat.
5) support for heritability of neophobia: Knaapila
If evolved for adaptation We might expect a strong genetic component. Knaapila measured food neophobia n female twins and found 67% heritability. 2/3 of neophobia is genetic. However he used questionnaire.
6) negatives of neophobia:
Poses problem when individuals limit their diet and lose potential health advantage of new food. E.g study found children with neophobia more likely to have poor diets. Consequences tend to be maladaptive.
