explnations for food prefernces - evolutionary Flashcards
preferences
evolutionary argument is that any common food preferences we see today must exist because they provided an adaptive advantage
distant ancestors who had such preferences would have been more likely to survive and reproduce
so we have inherited these preferences
preference for sweetness
sweet taste is a reliable signal of high energy food
steiner
placed sugar on the tounges of newborn humans and found positive facial expressions
necessary for ancestors
preference for salt
appears in humans at around 4 months of age
Harris
found that barbie between the ages of 16-25 weeks who had been breastfed preferred salted rather than unsalted cereal
breast milk is low in salt
finding suggest that they had not learned a salt preference and that it is innate
preference for fat
high calorie foods such as fat were not readily availed to our ancestors
quickly leaning to prefer good which are high in calories would have carried a definitive advanatage because calories provide energy important for survival
also contributes to palatability
neophobia
humans have an innate willingness to eat new or unfamiliar food
neophobia seems to be the most pronounced in childhood between 2-6
birch
appears at a time when children being to explore their endorsements and may encounter foods independently
because untried are potentially damage ours to health neophobia’s is adaptive because it means we are less likely to consume substances that could cause us illness or even fatal
diminishes once we learn that specific foods will not poison us or cause us to become ill
taste aversion
sleigman
biological preparedness
acquire certain taste aversions or fears more quickly than others
generally to objects or situations that posed the greatest threats to our distant ancestors survivable
genetically hardwired to learn taste aversions that make us less likely to eat food that has gone bad or is toxic
Garcia and Koelling
classically conditioned rats to a quite a taste aversions that make to sweetened water with electric shocks
and added poison
strength
research support
evolutionary expakntions for food prefects is supported by research studies
Torres’s et al
reviews relevant studies into he link between stress and eating behaviour
concluded that humans have an increased tendency to prefer high fat foods during periods or stress
fight or flight response is initiated
evolved mechanis that helps us cope with stress bit it creates a greater demand for energy
an increased fat preference during times of stress supports the view that such preference is important for survival
limitation
neophobia no longer adaptive
in the modern food environment
most of the food we consume is sold by retailers and food outlets that are subject to strict laws
food is therefore safer than it has ever been and offers little threat to survival
caution about trying new foods in childhood used to protect us from sickness and death but it now merely prevents us from eating safe foods from a young age
restricts a child’s diet
limiting access to a wider variety of foods that provide nutritional benefits
limitation
individual differences in taste aversion
we would expect all people to share the same adaptive food preferences
but they don’t
exmaple - bitter tasting chemical PROP
this chemical is often associated with foods that are potentially dangerous
Drewnowski
people differ in their ability to detect PROP which we would not expect if it was adaptive ability
PROP inseitivity appears to be an inherited trait
seems that soem adaptive preferences are not selected in the way we would expect according to evolutionary theory
