Food amount and preferences Flashcards
How could our modern diet be related to modern disease?
We eat a reduce fibre diet, have vitamin and mineral deficiencies, increased salt intake contributes to high blood pressure which can cause strokes and heart disease. We also eat new foods such as dairy products which are associated with lactose and gluten intolerance.
What factors mean that it would be hard for hunter gatherers to become obese?
Food was very hard to get as it had to be hunted or gathered and was not very enjoyable to eat, it was not very concentrated and it was time-consuming to prepare.
What can explain why nowadays humans tend to overeat?
As it would have been very difficult for humans to overeat there would have been little need for a satiety mechanism. Nowadays there is easy access to food, it is enjoyable and appetizing to eat, there are concentrated calories and it does not require preparation.
What is the omnivores dilemma?
The benefit of being an omnivore is that there is a large range of foods you are able to eat, meaning you are able to cope with changes in climate, geography and extinctions. However, you risk poisoning when learning which foods you are able to eat, so omnivores must have instincts and be able to learn food preferences.
How can humans learn about food preferences?
Instincts about avoidance, learning mechanisms to avoid foods that make you il and culturally transmitted food preferences.
How do instinctive food aversions work?
Disgust is one of Ekman’s 6 basic human emotions. Disgust is the aversion to food that might be contaminated by micro-organisms such as germs and fungi. We also avoid bitter and sour tastes which are associated with poisonous things such as unripe fruit.
How do learning mechanisms help avoid foods?
This is demonstrated through Garcia’s Sauce Bearnaise phenomenon.If you give an animals a new food (for example blue) and then make them vomit they will have a permanent aversion to blue food. This mechanism will work even if the food did not make them ill and can occur if the sickness is a few hours after consumption.
Which foods taste appealing?
Sweet foods are appealing because they are the taste of ripe fruit. Salt was in shortage in Palaeolothic times but essential to life so we developed a liking to ensure we ate it when we found it.
How must food instincts be controlled and overcome in modern society?
We must moderate our intake of foods that we like and we have overcome aversions to foods we dislike, such as coffee and beer.
What are the rates of disease? Cordain (2005)
In the United States chronic illness and health problems attributable to diet represent the most serious threat to public health. 65% of adults in the USA are overweight or obese.
