Discuss and evaluate the evolutionary explanations of food preferences

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Discuss and evaluate the evolutionary explanations of food preferences

Evolutionary explanations of food preference explain individual’s food choices in based on the diets of our earlier ancestors and also based on cultural transmission which is the spread of skills, technologies and ideas through communication and modelling rather than genes.        

The role of taste and smell are very important for humans as they can use the senses to differentiate between good and bad foods. When we eat food there are five key tastes receptors that come into play. These are sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami. These are good for survival because; sweet recognises carbohydrates in food. Carbohydrates are good because they are a good energy source. Sour would help people to realise what foods are bad and therefore prompt them not to eat them. Salt is important for the functioning of cells so it would be important for the body to recognise this. Bitter tastes are usually poisonous so this would protect people from eating poisonous foods. Umami would indicate a good source of protein. These food tastes would have helped humans evolve as they each either protect from eating harmful foods or they recognise foods that need to be eaten. It would be difficult however to identify most of these tastes as food that is prepared today would have several different tastes.

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Humans have quite a complex diet and there is good evidence as to why we are carnivores and omnivores. When studies looked at animals such as apes and chimpanzees who mainly eat fruit nuts and plants and are considered 2 be humans closest relatives, they made conclusions that as early humans used to survive solely on vegetation as this was very much easy to obtain.  Humans gradually became omnivores as their bodies became accustomed to meat. Our bodies are accustomed to eating meat and the evidence that proves this is; a long duodenum and small intestine which is specialised ...

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