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Date: | Thu, 20 Feb 2003 12:01:07 +0000 |
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> >I don't think that being attracted to sweetness would be explained by a
> lack of sweet foods, unless sweetness was associated with some
> physiological or survival benefit. Aboriginals would, I guess, out of
> habit, have generally associated energy replenishment with their animal
> >food intake.
>
> I think you are absolutely right and this was what I should have been more
> clear about in my post. Sweetness is usually (not alwys) an indicator of
> useful energy and hence its prevalence IMHO.
Bit of a naive question: We've got metabolic pathways which process sugars
quicker than other carbohydrates leading to short term effects (`sugar
rush'), and (by definition :-) ) sweet things taste different from
non-sweet things. Both of these effects are reasonably pleasant and when
strictly moderated by a natural scarcity of sugar dense plants -- and
certainly without the modern `bred for sweetness' fruits -- don't have any
deleterous effects on the individual. Is there any reason to believe that
there was a strong evolutionary pressure causing an interest in sweet
substances as opposed to there being no physiological/survival pressure
against people with sweet tooths?
___cheers,_dave_________________________________________________________
www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~tweed/ | `It's no good going home to practise
email:[log in to unmask] | a Special Outdoor Song which Has To Be
work tel:(0117) 954-5250 | Sung In The Snow' -- Winnie the Pooh
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