Todd Moody wrote :

> This brings us to my question.  The various spice herbs are
> mostly vanishingly low in calories, and are pungent enough in
> taste that it seems doubtful that anyone would eat very much of
> them at a time anyway.  Many spices have potent health-promoting
> effects, it seems, because of antioxidants and other ingredients
> present in them, but prehistoric humans wouldn't have known of
> that.  Indeed, it's hard to see why they would have bothered with
> these plants at all.  If that is correct, the contribution of
> these plants to their diet would have been at least as negligible
> as that of grains or dairy foods.  Therefore we shouldn't be very
> well adapted to them.  Nevertheless, they seem to be good for us.
>
> What is the explanation?

I would like to make a parallel between your interrogation and 2 articles, one in
"Natural History" and the other one in "Equinox" about muriquis and chimpanzees
"playing doctor with nature's drugs".

In the Natural History 1993 article, Karen B. Strier writes : "...During the same
critical time of year (mating season), muriquis also alter their behavior by
making speedy excursions away from the central part of the forest, where they
usually hang out, to the periphery, where the forest gives way to surrounding
pasture. Once there, they leap across gaps in the canopy to reach the fruit of
another species of legume, Enterolobium contortisiliquum, whose common name is
monkey ear. Uncharacteristically, both male and female muriquis abandon the monkey
ear trees long before the fruits are depleted, suggesting that they only need a
taste to be satisfied. What they are seeking in these fruits is unknown, but
monkey ear fruits contain stigmasterol, a steroid used in laboratory synthesis of
progesterone..."

In the 1994 Equinox article, Michael McRae writes : "...Primatologist Michael
Huffman ...is in the vanguard of an emerging field that goes by the imposing name
of zoopharmacognosy (the science of animal self medication with plants and other
natural substances). Of the approximately 200 plant species in the chimps'diet at
Mahale, Huffman believes that 14 (including Aspilia mossanbicensis, a relative of
the sunflower that is widely used in bush medicine in Africa) are eaten not for
taste or nourishment but chiefly for medicinal benefit..."
and further "...Bitterness may be how chimps determine dosage, a signal from the
plant or insect that says, "Don't eat me!"..."

Hope this helps...
Is there a primatologist or a zoopharmacognosist(?) in this list?
I would be very interested in further readings on the subject. Any suggestions?

Jacques Laurin

References
Strier, K.B. (1993). "Menu for a monkey." Natural History vol.102 No.3: 34-42.
McRae, M. (1994). "Creature Cures." Equinox vol.75: 46-55