March 2, 2001
NUTRITION NEWS FOCUS
"Nutrition news is important.  We help you understand it!"

Today's Topic: Diet in Evolution

There have been decades of arguments about what we should be eating
now based on what scientists think our earliest ancestors ate.  The
latest installment appeared in the December 5, 2000 Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
< http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/97/25/13506 >

Study of jaw size and shape, tooth size, shape, and wear patterns
give clues as to what the earliest human ancestors ate two to four
million years ago.  All they could conclude was whether hard, brittle
foods or soft, or tough food were chewed.  Researchers studied
fossils from early hominids and concluded that there was large
variability in the diet.  This generalized diet became crucial 2.5
million years ago when we diverged from hominids that died out.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Some scientists believe
we should be vegetarians because closely related monkeys are.
However, most primate species eat meat when they can.  A varied diet
allowed us to survive environmental changes which presumably killed
off less adaptable species.  There is also considerable weight to the
argument that our brains evolved because we could eat a variety of
foods.  Want to eat nothing but leaves?  Be ready to live in a tree.


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Copyright 2001 Nutrition News Focus Inc.

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