Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
Evolutionary Explanations of Food Preference
2
What do we Like (and not like)?
Sweet – identify foods rich in carbs to provide us with energy Sour – associated with food that has gone off and therefore, should be avoided Salt – critical for functioning of the cells and therefore need to identify Bitter – associated with poisonous plants, should be avoided Umami – a recent discovery which is highly savoury – a meaty taste
5
Humans split from the great apes about 6 million years ago
Humans split from the great apes about 6 million years ago. Modern apes live on nuts, fruit and plants. Therefore likely our early ancestors were vegetarian. However, we rapidly became omnivores and this is evident in modern hunter gatherer societies. Our digestive system is different from monkeys and apes as theirs is specialised for the digestion of plant material.
6
MEAT Has advantages as high calories and protein.
More efficient to hunt than forage Hunting required specialised skills Tool making and use Geographical skills Organisation Social skills leading to language and high level skills
7
MEAT These skills would mean larger brains would be selected
Would result in gender differences in behaviour and division of labour Sex for meat! Buss (2008)reports than in some modern hunter gatherer societies women will divorce men who do not provide food Bringing home the bacon
8
MEAT Early hunter gatherers like organ meat These are high in protein
This protein rich diet contributed to the growth of the brain in humans Therefore, this all suggests that the preference for savoury foods (umami) can be traced back to our environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA)
9
Do some reading In your Cardwell book look at page 176 and read up on the research on innate preferences and self regulation mechanism Also read and make notes on Davis (1928) and the ‘wisdom of the body’
10
Why do we Like chocolate?
We have an innate preference for sweet things This makes sense Eating fruits and berries would provide us with carbohydrates A rich source of energy But – now our sweet tooth doesn’t encourage us to eat fruit but cakes and sweets
11
Why do we like chocolate?
Our innate desire for calorie rich foods causes us problems We do not use up energy hunting and foraging Therefore, our evolutionary past can lead us into problems Due to the obesogenic environment
12
Activity Imagine you are walking around town
Come up with three things that contribute to our obesogenic environment
13
Why do we cook? Introduced half a million years ago
Kills bacteria in meat An evolutionary advantage over other animals Makes meat tender Our molars have decreased in size during evolution
14
Why don’t we like bitter and sour?
These receptor help us identify food that has gone off Leads to the facial expression of ‘disgust’ This is seen in human infants and other primates Suggests innate This feeling leads to avoidance
15
Why use spice? Spices have antimicrobial properties
Killing off bacteria would have been an advantage Today spices used more in hot countries Cultural transmission rather than genetic transmission
16
Why do kids prefer their mum’s cooking?
Food neophobia is a avoidance of unfamiliar foods This is evident in the animal kingdom This makes evolutionary sense But we do like variety
17
The Evolution of Taste Aversion
Farmers using rat poison discovered rats would only take a small amount of a new food and avoid it if it made them sick Garcia et al (1955) studied taste aversion in the lab using saccharin flavoured water. Page 161 in AQA book read up of taste aversion
18
What about Morning Sickness
Often results in the avoidance of certain foods Read about this AQA page 162
19
Some Brief Evaluation Ignores the role of society, parenting and experience and therefore a reductionist explanation We do show similarities to other species Fossil evidence (teeth, digestive system) provide evidence of the shift to meat eating and hunter gatherer societies Can explain unusual food preferences including morning sickness Nature rather than nurture
20
Activity Issues, debates approaches, methodology
Look at what we have done so far in eating behaviour Outline the main factors that apply to this topic so far Use all the books available For example: Use a semantic differential to note down where this explanation would come on each of the following: NATURE NURTURE DETERMINISM FREE WILL REDUCTIONISM HOLISM
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.