100 Million Years Of Food summary

About two million years ago, our ancestors began migrating out of the trees and adapting to a terrestrial lifestyle. They started to look more human and their diets changed, too.

Around the same time, these early humans began hunting and foraging, eating more meat than they ever had before. As a result, their brains started growing rapidly.

Nowadays, with all the choices available to us, it’s easy to eat a balanced vegetarian diet. But alternatives to red meat are nothing new. Our meat-loving ancestors even branched out. For instance, in many cultures, fish predominated, although not all people developed a taste for it.

Here’s how it happened:

All parents have insisted, at one time or another, that their kid eat her veggies. After all, veggies are healthy and packed with nutrients, right? Well, the truth is, most plants are actually unhealthy and many are even dangerous.

Why?

The human body is surprisingly adaptable and we can get used to big dietary changes. But doing so can take many generations. The slow nature of this process posed a problem when food processing began to become the norm.

Humans, with little time to adapt to this change, suddenly faced a variety of new illnesses. For instance, in the second half of the nineteenth century, a frightening disease called beriberi emerged among the richer people of East and Southeast Asia. The affected patients presented with heart issues, mobility problems and mental confusion.

Did you know that Japanese people eat an average of 300 fewer calories per capita than Americans? That sounds healthy, but is it worth following their example?

Actually, there are upsides and downsides to limiting your caloric intake. For instance, the Japanese live longer than Americans, but that’s not proof that their way is better.

Imagine your friend invites you out to lunch at a buffet but you’re trying to eat healthily. Are you better off going for a bowl of oatmeal, some meatballs or just sticking with Prosecco? The answer is, it depends.

After all, most foods and beverages aren’t simply good or bad. Everyone is different and, to determine which foods are good for you, you need to consider your age, heritage and how much of any given thing you’ll eat.