wayne Updates

6/26/2010 8:37:18 AM:
"I saw this question: Just out of curiosity, if, as humans, we need the nutrition from vegetables so badly, why don't we crave them as much as we crave sugar, salt and fat? One of the answers. I just switched from an Anthropology major (now minor), and this was a very heavily discussed topic. Hunter gatherers were studied extensively and it has been shown that they had a more nutritious and diverse diet, they lived longer, and had better immune systems. They had better teeth, better bones, and better reflexes. It is arguable that their lifestyle contributed to their health, but the diet is what is mainly attributed to their overall health. To answer OP, Humans crave sugar, salt, and fat because they all elicit a dopamine response to varying degrees. Sugar and fat in large quantities are not very common in a hunter gatherer lifestyle (the lifestyle wherein the anatomically modern Human evolved), so the brain is set up to reward the intake of sugar and fat with dopamine. The consumption of fats and sugars is then associated with a 'good' feeling, so the body gets to hoard up on simple calories, and the brain responds by releasing dopamine to achieve a positive feedback loop. TL;DR Hunter gatherers lived a healthy and nutritionally diverse lifestyle, surpassing farmers and agriculturalists in every marker of overall health EXCEPT for child production. We crave sugars and fats because we evolved in an environment that rewarded impulsive consumption of simple calories and carbohydrates. http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/cj264/just_out_of_curiosity_if_as_humans_we_need_the/"