Why Can Humans Eat Almost Anything When Most Animals Can't

Humans can eat almost anything, yet our guts and jaws are modest compared with other primates. So where does our range come from? Many meat-eating animals lost genes for tastes they no longer needed, and humans have only a couple of well-documented gene changes tied to food. This video looks at the evidence that cooking, soaking, fermenting and other learned techniques do much of the work, and at what is still uncertain. 00:00 – The contradiction: wide menu, modest gut 01:00 – Animals that lost their taste receptors 04:00 – Why our digestive hardware isn't the explanation 06:30 – The genes that did change: amylase and lactase 09:30 – The twist: habits first, genes after (cassava and cooking) 12:30 – What we still don't know 14:15 – The ending Sources: - Li et al. (2005). Pseudogenization of a sweet-receptor gene accounts for cats' indifference toward sugar. PLoS Genet. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0010003 - Jiang et al. (2012). Major taste loss in carnivorous mammals. PNAS. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118360109 - Zhao et al. (2012). Genomic and genetic evidence for the loss of umami taste in bats. Genome Biol Evol. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evr126 - Navarrete et al. (2011). Energetics and the evolution of human brain size. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10629 - Perry et al. (2007). Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation. Nat Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng2123 - Itan et al. (2009). The origins of lactase persistence in Europe. PLoS Comput Biol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000491 - Montagnac et al. (2009). Processing techniques to reduce toxicity and antinutrients of cassava for use as a staple food. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2008.00064.x - Carmody & Wrangham (2009). The energetic significance of cooking. J Hum Evol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.02.011 Like if this changed how you think about food. Comment: What's the most surprising food preparation trick you know of, and why does it work? Subscribe for more. #HumanEvolution #FoodScience #HumanDiet #EvolutionBiology #Nutrition