Human Food

Diet is key to understanding the past, present, and future of our species. Much of human evolutionary success can be attributed to our ability to consume and preserve a wide range of foods. Technological advances changed the types of foods we eat. With this consideration, How Technological Advances Change Human Food weaves together various themes, starting with human evolution, moving on to methods of food preservation, and continuing with the evolution of cooking methods.

In the first of this series, Part 1: Herbs, Spices and Sweeteners, you will learn: A full spectrum of choices from "Eat" to "Moderate" to "Avoid" in each food group. The minimum servings of fruits and sweeteners that will keep your blood sugar balanced. Which herbs, spices, and sweeteners are the best choices to supplement your diet. Which ones you may use with moderation and... the ones to absolutely avoid, and why they are toxic to your health.

The first human remains were found in Ethiopia, almost 200,000 years ago. During that time, Ethiopia had a warm and tropical climate. It is likely that we evolved to be humans in this hot environment. And you're hot, too. The human body is 98.6 degrees on average. You are a warm-blooded human. Humans, eventually, left their tropical roots and populated the planet in cooler regions north and south of the equator. Since then, we have lost brain size, our metabolic rates have dropped, obesity rates have risen, and we have more lifestyle disease than ever before.

The idea of "good nutrition" is imparted to us from early childhood and reinforced through governmental dietary advice throughout our lifetime. This way of thinking about nutrition has, almost quite literally, been shoved down our throats for hundreds of years, but is it better for us than our natural diet?