4 ms·

Is ~ 10,000 years enough to evolve ourselves, especially given that we evolved to eat other foods during the previous 190,000 years?

• amanaplanacanal 8y ago
  There has certainly been some adaptation: The ability do continue producing lactase into adulthood is well known. There is certainly disagreement about how much more adaptation there has been, which is why there is the whole "Paleo" food movement.
  • Jach 8y ago
    There's an adaptation question too for foods in the ancestral environment, not just in the last 10k years. What are the selection pressures? If you make it to about 50 as a woman, you're done with even the possibility of reproducing. So all you really need is a tolerance of whatever local food you have until you're that old; if long term exposure messes you up at 60 it doesn't matter. For someone today, wanting to extend their life as long as possible, there is probably a lot in the ancestral / paleo food range you should still avoid, and probably some foods only made possible with technology that provide superior long term outlooks.