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Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today. In fact, many fruits of old were inedible (e.g. apples). Sources of su

Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today. In fact, many fruits of old were inedible (e.g. apples). Sources of sugar such as sweet fruits and honey were rare delicacies, not daily occurrences. Humans in various regions would have adapted over 1000 generations to better match their environment. We live in a VERY different world now.

hoka-one-one 6y ago
Can you cite some sources please? I've tasted some very sweet wild berries.
- johnchristopher 6y ago
  And I had some very sour apples so I think our anecdata cancel each other.
  - RugnirViking 6y ago
    The existance of fruit that isn't sweet is not a counter example to the fact that sweet fruit exists at all
- shlant 6y ago
  here is some info refuting that often parroted myth: 1. https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 2. https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/ https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/
chmod600 6y ago
While I'm sure not everyone had access to sweet fruit all the time, are you sure it was really so rare? Fruit is meant to be eaten, so as long as plants have the spare energy, I don't see why they wouldn't make lots of appealing fruit. Veggies would make more sense to be bitter. Also, where did you get 1000 generations from? That's 20000 years in one place. It seems like a lot of humans would be a lot more mobile than that.
- yosito 6y ago
  > Fruit is meant to be eaten Meant by who? Evolution don't give a fuck...
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    I thought the whole evolutionary advantage was that animals spread the seeds around after eating the fruit, making survival much more likely. So not 'meant to be eaten' as in intentional choices, but meant to be eaten as in - this is why its an evolutionary advantage.
  - johnchristopher 6y ago
    By the plant. The plant that is driven by its genes to maximize its offspring.
55555 6y ago
This is a myth. I think 10,000 years ago there were only 2 million humans walking the earth. Fruit trees growing on uninhabited islands today have delicious sweet mangos. Fruits which exist but have never been cultivated at scale are also deliciously sweet.
- shlant 6y ago
  yea just come to Borneo and try some of the native fruits to see how wrong that myth is ;)
redis_mlc 6y ago
> Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today. In fact, many fruits of old were inedible I have heard that cereal crops (wheat, corn) were basically grass before farming started. This was a disadvantage for Aztecs and Mayans since it took a while for humans to migrate there, and then to cultivate them to a useful efficiency level.
Broken_Hippo 6y ago
In addition to things other folks have said: Honey has existed for quite some time, because bees have existed for quite some time. Honey is pretty full of sugary goodness.
shlant 6y ago
> Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today This is not substantiated[1][2] 1. https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 2. https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/ https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/

hoka-one-one 6y ago

Can you cite some sources please? I've tasted some very sweet wild berries.

johnchristopher 6y ago
And I had some very sour apples so I think our anecdata cancel each other.
- RugnirViking 6y ago
  The existance of fruit that isn't sweet is not a counter example to the fact that sweet fruit exists at all
shlant 6y ago
here is some info refuting that often parroted myth: 1. https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 2. https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/ https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/

chmod600 6y ago

While I'm sure not everyone had access to sweet fruit all the time, are you sure it was really so rare? Fruit is meant to be eaten, so as long as plants have the spare energy, I don't see why they wouldn't make lots of appealing fruit. Veggies would make more sense to be bitter. Also, where did you get 1000 generations from? That's 20000 years in one place. It seems like a lot of humans would be a lot more mobile than that.

yosito 6y ago
> Fruit is meant to be eaten Meant by who? Evolution don't give a fuck...
- LegitShady 6y ago
  I thought the whole evolutionary advantage was that animals spread the seeds around after eating the fruit, making survival much more likely. So not 'meant to be eaten' as in intentional choices, but meant to be eaten as in - this is why its an evolutionary advantage.
- johnchristopher 6y ago
  By the plant. The plant that is driven by its genes to maximize its offspring.

55555 6y ago

This is a myth. I think 10,000 years ago there were only 2 million humans walking the earth. Fruit trees growing on uninhabited islands today have delicious sweet mangos. Fruits which exist but have never been cultivated at scale are also deliciously sweet.

shlant 6y ago
yea just come to Borneo and try some of the native fruits to see how wrong that myth is ;)

redis_mlc 6y ago

> Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today. In fact, many fruits of old were inedible I have heard that cereal crops (wheat, corn) were basically grass before farming started. This was a disadvantage for Aztecs and Mayans since it took a while for humans to migrate there, and then to cultivate them to a useful efficiency level.

Broken_Hippo 6y ago

In addition to things other folks have said: Honey has existed for quite some time, because bees have existed for quite some time. Honey is pretty full of sugary goodness.

shlant 6y ago

> Earlier fruits didn't have anywhere near the sugar content of the cultivated ones today This is not substantiated[1][2] 1. https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 https://twitter.com/Botanygeek/status/1149968041964396545 2. https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/ https://deniseminger.com/2011/05/31/wild-and-ancient-fruit/