Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

scientificamerican.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 139 posts

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#21

Post by PavlikPaja »

shard972 wrote: post #15

It's still a bit bizarre watching the western world switch form carbs good, fat bad to carbs bad fat good in the span of like a decade.

I suspect it's the result of adding iron to flour. For many peopel it irritates their gut and may have a whoel host of negative effects. There is no reason why it should be neccessary to add it into all food, it made flour based products basically toxic, since the body has no way to get rid of iron. Eating grains never had any negative effects before this "fortification" began.

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#22

Post by mancerayder »

burtonator wrote: post #8

One of the first human foods was actually bone marrow which is basically pure fat. This happened about 2MYA by Homo habilis who figured out that you could use rocks to bust open bones. Lions and Hyenas would leave huge piles of bones in the middle of the dessert which had been picked clean by vultures. One of our ancestors had the brilliant idea to use a rock to bust open the bones. Well it's a massive source of free…

Lions and Hyenas would leave huge piles of bones in the middle of the dessert which had been picked clean by vultures.

One of our ancestors had the brilliant idea to use a rock to bust open the bones.

Wait - I thought hyenas were specifically bone-busting / eating:

"Spotted hyenas are some of Africa's most proficient predators. A frenzied scrum of them can dismantle and devour a 400-pound zebra in 25 minutes. An adult spotted hyena can tear off and swallow 30 or 40 pounds of meat per feeding. Latecomers to a kill use their massive jaw muscles and molars to pulverize the bones for minerals and fatty marrow. Hair and hooves get regurgitated later. "The only thing left is a patch of blood on the ground," says Holekamp." [1]

1 - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/whos-laughing-...

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#23

Post by [deleted] »

samstave wrote: post #10

I thought this was known. When my first born was a toddler, she would go into the fridge and eat butter. I expressed concern to my grandmother, a life long nurse who was born in 1920 said to me; “the brain knows that it needs fats to grow, just let her eat butter. It is what her body is saying she needs” She is super smart and it wasnt an issue otherwise.

[deleted]

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#24

Post by EnderViaAnsible »

samstave wrote: post #10

I thought this was known. When my first born was a toddler, she would go into the fridge and eat butter. I expressed concern to my grandmother, a life long nurse who was born in 1920 said to me; “the brain knows that it needs fats to grow, just let her eat butter. It is what her body is saying she needs” She is super smart and it wasnt an issue otherwise.

The translation of deficiencies into food cravings has always fascinated me. People with pica, for example, often compulsively eat non-foods that are in fact related to a deficiency they have. Anemics sometimes crave dirt (which does contain iron).

But how does it "know"?

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#25

Post by scottie_m »

code_duck wrote: post #13
burtonator wrote: post #8

One of the first human foods was actually bone marrow which is basically pure fat. This happened about 2MYA by Homo habilis who figured out that you could use rocks to bust open bones. Lions and Hyenas would leave huge piles of bones in the middle of the dessert which had been picked clean by vultures. One of our ancestors had the brilliant idea to use a rock to bust open the bones. Well it's a massive source of free…

Extended simmering (>6 hours) releases much of the nutrients in bones, too - collagen, gelatin, fats, minerals. I frequently slow-cook whole chickens and small bones become so soft they can easily be eaten after about 24 hours. Of course, you don't want to over-do this due to issues like histamine and lead.

Breaking down whole chickens with all bones and connective tissues is one of the areas where a good pressure cooker really shines. I like to make big piles of chicken and beef stock using a pressure cooker, then reducing it on the stovetop. I freeze most of it, and reduce some of the beef stock much further down to demi glacé, freeze it in ice cube trays and use it for sauces and soups.

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#26

Post by s_y_n_t_a_x »

EnderViaAnsible wrote: post #24
samstave wrote: post #10

I thought this was known. When my first born was a toddler, she would go into the fridge and eat butter. I expressed concern to my grandmother, a life long nurse who was born in 1920 said to me; “the brain knows that it needs fats to grow, just let her eat butter. It is what her body is saying she needs” She is super smart and it wasnt an issue otherwise.

The translation of deficiencies into food cravings has always fascinated me. People with pica, for example, often compulsively eat non-foods that are in fact related to a deficiency they have. Anemics sometimes crave dirt (which does contain iron). But how does it "know"?

Probably a memory of the taste and the vitamins that follow it.

My wife craves mints when she's low on iron.

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#27

Post by rgbrenner »

XaoDaoCaoCao wrote: post #19
shard972 wrote: post #15

It's still a bit bizarre watching the western world switch form carbs good, fat bad to carbs bad fat good in the span of like a decade.

Going from a high carb diet to a high fat diet was amazing. "Wait instead of feeling omnipresent urges to overeat and snack, my satiety system actually works? I stop getting dips in energy throughout the day?" Said it before but a diet of bacon and eggs would be superior to the diets of most Americans.

I find when you make major changes to your diet, your urges to eat, cravings, etc adjust to the new diet after a couple of weeks.

I eat a pretty balanced diet that includes plenty of carbs. I also only eat once a day (at about 6-7pm). I get no cravings during the day until just before it's my regular time to eat. I should add, most of the carbs I eat are fruits, beans, whole grains, rice, quinoa, etc... not: white bread, juice, cereal, etc that digest quickly.

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#28

Post by village-idiot »

strainer wrote: post #20

I don't subscribe to New Scientist's trick title or the theories of nutrient limited mammalian brain evolution. Compare brain size of carnivore species with herbivores - there is no overt division in average or max brain size. Generally, herbivorous mammals seem to evolve brains just as large as carnivorous ones. Elephants, orangutans, gorillas grow big brains on a vegetarian diet. If predator diets contain a special…

Brain size to body size matters a lot too. Sperm whales have about 6x the brain we do, but far more than 6x the body to control.

Re: Fat, Not Meat, May Have Led to Bigger Hominin Brains

#29

Post by village-idiot »

rgbrenner wrote: post #27
XaoDaoCaoCao wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going from a high carb diet to a high fat diet was amazing. "Wait instead of feeling omnipresent urges to overeat and snack, my satiety system actually works? I stop getting dips in energy throughout the day?" Said it before but a diet of bacon and eggs would be superior to the diets of most Americans.

I find when you make major changes to your diet, your urges to eat, cravings, etc adjust to the new diet after a couple of weeks. I eat a pretty balanced diet that includes plenty of carbs. I also only eat once a day (at about 6-7pm). I get no cravings during the day until just before it's my regular time to eat. I should add, most of the carbs I eat are fruits, beans, whole grains, rice, quinoa, etc... not: white br…

I think fruit, especially the modern stuff, is bad for you. In particular the stuff you want to avoid is. fructose, which is toxic for humans. Fructose is harder on the human liver than alcohol on a gram by gram basis, and over consumption of fructose can cause cirrhosis and fatty liver disease.

Edit: source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Post reply on HN