Transcript Title: Evolutionary explanations of Food Preference

Title: Evolutionary explanations of Food
Preference
LO: To be able to explain how we
have evolved to prefer different
types of foods and tastes
How have they adapted to their environment?
Title: Evolutionary explanations of
Food Preference
The unit so far…
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Key terms:
Sweet preferences
Salt preference
Meat preferences
Bitter aversion
So why do we prefer this?
Over this?
AO1: Preference for the sweet… is it
innate?
High energy & non-toxic
Aids survival!
AO2: Zhao et al (2008) There is a
genetic preference for sweet tastes.
AO2: Steiner (1979)
Neonates prefer sweet to bitter.
AO2:
Cross Cultural Evidence
Sefansson (1960)
Copper Inuits were
disgusted at their first
taste of sugar
Evaluation Questions…
Do they have the same expressions as us?
Can we separate the nature from the nurture?
Maybe they evolved differently?
This matters because…
AO1: Salt Taste Preference
Essential for neural & muscular activity
Beauchamp (1983)
Pps with sodium deficiency find salt
more tasty and less averse at high
concentrations
AO1: Meat Preference:
1. Why have humans developed a preference for meat?
2. Why did this preference survive through natural
selection?
3. Why is eating meat advantageous?
4. What are the direct and indirect advantages to eating
meat?
5. What are the dangers?
6. In one sentence each: (AO2)
What did Dunn (1990), Goudsblom (1992) and Foley & Lee
(1991) report?
Extension: Turn them into burger paragraphs; do the support
or challenge the idea that Meat is a genetic preference?
AO1: Bitter and Sour tastes
Tastes indicate poisons; so we avoid them!
Humans have 30 genes that code for bitter
taste receptors
AO2:
In pairs summarise one of Merrit et al (2008),
Go et al (2005) or Liam and Menella (2003)
Find a pair who have summarised the same
study – pick the best summary!
Evaluation AO2
The question:
“Discuss evolutionary explanations to food
preference”
Write 1 evaluation paragraph (corresponding
to your number) from page 178:
Evaluation point…
This suggests…
This matters because…
Title: Evolutionary explanations of
Food Preference
LO: To be able to explain how we
have evolved to prefer different
types of foods and tastes
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