Evolutionary preferences for sweet, salt, fat
- Evolutionary psychology argues that human behaviour reflects the evolutionary history of the species and how humans have dealt with adaptive problems such as avoiding predators and finding and eating the right types of food for survival
- Human ancestors survived in the environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA) where it made sense to develop individual food preferences for foods that gave the best chance of the survival of the species
- Individuals with preferences for foods that gave more chance of survival would be more able to live to sexual maturity, reproduce and pass on their food preferences to their children
- Human ancestors faced an unpredictable food supply, the threat of starvation, and a high need to store energy
- Therefore, human ancestors’ preferred foods would be energy-dense non-poisonous food, such as sweet foods, fatty foods and salty foods
- Sweet foods:
- Sweet foods such as ripe fruit contain many calories and provide an easily accessible source of energy
- Sweet foods are rarely poisonous so they would be perceived as safe to eat, while sour or bitter foods may be toxic (Simmen and Hladik, 1998)
- Fatty foods
- Foods that are high in fat are energy-dense, containing a high number of calories and releasing a lot of energy
- Meat is high in fat and calories, allowing humans to survive for the long time there may be between one animal kill and another
- Once fire was discovered, meat could be cooked or smoked to preserve it, make it easier to eat and destroy any harmful bacteria
- Salty foods
- Salt is important for conducting nerve impulses, contracting and relaxing muscles, and maintaining the proper balance of water and minerals
- The concentration of salt in the blood must remain at a specific level and regularly needs topping up, as small amounts of salt are lost through sweat and the action of the kidneys
- Preference and avoidance aid survival and are therefore inherited and become common behaviours that have lasted until the present day
- Evolutionary psychologists explain our current preference for sweet, fatty and salty food, such as highly-processed fast food, as an evolutionary adaptation that now has a mis-match with our environment, as we are more sedentary and have less need for energy-dense food (Krebs, 2009)
Preference for fatty and sweet foods is an evolutionary adaptation that is no longer useful.