A groundbreaking study has revealed that human craving for carbohydrates may have evolved much earlier than previously believed. Contrary to the long-standing notion that prehistoric humans relied primarily on meat as their main energy source, recent archaeological findings suggest that our ancestors consumed substantial amounts of carbohydrates, even before the advent of agriculture.
Published in the journal Science, this study highlights that a specific gene, AMY1, which produces the enzyme amylase responsible for breaking down complex carbs into simple sugars, began to replicate in early humans long before the introduction of farming. This discovery reshapes the understanding of early human nutrition, showing that the ability to digest starches was a natural adaptation to the environment rather than a consequence of agricultural practices.
By analyzing ancient genomes, researchers uncovered that the AMY1 gene which enhances starch digestion multiplied over time, allowing early humans to process carbohydrates more efficiently. According to CNN, humans today have varying copies of this gene and this genetic diversity reflects how starch consumption became beneficial for human health.
“The main question we aimed to answer was when did this gene duplication occur?” said Feyza Yilmaz, the study’s lead author and associate computational scientist at The Jackson Laboratory. “We wanted to understand if this gene proliferation aligned with the rise of agriculture, which has been a hot topic of debate.”
The findings challenge the traditional meat-based dietary theory of early humans, suggesting that our ancestors’ preference for carbs may have been a key factor in their survival and evolution, paving the way for a more complex understanding of human nutrition in pre-agricultural societies.
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