It all Began with Change…

Abstract

As far as nutritional history goes, there have been three stages up until the modern day. The human race began as hunter–gatherers living off the fat of the land. However, the land was rather lean, limiting population growth and afflicting our ancestors with frequent periods of hunger. The amount of effort involved in food production left little energy for anything else. Our ancestors are thought to have emerged from this period of hardship greedy, lazy and with food preferences that favoured energy-dense foods. And so the stage was set for obesity as soon as food supplies allowed.The next stage in nutritional history was farming. Humans tilled the land, selecting animals and plants that best suited their needs rather than Mother Nature's intentions. Greed, laziness and those same taste preferences developed for the natural world guided farming practices and determined the types of food produced. With the control farming gave, dietary balance shifted to include more of the favourite foods and less of others. Yet a poisonous vein ran through this era: food adulteration. It capped life expectancy and hid the consequences of malnutrition.