AHI Class: The Evolution of Human Nutrition

This class will cover the evolution of human nutrition from the common primate ancestor of humans and chimps to modern humans.  Topics include:

Chimpanzee and gorilla nutrition, fact and fiction How gorillas convert low-fat leaves into a high-fat diet Comparision of insects and wild game Archaeological evidence for early human meat-eating from 3.5 million years ago to present Relationship between meat-eating and brain size in terrestrial animals Brain size and meat-eating in Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens sapiens Brain nutritional requirements as evidence for human evolutionary diets Expensive tissue hypothesis:  Why we have small guts and big brains compared to chimps Fossil bone evidence for evolutionary human diets How agriculture affected the first farmers' health Why humans adopted agriculture What food allergy prevalence tells us about ancestral diets This class is the second in the series that can lead students to certification in Ancestral Nutrition Education through the Ancestral Health Institute.