Nutrigenetics in the Light of Human Evolution

Abstract

Bio-cultural adaptations to new foods played a key role in human evolution. The fossil record and sequence differences between human and chimpanzee genes point to a major dietary shift at the stem of human evolution. The earliest representatives of the human lineage diverged from the ancestors of chimpanzees because of their better adaptation to hard and abrasive foods. Bipedalism and modifications of the hand, which allowed tool manufacture and use, impacted on dietary flexibility, facilitating access to foods of animal origin. This promoted major anatomic, physiologic and metabolic adaptations. Encephalization, which requires high-quality diet, characterizes the evolutionary sequence that, through the Homo ergaster/erectus stages, led to our species, Homo sapiens, which originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago. At the end of the Ice Age, climatic changes and human impact determined a major food crisis, which triggered the agricultural revolution. This affected nutrition and health, with rapid evolutionary adaptations through the selection of genetic variants that allowed better utilization of new foods, different in relation to geography and culture. Today population growth, globalization and economic pressure powerfully affect diets worldwide. We must take into account our evolutionary past to meet the present nutritional challenges.

Chemical ecology in coupled human and natural systems: people, manioc, multitrophic interactions and global change

“…More recently, studies of the chemical ecology of vertebrate herbivores and omnivores have inspired approaches to understanding the ingestive behaviour of humans (Johns 1990(Johns , 1999Krebs 2009), the most omnivorous vertebrate of all in terms of diversity of foods eaten (Procheş et al 2008). Discoveries in this realm have begun to outline fascinating applications, realized or potential, in human nutrition and health, in domains as diverse as nutrigenetics (Verginelli et al 2009), exploitation of plant chemical defences by humans to fight their own parasites and pathogens (Forbey et al 2009;Johns 1990) and drug addiction (Sullivan et al 2008). These two facets of human chemical ecologyinteractions in the agroecosystems that have become the major providers of our food over the last 10,000 years, and interactions between humans and the plants they ingestare inextricably linked.…”

Nutritional Cues Tie Living Organisms to Their Environment and Its Sustainability

“…Conversely, a second major area of study of gene–nutrient interactions focuses on the involvement of genetic differences among individuals in the regulation of metabolism by nutrients. Relevant examples for the impact of human genetic background on the link between nutrition and health in the context of the present overview include genetic differences in the ability to digest sugars or starch ( 91 , 97 ) and in the ability to convert dietary precursor omega-3 fatty acids to the critically important forms EPA and DHA ( 98 – 100 ), as well as the involvement of a genetic predisposition for a pro-inflammatory state ( 88 ).…”

Influence of dietary protein intake and glycemic index on the association between TCF7L2 HapA and weight gain

“…Before the transition to agriculture, our ancestors' diet was mainly based on meat with some intake of carbohydrate from roots, tubers, fruit, nuts, grains, and seeds (15,16). With the development of agriculture, plant foods high in carbohydrates, such as cereals, became an important source of energy, whereas meat and protein intake were substantially decreased (15,17). Furthermore, the fiber content of dietary vegetables and cereals decreased with the invention of more sophisticated methods to process foods (15,17).…”

“…With the development of agriculture, plant foods high in carbohydrates, such as cereals, became an important source of energy, whereas meat and protein intake were substantially decreased (15,17). Furthermore, the fiber content of dietary vegetables and cereals decreased with the invention of more sophisticated methods to process foods (15,17). Fiber content strongly influences the glycemic index (GI), which is a measure of classifying carbohydrate-containing foods according to their effect on blood glucose concentrations.…”