A central role for dietary sugars in human evolution

Conclusions

Rises and falls in the availability of fruit and honey with seasons, fluctuating climates, and geographic region may have driven foraging behaviors that increased brain growth and complexity, and even extinctions. Although animal foods were clearly instrumental, changes in intake of sugars and starches also shed light on human development, health, and disease. Multiple lines of evidence, including color vision, teeth morphology, dental caries, and stable isotope ratios, suggest that the diet of early hominins was high in sugars. Our modern physiology and anatomy, including sweet taste receptors, smaller teeth, jaw, gut, and genetic variations relating to glucose metabolism, suggest genetic selection driven specifically by dietary carbohydrates.

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