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Super Size Me - Why Do We Like Fatty Food?
When I’m having a bad morning at work, the fastest way to make me smile again is a greasy hamburger for lunch. I have noticed there is a direct correlation between the percentage of fat in my food to the size of the smile on my face, 'cause the fattier it is - the better it tastes. But why is that? I can think of three possible reasons, and they are all about evolution.First, fat is the best way to store energy from food. This is how the body keeps its nutrients reserves for times of a food shortage. So evolution pushed us towards liking fattier food (humans that liked it more had a greater chance of surviving… the usual evolution blah blah blah).
Second, fat forms a great isolation layer against a cold environment. So again, evolution made us like pizzas and KFC's crispy wings. Again, same reasoning (please mentally copy-and-paste from the previous blah blah blah section).
And now for my real point… the point that made this post worth writing… drum rolls… here it comes… wait for it… here goes… Evolution made us like unhealthy food because it will kill us eventually. I’m guessing right about now you are considering removing my blog from your IExplorer/FireFox favorites, but hear me out. Evolution should have drive humans towards behaviors that will help them survive and pass on their genes more successfully. But when you are getting older, after you have done raising and teaching your kids how to survive, you become a burden, slowing them down and competing with them over food, shelter and other resources. By surviving beyond the age of forty or fifty, you are actually lowering the chances of your own genes to thrive. Evolution should have drive you towards behaviors that will make you better survive the short and medium term (while you’re young), but must try and kill you in the long term. I think it is extremely elegant that evolution has succeeded in achieving both goals at once by simply making us love big macs.
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p.s. No wonder alien spaceships always crash; you try driving with only six fingers.
4 comments:
You have to admit that it is m much better way to let you go then to send you alone to the iceberg like they do in the North Poll...(Your loving sister)
Look on the bright side - at least you die happy...and not hungry (again your loving and caring for all your needs sister)
Interesting theory. But if older people crave fatty food they will take it from their younger progeny, who may desperately need it to survive. This is a highly-inefficient way to eliminate oneself while preserving one's progeny.
interesting theory, with one flaw - evolution works on traits that affect pre-reproductive years only. The theory of evolution is based on the presumption that animals seek the most fit mate, so their progeny will have the "most fit" genes. Any characteristic that only surfaces in post-reproductive years will not affect mate choice, and, thus, will not influence the direction of natural selection (why do so many bad things happen as soon as we are middle-aged? evolution doesn't have the same pull these qualities).
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