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[Nutrition yesterday and today]
1Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas.
Archivos Latinoamericanos De Nutricion
|September 1, 1988
Summary
Modern nutritional issues stem from agriculture and food technology, altering diets from ancestral hunter-gatherer patterns. Understanding this history informs current nutritional science and recommendations.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Science
- Human Evolution
- Dietary History
Background:
- Modern nutritional problems are linked to shifts from ancestral diets caused by agriculture and food technology.
- These innovations altered food composition, diverging from the diets humans adapted to over millions of years.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the history of human nutrition from primitive eras to the present.
- To connect historical dietary changes to contemporary nutritional challenges.
- To review the evolution of nutritional recommendations and terminology.
Main Methods:
- Historical review of human dietary patterns.
- Analysis of the impact of agriculture and food technology on diet.
- Examination of the development of nutritional science and guidelines.
Main Results:
- Significant dietary changes originated with agriculture and accelerated with food technology.
- These changes created a mismatch between ancestral adaptations and modern diets.
- Concepts like 'nutritional goals' are recent, though 'norms' and 'allowances' have older roots.
Conclusions:
- Contemporary nutritional issues have deep historical roots in dietary evolution.
- Nutritional goals must align with population-specific vital habits and evolving scientific knowledge.
- Adapting recommendations requires understanding both historical dietary shifts and new scientific findings.