Nutritional Update

[clarencebunsen]

This may be a tougher sell in school lunchrooms than "beets & sweets"



Of course it wouldn't be the first time:

Insect diet helped early humans build bigger brains: Quest for elusive bugs spurred primate tool use, problem-solving skills

Figuring out how to survive on a lean-season diet of hard-to-reach ants, slugs and other bugs may have spurred the development of bigger brains and higher-level cognitive functions in the ancestors of humans and other primates, suggests new research.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701140136.htm

[Deleted]

I always get that urge to partake when ever I come across an ant hill. Now that I have a higher cognitive brain I try to use a fork to pick up those little morsels of goodness but the ants slip off. Awe, use a stick use a stick my brain insists. A stick I use and up they walk and with one big swipe of my tongue a delightful treat.

[clarencebunsen]

Dip the tines of the fork in honey. Push the handle of the fork into the ant hill and wait for the ants to collect themselves. Less energy expended in food collection means more available for cognitive functions.

[dave]

Jul 2, 2014 16:14:35 GMT -5 clarencebunsen said:

Dip the tines of the fork in honey. Push the handle of the fork into the ant hill and wait for the ants to collect themselves. Less energy expended in food collection means more available for cognitive functions.

Or ... dip the fork tines in honey, sit in front of the ant hill, lick the honey off the fork and forget about the ants.

[dave]

Jul 2, 2014 12:32:06 GMT -5 clarencebunsen said:

This may be a tougher sell in school lunchrooms than "beets & sweets"



Of course it wouldn't be the first time:

Insect diet helped early humans build bigger brains: Quest for elusive bugs spurred primate tool use, problem-solving skills

Figuring out how to survive on a lean-season diet of hard-to-reach ants, slugs and other bugs may have spurred the development of bigger brains and higher-level cognitive functions in the ancestors of humans and other primates, suggests new research.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140701140136.htm

Hmmm. Something in the Science Daily print article (I didn't watch the video) smacked of "just so" logic that might point to a conclusion that humans developed their large brains by eatng insects. That would be misleading if I correctly remember my reading of anthropology and evolution. While necessary brain-taxing activitries would cause a selection toward larger brains, that's not the same as how those brains were fed. And my understanding is that homo needed unprecdented amounts of protein to develop big brains, which they got by either scavenging or killing, normally 4 legged animals..
Tooth and claw beats nice-nice every time.