This is a PPT I made for an hour long talk given for my Seminar in Evolutionary Biology class at JSU. It explores in great depth the evolution of the human/hominid dietary pattern in pursuit of a single question: What is the most optimal diet for human consumption, encouraging health and longevity, based on evolutionary trends?

1. Evolution of the
Human Diet:
Carnivore, omnivore,
or herbivore?
Ryan Long

2. Introduction: terminology
Why is this important: One person dies every 36 seconds in the United States from
cardiovascular disease.1
Stroke is the second leading cause of death world-wide20
Standard American Diet: The average American diet consists of excess sodium,
saturated fat, refined grains, and calories from solid fats and added sugars2. 20% of
deaths due to CAD occur in adults younger than 653. Consequences: obesity,
diabetes, CVD, impaired quality of life, & premature death.
Veganism: a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and
practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or
any other purpose.4
- Often used interchangeably with “plant-based”
Carnivore diet: a restrictive diet that only includes meat, fish, and other animal
foods like eggs and certain dairy products. It excludes all other foods, including
fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds.
A dietary spectrum:
Ovo-lacto vegetarianism: includes dairy and eggs.
Ovo vegetarianism: includes eggs but no dairy.
Lacto vegetarianism: includes dairy but no eggs.
Semi-vegetarianism/ flexitarian: mostly vegetarian diet with occasional inclusion of meat or poultry.
Pescatarianism: mostly vegetarian, includes fish, may include dairy or eggs
Fruitarian: vegan diet consisting solely of fruit
Breatharianism: believe they can subsist off the energy of the universe? No food diet.

3. Outline
 Intro
 Outline
 Cultural deprogramming
 Evolution of carnivory, herbivory, etc.
 Evolution of humans
 Fructose, uricase, Back to Africa
 Amylase gene duplication, loss of masticatory genes
 Throwing arm, Grandmother hypothesis
 Microbiome evolution
 Comparative anatomy
 Paleolithic dental, fecal, gastric data
 Historical B12 availability
 Culture
 Effects of eating meat
 Effects of eating plants
 The conclusion: the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything

4. The ontological liminality of diet concepts

35. Feed me
more
hoomand

36. Michel Lotito AKA Monsieur Mangetout was a French entertainer famous for
deliberately consuming indigestible objects.
He ate a plane.

38. Evolution of carnivory, herbivory, and others

39. Human Evolution (at warp speed)
• Vertebrates -> mammals -> primates ->
apes -> great apes -> hominids
• Key innovations: lack of fur/sweating
(neoteny, persistence hunting, other?) , fire
= increased calories (behavioral
adaptation) , cooperation, speech, a
throwing arm?, swimming?
• Major dietary transitions:
• basal diet: fruit dominant
• Starch consumption
• cooking food & meat consumption
• Domestication & agriculture
(sedentariness)
• Contributed to encephalization, molar
size reduction, dispersals out of Africa,
pair bonded social structure, and
sedentariness

40. Encephalization15
o Percent of resting metabolism devoted to brain
maintenance:
o Mammals: ≈ 3-4%
o Anthropoid primates: 8%
o Humans: 20-25%
o Homo erectus was a gamechanger
o This species drastically inc. total energy
expenditure & energy required by brain
o The dietary changes necessary for this
adaptation likely began here
o These big-brain dietary changes are linked with:
1. Cooking/fire utilization
2. the emergence of hunting and gathering
3. the evolution of prolonged development (protracted
adolescence)
4. the coexistence and competition with the robust
australopithecines.
15. Leonard, William R., and Marcia L. Robertson. “Nutritional Requirements and Human
Evolution: A Bioenergetics Model.” American Journal of Human Biology, vol. 4, no. 2, 1992,
pp. 179–195.

41. Insights into hominin phenotypic and dietary
evolution from ancient DNA sequence data14
MYH16 pseudogenization
MYH16: gene that codes for
masticatory muscles
o Loss indicates consistent fire
cooking = softening of food
AMY1 duplication
o Gene that codes for amylase
o Amylase: salivary enzyme that
breaks down starch
o Humans have 4-15
o More AMY1 = more amylase =
better starch digestion
o Great variation exists in AMY1 gene
copy number16
o May be influenced by levels of
starch in diet
o Eg: Inuit vs Japanese/Hadza

42. Lactase persistence mutations & alcohol
intolerance
 Lactase = milk-digesting
enzyme, drastically decreases
after weaning in most mammals
 Lactase persistence mutations =
dairy & cattle domestication in
select populations
 Most Asian, South American,
and African populations are
lactose intolerant

43. Fructose, Uricase, & Back-to-
Africa hypothesis
 During mid-Miocene, two waves of fossil apes left Africa for
Eurasia
 Populations in Europe adapted to seasonality and winters as
rainforest became deciduous forest
 Fruits are the preferred food of most primates
 likely the case for Miocene apes as well
 Main energy provided by fruits is fructose
 Uric acid inc. lipogenicity of fruit = improved winter
survivability
 Coming back to Africa, advantages would potentially include:
 Uric acid: better at storing fat
 Increased terrestrial locomotion
 Stone tool usage for consuming underground storage
organs (USO’s)
 Changes in dentition for harder foods

44. Vitamin C Pseudogenization
o Vitamin C is important to many
organisms for many reasons
o Inability to synthesize Vitamin C is
due to mutations in L-gulono-γ-
lactone oxidase (GLO) gene 17
o Vitamin C pseudogenization has
occurred in
o Teleost fish
o Some birds
o Bats
o Guinea pigs
o Primates (including humans)
o Commonality in these diverse diets:
all high in vitamin C
I can feel the power of Vitamin C coursing through
me.
I have become one with the
vitamin C. Join us…
Effects of scurvy

45. The throwing arm & Grandmothers
(throwing our grandmothers)
Throwing
• Of the great apes – only humans can throw
with speed and precision – likely a product of
our bipedalism
• The anatomical features for this adaptation
likely began in the Homo erectus 2 MYA
(Roach, et al. 2013)5
• Initially posited by Darwin
• Theory proposes that right-handedness was
selected for faster throws and encephalization
(Calvin 1982)6
• Links with origin of language due to
proximity of these brain regions –
possibly due to redundant sequencing
circuits6
Grandmother Hypothesis
• Evolutionarily speaking, what benefit do post-
menopausal women add to a group if they can’t
reproduce?
• Answer: roots, tubers, & allo-parenting

46. Evolution of human
microbiome
 Evolution of the gut microbiome
 Dysbiosis of omnivore intestinal flora &
prevalence of pathogenic bacteria
 Antinutrients – legumes and phytates,
lectins, & oxalates
 FECAL TRANSPLANTS are a thing

47. Evolution of trichromatic vision
 Most mammals are dichromatic
 Primates and humans are trichromatic
 Marine mammals are monochromatic
 Ancestral form: tetrachromacy (as
seen in dinos & birds), lost in
mammals, then regained in primates
 Likely evolved for discerning ripe fruit

48. Eye positioning of arboreal organisms

49. Historical B12 Availability

50. Exploring dentition
Left to right: Bear, badger, raccoon, hedgehog

51. Humanity’s nearest relative:
The chimpanzee
Diet: under scrutiny
Diet: mostly fruits,
nuts, & seeds
Source: Stuhlträger, Julia, et al. “Ontogenetic Dietary Shifts and Microscopic Tooth Wear in
Western Chimpanzees.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 7, 2019.

52. More Frugivore/folivore skulls Black spider monkey
Diet: mostly fruit
- adaptive morphology
that emphasizes broad
incisors.
Black bearded saki
Diet: fruit, seeds
(granivory)
- Large upper and lower
canines, robust mandible
Red Howler Monkey
Diet: fruit and foliage
- large total molar area
and effective mandibular
condyle height
Common Squirrel
Monkey
Diet: mostly fruit
- Less robust canines
Source: Anapol F, Lee S. Morphological adaptation to diet in platyrrhine
primates. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1994 Jun;94(2):239-61
Gorilla
Diet: stems, bamboo
shoots and fruits

53. An important aside about zombies
Humans are not
built for active
predation
Zombies realistically
wouldn’t be able to
bite through a
cotton t-shirt
The Ideal zombie
apocalypse PPE

54. Human diversity

55. Meat-based cultures
 Inuit: traditional diets consist of wild game, marine animals, birds, seaweed,
and seasonal berries11
 Similar rates of heart disease compared with standard American diet13
 Higher levels of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity compared with Canadians9
 3/5 500 year old mummies exhibited vascular calcification = long history of
cardiac disease prior to westernization of culture10
 Maasai: diets consist of milk, blood, and meat
 Autopsy data shows atherosclerosis comparable to old U.S. men25
 However, high physical activity seems to negate the effects

56. Comparative Anatomy

57. Effects of eating meat:
cardiovascular system
 LDL cholesterol is causal to
atherosclerosis & ischemic
stroke risk20, 22, 23
 Saturated fat increases stroke
risk by raising LDL 24
 Mechanism: decreases LDL
receptor activity
Risk Factors for CVD:18, 19, 20, 21
 Higher total cholesterol
 High LDL cholesterol
 High triglycerides
 Low HDL cholesterol
CVD: narrowing of blood vessels that
transport blood and oxygen to the
heart & body – due to
atherosclerosis18
 Meat and animal
products are high in
saturated fats
Atherosclerosis: A build up of
cholesterol plaque in the walls of
arteries causing obstruction of blood
flow.
“Consistent evidence from numerous and
multiple different types of clinical and genetic
studies unequivocally establishes that LDL causes
ASCVD.”
- A consensus statement from the European
Atherosclerosis Society Consensus Panel22
 Meat and animal
products increase risk
of heart disease

58. Effects of Eating Meat cont.
Conclusion:
 Animal product consumption exposes humans to
saturated fat, cholesterol, lactose, estrogens, and
pathogenic microorganisms, while displacing fiber,
complex carbohydrates, antioxidants, and other
components needed for health. In the process,
consumption of animal products increases the risk
for cardiovascular disease, cancer32,33, diabetes,
obesity, and other disorders including unhealthful
gut microbiomes that produce TMAO.34

59. Effects of Eating
Plants
 Lower BMI 26, 27
 Lower cases of hypertension and
hyperlipidemia28, 29
 Lower rates and reversal of heart disease28,
29
 Less diabetes29
 Less cancer29, 30, 31, 32, 33
 All-cause mortality decreased29
 Reduced acne?
 Dairy increases sebum production
 Meat inc. IGF-1 growth factor = associated with sebum & cancer
risk
 Refined sugars
 mTORc1 = dairy, refined sugar, meat consumption, overactivation
inc. sebum
 mTORc1 signaling is reduced with fruit and vegetable
consumption
 See Essylstyn and Adventist health studies, blue zones, Poland
during WWII, WHO declaring red meat carcinogenic, ad libitum
dietary interventions, etc.
“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that
appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or
vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide
health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.”38

60. Industry Lobbying
Is the US government responsible for cheese-stuffed
pizza crust and other ultra cheesy products?

61. Is human psychology compatible with carnivory?
• Slaughterhouse workers & effects of
slaughterhouses on crime rates in
communities
• Increased rates of sexual crimes &
domestication violence when
controlling for other factors like
income, gentrification, etc.37
• Lack of carnivorous instinct
• Hopefully you never get the urge to eat your
dog
• Eating meat now is like smoking was in
the 1950’s
• A feel-good cultural norm at odds with a
growing body of literature suggesting its
unhealthfulness

62. Conclusion
Foliage
Nuts and
seeds
Meat
Dairy
Eggs
Fruit (grains, legumes,
etc.), underground
storage organs, etc.
Evolutionar
y data
RCT data
on extant
population
s
Comparativ
e Anatomy

63. Resources if you’re interested in reducing animal
product consumption…
Documentaries:

64. Quotes
 Do not unjustly eat fish the water has given up,
And do not desire as food the flesh of slaughtered animals,
Or the white milk of mothers who intended its pure draught
for their young, not noble ladies.
And do not grieve the unsuspecting birds by taking eggs;
for injustice is the worst of crimes.
And spare the honey which the bees get industriously
from the flowers of fragrant plants;
For they did not store it that it might belong to others,
Nor did they gather it for bounty and gifts.
I washed my hands of all this; and wish that I
Perceived my way before my hair went gray!
- Al Ma’arri (973-1057 A.D.), first “vegan”
o “I have from an
early age abjured
the use of meat,
and the time will
come when men
such as I will look
upon the murder of
animals as they now
look upon the
murder of men.”
― Leonardo da
Vinci?

65. References
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Control and Prevention; 2018. Accessed March 12, 2020.
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of
Agriculture. 2015 - 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. Available
at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/ (2015).
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4. “Definition of Veganism.” The Vegan Society, www.vegansociety.com/go-
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5. Roach, Neil T., et al. “Elastic Energy Storage in the Shoulder and the Evolution
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486.
6. Calvin, William H. “Did Throwing Stones Shape Hominid Brain Evolution?”
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7. Stuhlträger, Julia, et al. “Ontogenetic Dietary Shifts and Microscopic Tooth Wear
in Western Chimpanzees.” Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 7, 2019.
8. Anapol F, Lee S. Morphological adaptation to diet in platyrrhine primates. Am J
Phys Anthropol. 1994 Jun;94(2):239-61
9. Hu, Xue Feng, et al. “Prevalence of Heart Attack and Stroke and Associated Risk
Factors Among Inuit in Canada: A Comparison with the General Canadian
Population.” International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, vol. 222,
no. 2, 2019, pp. 319–326.
10. Wann, L. Samuel, et al. “Atherosclerosis in 16th-Century Greenlandic Inuit
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pp. 55–63.
15. Leonard, William R., and Marcia L. Robertson. “Nutritional Requirements and
Human Evolution: A Bioenergetics Model.” American Journal of Human Biology,
vol. 4, no. 2, 1992, pp. 179–195.

66. 16. Perry, George H, et al. “Diet and the Evolution of Human Amylase Gene
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17. Drouin, Guy, et al. “The Genetics of Vitamin C Loss in Vertebrates.”
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References cont.
26. Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle et al. “A plant-based diet for overweight and
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29. Le, LT., and Joan Sabaté. 2014 Beyond Meatless, the Health Effects of
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67. Discussion