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Evolutionary Theory Research Paper

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Evolutionary theory suggests that early humans would have to ensure the survival of their genes by best making use of their resources and adapting. As a result, we have evolved certain food preferences of foods with high energy content to give us the best chance of survival.
One explanation is the environment of evolutionary adaptment theory (EEA). EEA explains our preference for fatty and salty foods. Our ancestors needed high energy foods in order to survive as they would have done a lot of physical activity meaning they would have used a lot of energy. This explanation is supported by research from Gibson and Wardle who found that four year olds preferred bananas and potatoes which are both calorie rich so would provide them with a lot of energy.
Another explanation is that early humans had a preference for meats as they would provide amino acids, nutrients, and
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Garcia et al (1955) researched taste aversion by feeding rats saccharin and shortly after exposing them to radiation so they got sick. After they had recovered, they no longer ate saccharin for fear it would make them unwell again. This would have helped early humans to survive as if they had eaten a poison berry and gotten ill they wouldn’t eat the berry again and, as a result, would live. Furthermore, Seligman (1970) argues that some animals have biological preparedness which explains that some animals, without taste aversion, have an innate awareness that they cannot eat a certain food. These affect the food preferences of individuals as they stop individuals from eating certain foods or foods that are similar. This research can be applied to chemotherapy patients who experience taste aversion while undergoing therapy as shown by Bernstein and Webster’s research. They gave patients a new flavour of ice cream before chemotherapy and found they had developed an aversion to
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