Why food is tasteful

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

How you can explain it by random mutation and natural selection ?
We can eat to survive without the need to enjoy the food's taste,a hunger feeling is enough to fetch for the food.

Many species can survive while eating rubbish,so there should be an explanation other than naturally occurring for humans to have a variety of delicious foods.

We can and we did.

The use of seasoning and sugar wasn't always common in diet. However when sweet or seasoned things are eaten (for instance chocolate), there is a chemical effect (caffeine reaction, dopamine release in the case of chocolate), that excites the body. So in response you seek it out more and more.

You'll see this in animals as well that will actively seek things that give them a high, There may even be reports of animals who get addicted to certain substances that give them pleasure to the point were they give up all other foods and starve to death.

Monkey's and elephants have been recorded as getting drunk (with monkey's in some part of the world going out of their way to steal alcohol), and big cats like the Jaguar actively seek out a hallucinagic plant to trip off of.

So while yes we can eat anything to sustain us, we are likely to look for what gives us pleasure more than what simply sustains.

Again to understand these things it's not just picking one point and settling with it. It's not just natural selection and mutations at play, but what happens when the species already exists. The chemistry plays an important role before and after the creature comes to be.

 

[FearGod]

We can and we did.

The use of seasoning and sugar wasn't always common in diet. However when sweet or seasoned things are eaten (for instance chocolate), there is a chemical effect (caffeine reaction, dopamine release in the case of chocolate), that excites the body. So in response you seek it out more and more.

You'll see this in animals as well that will actively seek things that give them a high, There may even be reports of animals who get addicted to certain substances that give them pleasure to the point were they give up all other foods and starve to death.

Monkey's and elephants have been recorded as getting drunk (with monkey's in some part of the world going out of their way to steal alcohol), and big cats like the Jaguar actively seek out a hallucinagic plant to trip off of.

So while yes we can eat anything to sustain us, we are likely to look for what gives us pleasure more than what simply sustains.

Again to understand these things it's not just picking one point and settling with it. It's not just natural selection and mutations at play, but what happens when the species already exists. The chemistry plays an important role before and after the creature comes to be.

Food was enjoyable all times and sweet foods were available such as honey which was used as sugar in bakery and other sweet foods plus all kind of fruits that taste great all times.

The question why such foods are made in away that makes us to feel happy with.

Maybe my imagination goes further than what you're trying to explain.

The plants grows and produce delicious fruits for humans and animalsl,assuming that those plants were naturally growing longtime before the modern human species appeared,then how such emotion of taste developed.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Food was enjoyable all times and sweet foods were available such as honey which was used as sugar in bakery and other sweet foods plus all kind of fruits that taste great all times.

The question why such foods are made in away that makes us to feel happy with.

Maybe my imagination goes further than what you're trying to explain.

The plants grows and produce delicious fruits for humans and animalsl,assuming that those plants were naturally growing longtime before the modern human species appeared,then how such emotion of taste developed.

Not all fruits are sweet and delicious and not all foods are tasteful to everyone.

Emotion of taste? Do you mean sense of taste? Other species have senses of taste too and the preference varies.

Our taste buds pick up the chemicals in foods and translate them to sweet or bitter, or salty or any variety inbetween.

Also modern human species if you go by evolution didn't just appear but was part of a process, so whatever was "before" the modern human would have enjoyed these foods.

Why do these foods make us happy?

For some plants its a good way to reproduce. Before we had garbage cans and all that good stuff, what would you do with the pit of a fruit? The actual seed part?

THROW IT ON THE GROUND *Insert Lonely Island Song*

Or just swallow it and when you pooped, it was in the ground with nuitrients.

So the sweeter the fruit the more likely we would go looking for it. The plant uses animals to reproduce and in turn gives the animals something sweet to enjoy that gives them energy.

Like I said it is very complex you can't take out one part and assume it explains the entire thing.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

Food was enjoyable all times and sweet foods were available such as honey which was used as sugar in bakery and other sweet foods plus all kind of fruits that taste great all times.

Accounting for taste, of course.

The question why such foods are made in away that makes us to feel happy with.

Humans evolved taste to differentiate poisonous or rotten foods from non-poisonous or rotten foods. Most living things are drawn to sugars because they are sweet and give a lot of energy.

The plants grows and produce delicious fruits for humans and animalsl,assuming that those plants were naturally growing longtime before the modern human species appeared,then how such emotion of taste developed.

Fruits evolved as a way for plants to spread seeds by attracting wildlife to eat the flesh of the fruit and drop the seeds they contain.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Taste has to be learned
We learn what is good to eat and what is bad by mimicry and example.
Over time we learn to like what is both safe and available.

The largest high protein food source available to most humans is entirely disregarded. Insects and Larvae.
Most westerners would turn up then noses at a plate of maggots or bees. However some people love to eat them and prize their flavour.

We all have the same mechanism for taste and smell however we all learn to prefer different combinations. we have lost the ability to recognise danger in most foods.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Taste has to be learned
We learn what is good to eat and what is bad by mimicry and example.
Over time we learn to like what is both safe and available.

The largest high protein food source available to most humans is entirely disregarded. Insects and Larvae.
Most westerners would turn up then noses at a plate of maggots or bees. However some people love to eat them and prize their flavour.

We all have the same mechanism for taste and smell however we all learn to prefer different combinations. we have lost the ability to recognise danger in most foods.

True that, there's a particular cheese made with maggots and a type of fish cooked with lye.

 

[Riverwolf]

Food was enjoyable all times and sweet foods were available such as honey which was used as sugar in bakery and other sweet foods plus all kind of fruits that taste great all times.

This is subjective. There's plenty of popular fruits that I don't particularly care for, even apples, which I find a nuisance to eat.

On the other hand, well... ever look into what traditional Icelandic food is like? Here's a hint: because it's such an inhospitable land, most of their food is from the sea. And because food was so scarce, they ate all of their catch.

ALL of it.

YES, even THAT. And THAT. EVERY piece. Not a single piece went to waste.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

This is subjective. There's plenty of popular fruits that I don't particularly care for, even apples, which I find a nuisance to eat.

On the other hand, well... ever look into what traditional Icelandic food is like? Here's a hint: because it's such an inhospitable land, most of their food is from the sea. And because food was so scarce, they ate all of their catch.

ALL of it.

YES, even THAT. And THAT. EVERY piece. Not a single piece went to waste.

Slaves were given the worst part of the animals to eat.

There's a boondocks episode that points out how destructive that has been.

 

[Agnostic75]

What makes you to think so?

Do you have evidence that it is not reasonably possible that aliens exist somewhere in the universe, and that at least some of them have learned how to travel great distances in space, and have been to the earth?

Why must there be only one God?

 

[Riverwolf]

Slaves were given the worst part of the animals to eat.

There's a boondocks episode that points out how destructive that has been.

I mostly know about it from a BBC documentary about Vikings, where the host, Niel Oliver (or as me and my girlfriend like to call him, Scottish Loki), goes to an Icelandic restaurant that serves traditional meals and tries the various... cuisine.

I'm not so sure I'd trust a satire to report information wholly accurately, since their depictions are often exaggerated for comic effect. That said, Icelandic Vikings absolutely had slaves, and doing that would absolutely be something they'd do.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

I mostly know about it from a BBC documentary about Vikings, where the host, Niel Oliver (or as me and my girlfriend like to call him, Scottish Loki), goes to an Icelandic restaurant that serves traditional meals and tries the various... cuisine.

I'm not so sure I'd trust a satire to report information wholly accurately, since their depictions are often exaggerated for comic effect. That said, Icelandic Vikings absolutely had slaves, and doing that would absolutely be something they'd do.

Oh I was referring to African Slaves in America. The Boondocks episode (the itis), was just showing how the types of food eaten back then became a staple now for the black-american community. Foods that in general was not eaten by the slave-owners.

 

[Riverwolf]

Oh I was referring to African Slaves in America. The Boondocks episode (the itis), was just showing how the types of food eaten back then became a staple now for the black-american community. Foods that in general was not eaten by the slave-owners.

Ah. Gotcha. ^_^

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Ah. Gotcha. ^_^

But yeah the evolution of sensation (taste and what not), is very interesting.

I think on this board when you get those who do not agree with evolution and those who do agree it's hard to convince one or the other because it's only one part of the issue that is adjusted.

From what I've learned it's not one factor that causes a change but a multitude of factors.

 

[Riverwolf]

But yeah the evolution of sensation (taste and what not), is very interesting.

I think on this board when you get those who do not agree with evolution and those who do agree it's hard to convince one or the other because it's only one part of the issue that is adjusted.

From what I've learned it's not one factor that causes a change but a multitude of factors.

It really is, which is why some species barely change at all over the years, whereas others change super rapidly.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

It really is, which is why some species barely change at all over the years, whereas others change super rapidly.

lol I definitely should not have used adjusted in my prior post.

But in the case of this thread his/her focus is simply "food is tasty why would we need taste"

To really go into detail about this would require explaining the interaction of chemicals and our brains, the interaction of our nervous system (our gut one) and brains, the adaptation of plants, the reaction of the human body to rotten food.

But also how our food needs have evolved and changed. Our diets are far from what are non-modern human ancestors.

 

[Riverwolf]

lol I definitely should not have used adjusted in my prior post.

But in the case of this thread his/her focus is simply "food is tasty why would we need taste"

To really go into detail about this would require explaining the interaction of chemicals and our brains, the interaction of our nervous system (our gut one) and brains, the adaptation of plants, the reaction of the human body to rotten food.

But also how our food needs have evolved and changed. Our diets are far from what are non-modern human ancestors.

And even our human mesolithic ancestors ate completely differently than we do, today.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

And even our human mesolithic ancestors ate completely differently than we do, today.

I guess you can say our taste in food...has...evolved.

 

[Riverwolf]

I guess you can say our taste in food...has...evolved.

Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

 

[AndromedaRXJ]

It is OK if just taste good,but foods taste delicious with a variety of flavours.

Not that simple as you described it.

Because it's not a 100% qualia. Taste is indeed a sense.

There are a variety of foods with different chemistry. The reason why we taste many different goods and bads is because our tongues detect the different chemical make-ups in different foods. We had to acquire a taste for each type of food we eat.

Just like sight. How we see color may be a qualia, but what is completely objective is that there are indeed different wavelengths of light. Like-wise, there are different foods.

 

[Ouroboros]

What about supertasters? Only some humans have the ability to taste PTC.

PTC: GENES AND BITTER TASTE