This discovery reshapes our understanding of early human nutrition.
Our ancestors’ preference for carbohydrates may have existed long before agriculture became popular, according to a recent study. Recent archaeological findings have cast doubt on the widely held belief that prehistoric people were meat eaters. Studies have revealed that our predecessors also ingested substantial amounts of carbohydrates, despite the conventional wisdom that protein served as the main source of energy for human development.
Further investigation into this dietary preference has revealed a particular gene that allowed early humans to more effectively digest starches, according to a recent study published in the journal Science. The enzyme amylase, which is produced by the AMY1 gene, converts complex carbs into simple sugars.
Researchers found that this gene started to replicate and spread long before agriculture was invented by examining the genomes of ancient humans. This implies that our ancestors’ preference for carbohydrates evolved naturally in response to their surroundings rather than as a result of advancements in culture or technology.
According to a report by CNN, humans today have multiple copies of this gene, and the number varies from person to person. However, it has been tricky for geneticists to piece together how and when the number of these genes expanded – a reflection of when eating starch likely became advantageous for human health.
“The main question that we were trying to answer was, when did this duplication occur? So that’s why we started studying ancient genomes,” said the study’s first author Feyza Yilmaz, an associate computational scientist at The Jackson Laboratory, told CNN.
“Previous studies show that there’s a correlation between AMY1 copy numbers and the amount of amylase enzyme that’s released in our saliva. We wanted to understand whether it’s an occurrence that is corresponding to the advent of agriculture. This is … a hot question,” she said.
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