TECH Signal 492
Science paper argues sugars and starches, not just meat, drove human brain evolution
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A paper in Science by Jennie Brand-Miller claims sugary fruits and honey provided 20 to 35 percent of early human energy intake, with starches contributing another 25 percent, challenging the meat-centric model of brain growth.
The study reframes a long-running debate in evolutionary biology by quantifying the dietary role of carbohydrates and glucose, the brain's primary fuel. It draws on primate brain-size comparisons and evolutionary theories of color vision to argue that sugar-seeking was a cognitive driver, not just a dietary side effect.
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The paper estimates less than 20 percent of early human dietary energy came from proteins, while sugars and starches together accounted for over half.
A 2017 primate study found fruit-eating species had 25 percent bigger brains on average than leaf-eaters, and also bigger brains than omnivores that ate meat.
Evolutionary biologists argue color vision primarily functioned to identify the ripest, sweetest fruits, linking sugar foraging to cognitive development.
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