Humans have long found it challenging to resist meals high in carbohydrates, a craving thought to stem from our early ancestors. For years, the prevailing belief was that early humans thrived on a protein-rich diet essential for hunting and survival, which supposedly fueled a deep-seated desire for carbs.
However, a groundbreaking study published in the journal Science has challenged this notion, suggesting that our modern-day craving for carbohydrates may actually predate the emergence of Neanderthals.
Conducted by researchers at The Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut, and the University of Buffalo in New York, the study focuses on a specific gene known as AMY1. This gene allows humans to efficiently digest starches by breaking them down into simple sugars for energy. The research reveals that AMY1 genes began duplicating long before agriculture was introduced.
The team examined the genomes of 68 ancient humans, finding that while most modern humans carry multiple copies of the AMY1 gene, the number of copies varies among individuals.
Feyza Yilmaz, an associate computational scientist at The Jackson Laboratory, emphasized that understanding when this gene duplication occurred could shed light on when starch consumption became beneficial for human health.
Remarkably, the researchers discovered that hunter-gatherers as far back as 45,000 years ago possessed four to eight copies of the AMY1 gene, suggesting that Homo sapiens had a taste for starch even during the Mesolithic period, well before agriculture began.
They also identified AMY1 duplications in the genomes of Neanderthals and the Denisovans, indicating this trait was shared by a common ancestor.
This study highlights that humans likely had multiple copies of AMY1 for as long as 800,000 years. The increase in AMY1 copies over the past 4,000 years aligns with a shift from hunting and gathering to diets rich in starches, marking a significant evolutionary adaptation.
