eli5 why we have such complex dietary requirements. Did our ancestors thousands of years ago have extremely well balanced diets?
In: 115
Peanuts are an interesting example with a few theories surrounding them. Firstly they differ from their wild cousins which I’m not sure if they have the same allergens.
Plants naturally form toxins to reduce or select which animals move what part of them and how. Animals evolve to overcome these toxins, but this evolutionary arms race is separate from histamine reactions, which are of no evolutionary value.
One school of thought says that potential allergies become full allergies in the first years of life. If you grow up with peanuts you don’t develop the allergy. Our ancestors would have had a fairly similar diet through their lives.
Bread is an example of a new phenomenon where over processing has lead to something our ancestors never had to deal with. Of course people died of their immune system over reacting, but this is insignificant compared to disease and lack of resources.
Latest Answers