Why do we as humans enjoy unhealthy food more than healthy food?
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What we tend to define as unhealthy are foods that tend to be very calorie dense. In other words they contain a lot of calories per gram of food we eat. More calories density mean we can eat more calories in one stomach full.
This is important from an evolutionary standpoint because for a the vast majority of human history we didn’t have a stable source of food. Our ancestors would go through times of excess and times of starvation. So our brains evolved to enjoy things that would give us a lot of calories at once which we could pack away as far stores. Those fat stores would then be burnt and keep us alive when we had little to eat.
The problem is we have brought that ancient instinct to modern times when for some populations have plenty of food. Some never go through a lean time. Yet their brains still tell them that sugar and carbs are good because they will give you calories for later when there is no food. When the reality is the body just ends up packing away more and more fat for starvation that may never come.
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