Why do we get tired of eating the same food?

Question

Pretty much as the title says, why do we, as humans, get tired or burnt out of eating the same type of meals over and over? As composed to other animals…

Is there a biological/evolutionary reason as to why we are not ‘truly’ content with eating the same types of food 24/7?

Really been pondering about this.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Some animals are specialists in their diets that focus on eating a single type of food while others are generalists that rely on many types of food to fulfill their dietary needs and eat whatever is available when needed.

Humans are generalists, and our psychology on eating is oriented around this. If we were to only eat a single type of food in nature (for example, fruit) it’s quite likely we would become deficient in an important nutrient (in the fruit example, protein). By becoming tired of eating the same thing, especially when our bodies are deficient in something we aren’t eating enough of, we are motivated to seek out a variety of foods like our body requires.

Specialists (for example, an obligate carnivore like a cat) still eat a variety of foods (rodents, birds, lizards, etc.) but their biology is oriented around less variety, hoarding and minimizing use of nutrients their diet is poor in and getting maximum value out of what it is rich in.