Evolving Human Nutrition

Stanley Ulijaszek is Professor of Human Ecology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity. His work on nutritional ecology and anthropology has involved fieldwork and research in Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and South Asia, while his interests in dietary transitions have led him to examine the evolutionary basis of obesity. Neil Mann is Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry and head of the Food Science department at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked extensively on the nutritional biochemistry of fatty acids and has led several nutritional clinical trials investigating the role of altered macronutrient dietary balance on diseases related to western lifestyle, including acne and diabetes. Sarah Elton is Reader in Anatomy at the Hull York Medical School. She works on the ecological context for human evolution, with a focus on primate morphology, biogeography, ecology and evolution. Alongside her research into primates, she has written on evolutionary approaches to human diet, reproduction and medical education.

• Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; Part I. The Animal Within: 2. Locating human diet in a mammalian framework; 3. Diet and hominin evolution; 4. Seasonality of environment and diet; 5. Evolution of human diet and eating behaviour; Part II. A Brave New World: 6. When our brains left our bodies behind: dietary change and health discordance; 7. Nutrition and infectious disease, past and present; 8. Inequality and nutritional health; Part III. Once upon a Time in the West: 9. Nutrition transition; 10. Fats in the global balance; 11. Feed the world with carbohydrates; 12. Post-script; Index.

'Spanning the diverse fields of nutrition ecology, anthropology, biochemistry, and physiology, this three-part, well-written examination of the public health implications of the rapidly changing human diet is filled with carefully documented arguments that invite critical thought. Recommended.' A. P. Boyar, Choice