Besides the implications that these findings have for the field of medicine (such as finding amylase-based treatments for diseases like diabetes), they also give the lie to the myth — widely propagated by the cults of keto, paleo and other extreme diets — that carbs are the ultimate enemy.
Don’t hold the aloo — boiled, fried or roasted. And feel free to spoon a little more rice onto your plate. A macronutrient that has, in recent years, been projected as the main accused in the ballooning global lifestyle crisis, it turns out that carbohydrates are not just a necessary part of the human diet. They are also a key part of the story of human evolution. The evidence for this — a spike in the presence of the enzyme amylase — has been in the human body far longer than the agricultural revolution itself, as found by two recent studies, one published in Nature last month and the other in Science last week.
According to the studies, the presence of multiple copies of the amylase gene — which helps in breaking down starchy plant foods — can be traced back to two waves. The first, which occurred several hundred thousand years ago, likely coincided with the discovery of fire, and the second, which happened about 12,000 years ago, was when humans learnt to grow their own food. The presence of extra amylase in saliva meant that humans had access to a larger range of dietary options, including wheat and rice, thus giving them a better shot at surviving.
Besides the implications that these findings have for the field of medicine (such as finding amylase-based treatments for diseases like diabetes), they also give the lie to the myth — widely propagated by the cults of keto, paleo and other extreme diets — that carbs are the ultimate enemy. They bring back to centrestage the wisdom of balance, including in dietary matters. And then there’s the fact that carbs, as anyone who has ever been on an extreme diet would attest, are a key component of happiness and satiety. What, after all, is chicken curry without rice, or fish without chips?
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First uploaded on: 22-10-2024 at 04:10 IST
