cooked food= bigger brains?

so a friend of mine sent me these articles, what do I say back to her?

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/06/invention-of-cooking-...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cooking-up-bigger-...

http://beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-4b.shtml

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Permalink Reply by Apollonia on March 1, 2012 at 8:46am

Photos of the brains of 30bad members? :P

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Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on March 1, 2012 at 7:45am

I think a lot of this is probably true, and yet to imply that based on that, we should now eat anything other than a fruit-based diet is simply absurd, a proposition made only by those who have not tasted the excellence of this diet.

Cooking was great for survival because it made more calories available. Brains can't get big without sufficient glucose. However, we are not in survival mode now with supermarkets on every corner, and we no longer need to search for the densest foods, but rather the best nutrient:calorie ratios - fruits and veggies.

Additionally, if you look at Wrangham's issues with raw foodists, he is clearly unaware of the 811 diet. The "raw foodists" in the studies he refers to are eating animal flesh, milk, eggs, too much nuts/seeds, not enough fruit, a bunch of weird not-really-raw things. They are not healthy people, and do not indicate the health of the 811 population.

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Permalink Reply by Megan May on March 1, 2012 at 7:46am

Haven't read the links…but even if people eating cooked food DO have bigger brains, it doesn't necessary follow that they will use them effectively...

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Permalink Reply by Jon Fergus on March 1, 2012 at 1:04pm

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Permalink Reply by Anmat on March 2, 2012 at 1:53am

Exacly, I would add: INFLAMATION CREATES EXPANSION

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Permalink Reply by rick on March 2, 2012 at 8:01am

people are thinking -----about all the wrong things!

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Permalink Reply by Diospyros on March 1, 2012 at 9:02am

beyondveg is baloney. Most of the arguments on that site are too. Read up what people say on Tom Billings here on 30BAD, the author.

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Permalink Reply by Happy Raw Vegan on March 1, 2012 at 2:08pm

I have to agree. I have read some stuff from beyondveg and it is pretty wacky. Even when I ate a low carb meat diet I would have thought this site was BS.

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Permalink Reply by Bobbi on March 1, 2012 at 8:27am

Haha. Quoting from the book "left in the dark" humanoid brains remained consistent in size for about 1.8 million years. BUT about 600,000 years to 150,000 before present day, fossils show that brain mass peaked at 1,440 grams. Since then (now) our brains have declined to 1,300 grams. That's because humanoids began eating cereal grains. Lack of fruit=no more big brain. And yes cooking does set us apart from all other animals, in all the bad ways! Lol I'd rather be a lean gazelle eating grass and thriving then eating cheese burgers and so called "living" like that. You ever notice how it seems everyone who shifts to raw vegan experiences wonderful clarity of mind. I sure as hell did!

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Permalink Reply by b12 on March 1, 2012 at 9:03am

Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Apollonia on March 1, 2012 at 8:45am

Cooked food causing bigger brains does in no shape or form make any sense, as we know that nutrients decrease quite substantially once foods get cooked.

However, the reason why the practice of cooking (and hunting) ones food might be connected to progression and brain growth is quite simple... Our brains got bigger when the useage of tools got introduced.

Only when the fruits and the plants of the land were not providing enough to feed us, did we start hunting and heating things we now call food... out of NECESSITY. The introduction of tools caused us to expand our brains, because we were thinking up plans/tools, this is part of the evolution... this may be one of the reasons why many people seem dumber these days, because we live in a culture of convenience where we no longer have to invent things, because things are done for us by others/machines.