Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution [Hardcover]

Stephen Cosgrave Cunnane (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9812561919 | ISBN-13: 978-9812561916 | Publication Date: June 2005

Evolution, in general, depends on a special combination of circumstances: part genetics, part time, and part environment. In the case of human brain evolution, the main environmental influence was adaptation to a 'shore-based' diet, which provided the world's richest source of nutrition, as well as a sedentary lifestyle that promoted fat deposition. Such a diet included shellfish, fish, marsh plants, frogs, bird's eggs, etc. Humans, and more importantly, hominid babies started to get fat, a crucial distinction that led to the development of larger brains and to the evolution of modern humans. A larger brain is expensive to maintain and this increasing demand for energy results in, succintly, survival of the fattest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Anyone interested in how humans evolved will find much of interest in this book. -- Henry H Bauer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry & Science Studies

Readers will be challenged and intrigued by this well thought-out volume. -- Joyce A Nettleton, DSc, RD, ScienceVoice Consulting, Denver, Colorado

This book is full of interesting facts about our brains and about nutrition and brain and body biochemistry ... thought-provoking. -- European Neurology

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812561919
• ISBN-13: 978-9812561916
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important book: evolution, micro-nutrients and what it means, August 28, 2005

By 

eddie vos "Eddie Vos" (Sutton Qc Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution (Hardcover)

This creative intelligently-designed book on human evolution is by a top fatty acid and nutrition Prof. The topic is timely, for example, U.S. politics are still influenced by the creation versus evolution debate. The book is also timely since modern food refining (and man's unique use of heat) slash the micro-nutrients affecting health and survival of individuals and groups.

The book describes us as the only land mammal with fat-babies and why this 'fatness' gave us an advantage in the (brain) nutrition department.

The book makes the point that "shore-based" foods gave us the micro-nutrients allowing us to build better brains, like one of the fish-based omega-3 oils (vital for brain development and continued brain health). Foods from the water and its shores also provide 5 key minerals (iron, zinc, magnesium, selenium and copper) that many still have difficulty obtaining in adequate amounts, affecting health and survival.

This handsome book is well written and presented. It is not an easy book and full of detail (yet little excess fat), but it is likely to forever change the way we look at our foods and health (and it does have practical data). The concept for health and evolution really comes down to: "It's the Micro-Nutrients, Stupid!" Ignoring this concept comes with great risk, the combined message of evolution and science.

The book is a good re-read with delicious tidbits like the role of copper in the tissue that keeps our arteries intact, my personal interest, and likely a main cause of cardio-vascular disease. Good work with effectively no factual errors and that evolved well before it was born and that should stand the test of time. [e-mail]

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Key to understanding human brain evolution and current behavior problems, March 30, 2008

By 

Dennis Embry "DrPAXIS" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution (Hardcover)

Dr. Cunnane's book is one of the most important books on human evolution available. The detailed analyses of why the human brain grew so large is exceptionally parsimonious and well articulated based on convergence of human anthropology. This is not the aquatic ape hypothesis.

If you read this book and then read the experimental and epidemiological research of Dr. Joe Hibbeln from the National Institutes of Health, you will go a long way to understanding why social behavior has worsened and why so mental mental illnesses can be traced to a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acid, which can only be found from fish and shell fish.