Q:
It is said that during evolution our gut size grew smaller as our brain size grew bigger - I was reading another study about how a larger skull on a person correlates with smaller digestive organs - it seems that the liver and gastrointestinal tract are as metabolically expensive as the brain - is there some type of trade-off between the 2 when a person maintains a high metabolic rate ?
It is also said that smaller stomachs seem to really only tolerate high-quality, easily digestible food - I notice for squirrel monkeys diets compared to other primates this seems to be the case and they have some of the largest brain to body mass ratios
A:
Diet choices go with evolution—like the squirrel monkeys’ fruit diet, foods that support brain development have to be high in carbohydrate, easy to digest, abundant in the environment, and adequate in overall nutrient content and balance. A less concentrated diet, containing a lot of plant material, causes adaptive enlargement of the intestine.
It is said that during evolution our gut size grew smaller as our brain size grew bigger - I was reading another study about how a larger skull on a person correlates with smaller digestive organs - it seems that the liver and gastrointestinal tract are as metabolically expensive as the brain - is there some type of trade-off between the 2 when a person maintains a high metabolic rate ?
It is also said that smaller stomachs seem to really only tolerate high-quality, easily digestible food - I notice for squirrel monkeys diets compared to other primates this seems to be the case and they have some of the largest brain to body mass ratios
A:
Diet choices go with evolution—like the squirrel monkeys’ fruit diet, foods that support brain development have to be high in carbohydrate, easy to digest, abundant in the environment, and adequate in overall nutrient content and balance. A less concentrated diet, containing a lot of plant material, causes adaptive enlargement of the intestine.