Perspective: Darwinian Applications to Nutrition—The Value of Evolutionary Insights to Teachers and Students

Abstract

Evolutionary biology informs us that the living world is a product of evolution, guided by the Darwinian mechanism of natural selection. This recognition has been fruitfully employed in a number of issues in health and nutrition sciences; however, it has not been incorporated into education. Nutrition and dietetics students generally learn very little or nothing on the subject of evolution, despite the fact that evolution is the process by which our genetically determined physiological traits and needs were shaped. In the present Perspective article, 3 examples of topics (inflammatory diseases, nutrition transition, and food intolerance) that can benefit from evolutionary information and reasoning are given, with relevant lines of research and inquiry provided throughout. It is argued that the application of evolutionary science to these and other areas of nutrition education can facilitate a deeper and more coherent teaching and learning experience. By recognizing and reframing nutrition as an aspect and discipline of biology, grounded in the fundamental principle of adaptation, revelatory light is shed on physiological states and responses, contentious and unresolved issues, genomic, epigenomic, and microbiomic features, and optimal nutrient status and intakes.

A link between evolution and society fostering the UN sustainable development goals

“…Evolution contributes to healthcare and medicine (Garnås, 2022 ; Natterson‐Horowitz et al., 2023 ), both in terms of providing insight into why symptoms and diseases occur and by offering new therapeutic options (Gluckman et al., 2016 ) (SDG 3). Evolutionary theory is crucial to predicting epidemiological dynamics, including disease outbreaks (Harvey & Holmes, 2022 ; Schrag & Wiener, 1995 ) and changes to both transmission dynamics and virulence, as exemplified by the repeated emergence of COVID‐19 variants of concern (Otto et al., 2021 ).…”

Multiple emergency department encounters for acute musculoskeletal presentation with an existing mental health diagnosis

“…11 Despite this, few studies have investigated the mechanistic role preexisting mental illness plays in the manifestation of MSK pain. Perhaps reconceptualising the acute MSK injury (be it a slip-and-fall, motor vehicle collision, fracture, muscle strain affecting the spine or extremities) as both a stress-and tissue-based injury is required to integrate and consider how preexisting diatheses such as mental health disorders 12 influence the process of recovery. By considering existing diatheses, appropriate early screening tools and preventative treatments could be offered to improve clinical outcomes and avoid harmful secondary effects, such as opioid dependency, stigma, poor return to work outcomes, withdrawal from valued life roles, long-term reliance on ineffective and costly management options as well as reducing ED encounters.…”