Anyone who wants to understand the biological nature of humans and their special characteristics must look far back into evolutionary history. Today’s way of life is drastically different from that of our ancestors. For almost 99% of human history, gathering and hunting have been the basis of nutrition. It was not until about 12,000 years ago that humans began domesticating plants and animals. Bioarchaeologically and biochemically, this can be traced back to our earliest roots. Modern living conditions and the quality of human life are better today than ever before. However, neither physically nor psychosocially have we made this adjustment and we are paying a high health price for it. The studies presented allow us to reconstruct food supply, lifestyles, and dietary habits: from the earliest primates, through hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic, farming communities since the beginning of the Anthropocene, to the Industrial Age and the present. The comprehensive data pool allows extraction of all findings of medical relevance. Our recent lifestyle and diet are essentially determined by our culture rather than by our millions of years of ancestry. Culture is permanently in a dominant position compared to natural evolution. Thereby culture does not form a contrast to nature but represents its result. There is no doubt that we are biologically adapted to culture, but it is questionable how much culture humans can cope with.

Keywords: nutrition, health, microbiome, evolution, diet, primates, hunter-gatherer, neolithization, industrial revolution, environment, behavior, cultural evolution
Go to:
1. Introduction
1.1. From the Origin of Life to the Evolution of Homo Sapiens
“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.”

Theodosius Dobzhansky 1973
Life on Earth began with the formation of the first molecules and dates back to approximately four billion years ago. As yet, it is unclear how the primordial cell (Last Universal Common Ancestor), or LUCA, came into being. Presumably, purely chemical processes were responsible for the beginning of biological evolution [1]. The diversity of life as it presents itself today shows how successful this process has been so far. It was another milestone in the history of evolution when, about 400 million years ago (mya), vertebrates left their aquatic habitats and began to adapt to terrestrial life. The preconditions for this process included the oxygenation of the atmosphere, the ability to breathe atmospheric oxygen, alternative modes of reproduction and locomotion, access to new food sources, etc. With regard to the masticatory system, functional and constructional morphological changes had already begun in the ocean (the formation of teeth and of a secondary temporomandibular joint and increased diversification of teeth for the exploitation of specific food niches). Within the mammals, whose origins date back to 250 mya, the first primates emerged in an ecological niche 65 mya. Eight mya, the human evolutionary lineage separated from that of today’s apes. Hominins evolved from the human lineage approximately three mya with the single genus Homo, all species of which, except for Homo sapiens, are now extinct. The fossil representatives of Homo sapiens are now dated to 300,000 years ago [2,3].

1.2. Evolutionary Frameworks for Understanding Human Nature
In order to understand the biological nature of humans and their special features, one must deal with their development and look way back into the history of evolution [4]. A differentiated study of the phylogeny of our biological species allows us to better understand and assess the typical characteristics of the genus Homo including its habitual upright gait, the freeing of its hands, its large brain as well as its language, thinking and numerous cultural achievements. As far as humans are concerned, it is only through direct comparison with our closest relatives within a long line of ancestors that it is possible to gain a substantial insight into the evolution of Homo sapiens in the context of primate evolution. This limitation also explains why there is no fundamental human–animal dichotomy. Science and scientists are not immune to hubris and egocentrism. Our image of the worldviews and lives of our fossil ancestors is often shaped by our modern cultural perspective. Taking into account its biological origins, the genus Homo seems unique only in the sense that it implemented a revolutionary change out of the “continuum” of evolution by deliberately manipulating its ecological environment [5]. This supposedly unique step appears to have held more disadvantages than advantages for the future of the biosphere on planet Earth.

Physics can be considered the natural science, as it examines the fundamental principles that determine the processes of life in nature. Chemistry, by contrast, deals with the properties of chemical elements and compounds and with their reactions. Both disciplines together form the framework within which the biological makeup of all organisms, including humans, functions. Biochemistry represents a borderline discipline between biology/medicine and chemistry and, among other things, aims to explore metabolic processes and genetic reproduction. At the species level, two mechanisms in particular are essential: ensuring reproduction for subsequent generations (reproduction) and the physiological functional maintenance of the body in its interactions with the environment (nutrition). The chemistry of life is organised in metabolic pathways [6]. After water, carbon compounds (proteins, DNA, carbohydrates, fats, etc.) form the second most important component of a cell. The diversity of organic molecules is based on the variation of the carbon skeleton (C). Hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulphur (S) and phosphorus (P) frequently occur as functional groups combined with carbon; together they represent the “elements of life”.

These elements created the living conditions for the first microorganisms on Earth approximately 3.5 billion years ago. But it was not until 350 mya that a particular level of oxygen in the atmosphere had been reached and a stratospheric layer of ozone had developed which enabled higher organisms to evolve under the protection of this UV filter. The atmosphere of the Earth’s recent history was characterised by a high proportion of nitrogen and oxygen and has hardly changed since its formation. The climate was less stable, and extreme climatic crises caused by meteoritic impacts, volcanic eruptions, intense solar activity, continental drift, etc. repeatedly disturbed the balance to such an extent that several mass extinctions occurred. One such global catastrophe, which occurred 65 mya, finally paved the way for the emergence of primates, including humans, and the flora and fauna that exists today [7].

While autotrophic, photosynthetically active organisms (chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, phototrophic microorganisms, and plants) as primary producers use sunlight as an energy source to obtain carbon from inorganic substrates such as carbon dioxide (CO2), heterotrophic organisms (fungi, bacteria, animals, humans) as consumers obtain the carbon required to build their own bodily substances from already synthesised organic COH compounds. Because the chemical elements that are necessary for the formation of organic matter only exist in limited quantities, life on Earth directly depends on the recycling of essential elements. These elements circulate inside organisms, ecosystems, and the biosphere through a constant cycle of build-up and breakdown processes. The driving force behind the cycle of materials is a synergy of biological, geological, and chemical processes involving the ecosystems’ biotic and abiotic components [8].

1.3. Nature’s Cycle of Materials and the Role of Nutrition in Sustaining Life
Living organisms are instrumental in maintaining the vital “recycling” process in biogeochemical cycles through food intake and metabolism. Through nutrient uptake, respiration, and the excretion of waste products, living organisms constantly exchange chemical components with their environment. Primary production (plant biomass) is defined as the total amount of chemical energy that is produced within ecosystems through photosynthetic activity. In terrestrial ecosystems, limiting factors include the temperature, the level of humidity and the nutrients available. Secondary production is defined as the rate at which primary consumers within an ecosystem (herbivores) convert the chemical energy of their food into their own new biomass. The importance of the trophic structure for our understanding of the dynamic processes that occur within ecosystems is emphasised by the relationship between herbivores and plants. Nutrients are moved between organic and inorganic reservoirs by means of biological and geological processes. The rate of nutrient cycling is mainly determined by the rate of decay. Nutrient cycles are strongly influenced by the vegetation. From an early phase of the Pleistocene, humans had a profound impact on the natural nutrient cycle and permanently changed the existing flora and fauna [9,10,11].

The term nutrition combines all processes that ensure the supply of substances that contain energy to a living organism. Accordingly, nutrition is a prerequisite for sustaining the life-force of every living being. Food consists of energy-rich organic compounds in solid or liquid form, which are required for the formation of cells, tissue, bones, and teeth and for maintaining the organism’s energy metabolism. Both animal- and plant-based foods contain nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) and supplements (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fibre). Lipophilic and hydrophilic vitamins flank the metabolic functions by regulating the utilisation of nutrients. Because most of these vitamins are not synthesised by the human body, they must be ingested through food. The same applies to minerals (major minerals and trace elements), which regulate the cellular and bodily functions; they cannot be produced by the organism itself and must be supplied through nutrition. These natural inorganic nutrients occur in various chemical compounds, but the body can only ingest them from very specific ones. Major minerals (calcium [Ca], potassium [K], magnesium [Mg], sodium [Na], chlorine [Cl]) occur in the body in high concentrations, while essential trace elements (iron [Fe], chromium [Cr], cobalt [Co], fluorine [F], zinc [Zn], copper [Cu], iodine [I], manganese [Mn], selenium [Se], silicon [Si], molybdenum [Mo], vanadium [V]) occur in low concentrations. Deficiencies or overdosages of minerals result in impaired bodily functions [12].

From an evolutionary perspective, Homo sapiens is a relatively recent product of history. Its success since its emergence is illustrated, for instance, by the fact that it has managed to adapt to his environment all over the world [13]. It was supported in this endeavour by cultural evolution [14]. In addition to food and drink, the core factors that have ensured the species’ survival over the course of its history were cultural achievements such as clothing, housing, the use of energy, etc. These achievements could not have been made without cultural, social standards. And without social integration, human beings themselves would neither have been conceivable nor would they have been capable of surviving. With regard to nutrition, we cannot speak of a single, “natural” way of consuming food. It was, in fact, the very indeterminacy of the human diet, i.e., a cultural factor, that worked to the species’ advantage and was ultimately what allowed H. sapiens to adapt to any eco-system on Earth [15]. While the Inuit subsisted mainly on animal proteins, people in the Andes lived primarily on a plant-based diet [16]. For the majority of recent hunter-gatherers, however, well over half of their diet came from animals. Sufficient consumption of plants is advantageous for the human organism because, unlike carnivores, it cannot synthesise vitamin C on its own. However, the ascorbic acid content of fresh meat and offal is often sufficient to prevent scurvy.

Go to:
2. Methods and Techniques for the Reconstruction of Diet in the Past
The retrospective reconstruction of our ancestors’ diet is far more difficult than it is for recent populations, offers numerous options and usually depends on a successful transdisciplinary cooperation at the interface between prehistory (archaeology), anthropology (bioarchaeology), chemistry, biochemistry, geology, and evolutionary medicine. In terms of the biohistorical source material, the starting point for the reconstruction of diet in the context of archaeological research are plant, animal, and human remains from archaeological excavations. Archaeobotany and archaeozoology study the environmental, economic, and nutritional history, the human impact on the environment and, since the beginning of domestication, the economic importance of domestic animals and cultivated plants, and also reconstruct the range of plant- and animal-based food consumed. Taking into account the chronology and the archaeological data available, diachronic conclusions can be drawn with regard to the subsistence (procurement) and consumption behaviours and insight can also be gained into social history. Reconstructions of the environment, the technical achievements, and the traces in the landscape (e.g., clearings, terracing, irrigation, stables) provide indirect evidence of the nutritional situation in different periods.