Knowledge Tree
plant-based foods
Also known as: plant food, plant-based foods, plant-based food, plant-based choices
Facts (46)
Sources
The role of Plant Foods in the evolution and Dispersal of early Humans kernsverlag.com Jul 30, 2022 21 facts
claimNeanderthal hunting of large game in high-latitude Europe was likely supplemented by the consumption of carbohydrates and fats from plant foods, particularly during late winter when animal prey had lower body fat content.
claimThere is no direct evidence for Pleistocene plant food use by Homo sapiens or earlier hominin populations in the Wallacean Archipelago due to poor preservation and a lack of systematic archaeobotanical recovery.
claimThere is increasing direct evidence that Neanderthals consumed plant foods, leading to a growing awareness of similarities in the dietary niches of modern and archaic humans in Eurasia.
claimEarly modern humans who populated Australia by 65,000 years ago likely utilized specialized economic roles to exploit a wide range of resources, including hard-to-process plant foods.
referencePlant foods were a significant component of the dietary ecology of both Neanderthals and early modern humans, as detailed in a 2014 study by A. G. Henry, A. S. Brooks, and D. R. Piperno.
procedureEarly humans at Niah Cave, Borneo, processed plant foods that required leaching to remove toxicity, specifically wild yam (Dioscorea hispida) and kepayang (Pangium edule) nuts.
claimRecent research has revisited the importance of plant foods in Paleolithic diets due to new evidence, such as the analysis of plant microfossils in dental calculus, and a shift in focus toward understanding hominin macronutrient requirements.
claimSubsisting on uncooked plant foods in contemporary humans is associated with undernutrition, reduced libido, amenorrhea, and fatigue.
claimCarbohydrates spare protein more efficiently than fat under conditions of marginal calorie, protein, or glucose intake, making plant foods a more efficient substitute for fatty animals despite the higher processing requirements (Speth and Spielmann 1983).
claimEarly human occupation at Niah Cave, Borneo, between 46-34 kya demonstrates adaptation to tropical forest environments through the exploitation of a wide range of resources, including pigs, small primates, and plant foods.
claimArchaeological research in Island Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Guinea has provided new evidence for the role of plant foods in early human adaptations to novel environments.
referenceFlorin et al. (2020) documented the use of plant foods by humans at the Madjedbebe site in Australia between 65,000 and 53,000 years ago.
claimThe ability to extract nutrients from a broad range of plant foods, alongside dietary flexibility and marine-specialized technologies, allowed early humans to adapt to diverse environments, including marginal zones like faunally depauperate islands and high-latitude regions.
claimThere is little evidence to suggest that Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis routinely cooked or used complex technologies to process plant foods, though this may be an artifact of poor preservation.
claimPlant foods, particularly carbohydrates, served as an efficient energy resource and were a key component of hominin diets, challenging the stereotype that Paleolithic diets were primarily meat-based.
measurementContemporary hunter-gatherer groups in temperate and tropical regions derive at least 26-55% of their calories from gathered plant foods.
claimPlant foods and processing technologies, such as cooking, grinding, and leaching, were essential to the dietary flexibility and adaptive capacity of early modern humans and their ancestors in Africa, Eurasia, Wallacea, and Sahul.
claimHominin diets required considerable amounts of plant foods to provide necessary fats and carbohydrates, except in specific, mostly recent circumstances like arctic living or pastoralism.
claimHard-to-process and non-preferred 'fallback' foods, including many plant foods, played a role in the evolution and dispersal of hominin populations.
referenceThe nutritional ecology of Pan (chimpanzees) varies across Africa based on the plant foods consumed, as explored in a 2010 study by G. Hohmann et al.
claimThe consumption of plant foods was a factor in the movement of archaic and modern humans into marginal environments and contributed to the success of modern human populations.
To Follow the Real Early Human Diet, Eat Everything scientificamerican.com Jun 25, 2024 5 facts
accountLong-term studies of the Hadza people indicate that their diet varies seasonally, with some months dominated by honey consumption, others by plant foods like root vegetables, and periods where meat consumption is minimal.
claimHunter-gatherer populations globally derive approximately 50 percent of their caloric intake from plant foods and 50 percent from animal foods on average.
claimThe hunting and gathering strategy is successful because it functions as a mixed portfolio, combining the acquisition of high-value, hard-to-get animal protein and fat with the collection of more dependable plant foods.
claimThe evolutionary success of humans is attributed to the addition of hunting to their dietary repertoire rather than the replacement of plant foods with animal foods.
claimHerman Pontzer of Duke University states that researchers have observed for decades that plant foods constitute at least 50 percent of the Hadza diet.
Nutritional Evolution – Human Origin and Evolution ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in 4 facts
measurementBogin (1998) observed that strontium to calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios in bone increased over time, indicating a dominance of plant food in the diet.
procedureThe ratio of delta 15nitrogen (15N) to delta 13carbon (13C) in skeletal remains is a method used to determine diet, where the amount of 13C indicates the magnitude of plant-based foods and the amount of 15N indicates the magnitude of animal protein in the diet.
claimThe earliest evidence of tool use is linked with Homo habilis, who used simple, effective, sharp-edged stone flakes as cutting tools for meat and plant foods (Isaac and Sept, 1988).
claimThe ratio of the trace element strontium to calcium (Sr/Ca) in skeletal remains can be used for diet reconstruction, where a higher ratio indicates that more plant food than animal food was consumed.
Health and environmental impacts of diets worldwide globalnutritionreport.org 4 facts
claimAnimal-based foods generally have higher greenhouse gas emission footprints than plant-based foods because they generate direct emissions from manure and digestion, as well as indirect emissions from feed production which requires significant land, water, and fertilizer resources.
claimMost environmental impacts of diets occur at the production stage, with the largest differences in impact observed between animal-based and plant-based foods, regardless of the specific production system used.
claimAnimal-based foods generally have greater environmental impacts than plant-based foods.
claimAnimal-source foods generally have higher environmental footprints per product than plant-based foods.
Diet composition and staple-food dependence as structural ... researchsquare.com 3 facts
claimDiets rich in plant-derived foods are inversely associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), certain cancers, and all-cause mortality.
claimThe study titled 'Diet composition and staple-food dependence as structural...' investigates global patterns in diet diversity and the caloric contribution of plant- and animal-based foods using national food supply data (FBSs).
claimDietary reliance on a limited variety of plant-based foods may lead to deficiencies in iron, zinc, vitamin A, B12, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are nutrients more readily available in animal-sourced foods.
Measurement of diets that are healthy, environmentally sustainable ... frontiersin.org 2 facts
claimShifting dietary patterns involves tradeoffs between policy goals, such as a shift to plant-based foods reducing greenhouse gas emissions while potentially resulting in higher water usage.
claimResearch published since 2015 consistently indicates that reducing or substituting animal-source foods with plant-based foods in high-income countries provides beneficial impacts on human health, climate change emissions, and natural resource use.
Western pattern diet | Nutrition and Dietetics | Research Starters ebsco.com 1 fact
claimAdopting balanced diets that include plant-based foods and whole grains can help mitigate the health risks associated with the Western Pattern Diet.
How do the indices based on the EAT-Lancet recommendations ... medrxiv.org May 14, 2024 1 fact
claimEAT-Lancet indices promote the intake of healthy animal and plant foods, which are sources of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the ... academia.edu 1 fact
referenceKeeley (1992) conducted a cross-cultural survey on the use of plant foods among hunter-gatherers.
Measuring Adherence to Sustainable Healthy Diets - R Discovery discovery.researcher.life Dec 26, 2022 1 fact
claimSustainable Healthy Diet models identified in the literature include local food-based diets, the Mediterranean diet, and the Planetary Health Diet, all of which emphasize plant-based choices.
Future of Food Series Part IV: The Evolution of Diet harmonyvalleyfarm.blogspot.com Sep 11, 2014 1 fact
claimAmanda Henry identified starch granules on fossil teeth and stone tools dating back 100,000 years, suggesting that humans have consumed grains and plant foods long enough to evolve the ability to tolerate them.
The Evolution of Diet - National Geographic nationalgeographic.com 1 fact
perspectiveAmanda Henry, a paleobiologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, argues that the narrative that hunting and meat consumption defined human evolution overlooks the significant role of plant foods in human diets.
How the intersection of modern diets, climate, and food systems is ... medicalxpress.com Nov 17, 2025 1 fact
perspectiveGovernment subsidies currently supporting the production of ultra-processed foods should be redirected to support nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory, and environmentally sustainable plant-based food options.