Shouldn't our human survival instincts stop us from enjoying junk food?

Question

I try SO hard not to eat crap with preservatives, chemicals, e numbers etc in it. It's not made for human consumption, we can't digest it properly, I really don't like how it makes me feel afterwards... so why doesn't this stop me craving it in the first place?

I just got a peanut butter kit kat from the vending machine and it was friggin awesome. There is nothing of value in that, so why would it taste good to me? Shouldn't our bodies crave the healthy nutritious stuff, depending on whatever we need a boost in? There was nothing of value in that kit kat, and yet I wanted it BAD. I will go on to feel a bit crappy for the rest of the afternoon and I know that, it's happened many times before- and yet I know I will still want another one tomorrow.

Is it a flaw in our survival instincts? I think I could probably eat peanut butter kit kats all day and be happy... but I would die. What's up with that?

Answer 1

Believe it or not, it is our human instincts that makes us love junk food. You see, they are full of fats and sugars. Fats being very high energy and sugars being very quick energy. Both are very important in a world where you haven't eaten for 2 weeks (and that's how it used to be). So we have learnt, which foods are going to see us through for the next 2 weeks and which aren't. For example, a couple of cabbage leaves have nothing in them so chosing them over a large mammoth meat is not a wise choice because we could die of starvation in the next 2 weeks. We meant to eat this kind of food but only every 2-3 weeks. That way, we wouldn't put on any weight.

Answer 2

Human survival instincts have been dulled over time due to the synthetic world we've made for ourselves. Take rollercoasters for example the danger would mean any animal would run away where as we flock towards. The only evidence of survival insticts when food is concerned is the cravings of pregnant women, the woman craves the food that is needed for the feotus' development at that stage. However thirst is a survival instinct.

Answer 3

Our survival instincts stem back to the beginning of evolution. Its has only been the last 100 years where food has been in abundance which over the scale of history is a tiny proportion of time. Therefore for millions of years all creatures have lived around taking on as much food as possible. Lets face it fat is simply stored energy which would of been vital 100 years ago. But in true evolution style the strongest will survive - Obesses people dont live as long and are less likley to find a partner to reproduce with. Therefore as we have evolved to store energy evolution will now take us away from that!

Answer 4

Hi > interesting.Q
I have eaten a McDonalds QP with fries falling out of an aircraft, with 'chute from a couple of miles up.
That is what I would call fast food.
As you mention survival instincts, it was more to do with getting Earthbound safely, then rescuing the fries from a pocket.

Great fun, as it should be with all foods.
Go for what you fancy, be it the kit-kat in peanut butter or whatever.
Just don't over-do it, as with all things.

The next stunt is to eat a bacon buttie whilst water-skiing.
Hey Ho, we shall survive....

Bob.

Answer 5

we eat it because it provides survival needs - our genetic need is to reproduce not live to 90, and the junk food provides the sodium, fats etc that are necessary to produce rapid sources of energy and sustain the body during periods of famine. Once the genes have replicated themselves, the hosts don't need to live on, so the fact that all that stuff creates long term illness (heart disease etc.) is of no relevance to the biological necessity of replicating - therefore there is no need for the body to adapt to different life styles or eating habits - only our need as individuals to live a better life.

Answer 6

Yes - our survival instincts should stop us from eating McDonalds, KFC, BK, but we override them to get the sugar, saturated fats, wood pulp, animal brains, e-numbers, etc. How stupid are we??? A little self-discipline and we could turn obesity and bad health around....
I don't suppose Rome was built in a day either....
And contrary to kareno209's response there is very little nutritional value in any of them...

Answer 7

Well, why stop at junk food. Should our survival instincts not stop us from smoking, drinking too much, taking illicit drugs, practicing unsafe sex, driving like maniacs, etc. The brain has evolved causing some, perhaps not all, natural instincts to weaken.

Answer 8

Unfortunatly no. Humans have stopped adapting because our enviroment has adapted to us. Part of that adaptation is that food is readily availible and over the years we have gotten used to the salty, greasy, sugary, junk food, sothat's what we crave. And it's not the eating of junk food that's bad, it's the eating in excess.

Answer 9

We crave this food becuase of the addictive preservatives and it is incorrect to call it junk food because our bodies can get goodness out of some part of the food!

Answer 10

your human survival instincts love junk food. in the past, when food was often scarce, a desire to eat as much as possible when it was available would have been very useful in helping the organism survive long enough to reproduce.