Building better paleolithic brains - it was the carbs not the meats that did it

Were Carbs A Brain Food For Our Ancient Ancestors? - Researchers studying Paleolithic diets have previously suggested the early human brain began getting big at least 2.5 million years ago after early humans learned to butcher and process meat with stone tools. "But I don't think that's the whole story," says Mark Thomas, an evolutionary geneticist at University College London. "Around 800,000 years ago, the brain truly accelerated in increasing its size." In a new paper in The Quarterly Review of Biology, Thomas and colleagues argue that the brain suddenly began evolving faster because our ancestors discovered an even better brain food. "At that point, we develop the use of fire and start consuming more carbohydrate-rich foods," Thomas says. "[That] was critical to the expansion of the brain." Carbs, particularly long chains of the simple sugar glucose or starches, are an ideal food for fueling the brain, says Thomas. "The brain has an absolute requirement for glucose," he says. And with carb-rich food, the body doesn't need to spend extra energy converting other nutrients, like those found in meat, into glucose to feed the brain.

Is France’s supermarket waste law heading for Europe? - A French law that bans supermarkets from destroying unsold food and obliges them to give it to charity is irritating retailers who say they already make a big effort to fight waste. Under the law, stores of more than 400 sq m have until July 2016 to sign contracts with charities or food banks, and to start giving them unsold produce.

Guzzling 9,000 Years Of History With 'The Comic Book Story Of Beer' - In ancient times, farmers worried about losing precious grain to spoilage during wet winters. So they figured out how to malt grain and brew it into beer, thus preserving a nutritious source of calories. In The Comic Book Story of Beer, due out in September, we get a graphical tour of such pivotal moments — from the cradle of agriculture to the modern-day craft beer heyday.

The US love affair with food on a stick - US politicians have been photographed eating pork chops on a stick at a state fair in Iowa, a key swing state for presidential hopefuls. The fair boasts more than 70 different varieties of food on a stick. What's the obsession?