While reading the next few chapters of “The Ghost Map,” my favorite section revolved around the part where Steven Johnson discussed how human tolerance to alcohol arose over time because it was safer to drink than water, as alcohol has antibacterial properties. It reminded me of a video that I watched on YouTube, in which a speaker explained to an audience why many humans have developed lactose tolerance and why many have not. This stems from the time where our ancestors changed from a hunter-gatherer culture to an agrarian culture. Since many agrarian cultures herded sheep and cows, humans were able to consume milk for a longer time and eventually their descendants became tolerant to lactose.

The “adaptation” can be reexamined though the lens of genetically modified / processed foods. Although some individuals are against the process of using pesticides and industrial farming due to the long term negative health effects, a question can be raised on whether the human body will eventually evolve to have stomach and intestines that will be able to extract the nutrients from food without any negative effects from endocrine disruptors or from intake of hormones that have been placed into meat. Tea works the same way as alcohol in terms of killing bacteria, except tea uses the boiling process as well as tannic acid during the steeping process, and is able to have the same effects as alcohol without its detrimental effects. Perhaps there could be another way that can mitigate the effects of genetically modified / processed foods in a more natural way.

YouTube video mentioned in post: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3iIfL8q0_k