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Do humans crave food variety instinctively, or is that embedded via culture?

If it's via instinct, what is the evolutionary mechanism that makes us reproduce better if we eat a variety of foods? There are lots of mammals that eat only one or two things, what makes us different?

Variety is the spice of life?

I would imagine it has to do with the number of nutrients we need to survive. Not talking water, there are very few things that could sustain us completely (soybean is one such example), so I suspect our desire for variety comes in part from the necessity of obtaining a protein complete diet. There's also pleasure that arrives from a new or rare taste, observable in any pet that you've given treats to.

But I'm a software engineer so this is all just wild speculation on my part.

My wild speculation is that if we crave multiple foods, when one of those foods goes away (famine, war, drought) we will be more willing and able to switch to foods that will keep us alive.

Rats do this as well. They will actually push levers in a Skinner box more times for an alternate food than for a food they have eaten recently but is easier to get. It appears to be pretty hardwired. Having redundancy in your food preferences is probably adaptive. As sixpack said, if one runs out, you still have options that you will like.

When I was single and lived alone, I would make a giant portion of something like spaghetti, taco stuff, chili, carnitas, etc and eat that for lunch and dinner for the week. I didn't mind not having variety. In fact it was nice not to have to think about food. I just reheated and ate and went back to studying or whatever.

Now, that I am married and have tried many more types of cuisine I like having variety and don't really want leftovers anymore. I don't know what changed. I think when I was single I ate to live and now I live to eat.

There are those who do not feel the need for variety, but I believe that since we are curious beings, we tend to be "streaky." We seek out and crave things which are "new," then we consume them until they no longer excite us, and then we forage for the next thing. I see this behavior with television, food, drugs, relationships, jobs, even brand names. Whether this behavior is instinctual or learned, I do not know.

--Patrick

stienman said:

There are lots of mammals that eat only one or two things, what makes us different?

Click to expand...

Really, try naming them. Beyond the Giant Panda (while the Red Panda eats mainly bamboo as well, it still eats other plants), there are very few strict monovores amongst mammals. Unless you go by large food groups ("meat" vs "plant" obviously, but for example most whales only eat "plankton", but that's a couple of hundred different types of creatures. Likewise, ant eaters eat ants or termites for about 95% of their menu but still add in some things to complement the diet).

But yeah, my points have already been made....1) increased adaptability in case of shortage/changed conditions, 2) better chance of getting a more well-rounded diet, 3) curiosity, 4) cute girls offering stuff at the mall.

Also, a wide diet is believed to contribute to better brain development.

However, it is partially culturally inforced. 50 years or so ago, spaghetti was considered "foreign" and "weird" here, and many people wouldn't eat it. Now it's so common as to be as bog standard as a potato. Either way, there are plenty of types of variety we don't spontaneously long for - partially influenced by our desire for exploration and novelty, a personality trait that seems to lean more towards nurture than nature (though, as all, it's a bit of both). Be it live animals (oysters, snails, crickets), "yucky" animals (snails, insects, mussels), parts considered dirty/unclean (goats balls, bull balls, chicken ass, intestines),... - plenty of reasons to shy away from things, even if they could be perfectly healthy.