Why Some Like It Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity

245 Pages·2004·1.244 MB·English

by  Gary Paul Nabhan

W H Y
S O M E
L I K E I T
H O T
Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity
GARY PAUL NABHAN
a shearwater book

w h y s o m e l i k e i t h o t

HOT
w h y s o m e l i k e i t
f o o d , g e n e s ,
a n d c u l t u r a l
d i v e r s i t y
Gary Paul Nabhan
Island Press / Shearwater Books washington • covelo • london
A Shearwater Book
Published by Island Press
Copyright © 2004Gary Paul Nabhan
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718Connecticut Ave.,
NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009.
shearwater books is a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data.
Nabhan, Gary Paul.
Why some like it hot : food, genes, and cultural diversity / Gary Paul Nabhan.
p. cm.
“A shearwater book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 1-55963-466-9(cloth : alk. paper)
1. Human population genetics. 2. Food preferences. 3. Ethnic groups. I. Title.
qh31.n282004
394.1—dc22 2004005033
British Cataloguing-in-Publication data available.
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Design by Kathleen Szawiola
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
“Now killin’ folks and cookin’
ain’t so very far apart.”
herbert h. knibbs
from his poem/song “Boomer Johnson”
(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)(cid:2)
Dedicated to the memory of
Ted Nabhan,
Sally Giff Pablo, and
Gabriel Williams

(cid:3)
c o n t e n t s
Introduction 1
one Discerning the Histories Encoded in
Our Bodies 15
two Searching for the Ancestral Diet 36
Did Mitochondrial Eve and Java Man Feast
on the Same Foods?
three Finding a Bean for Your Genes and a Buffer
Against Malaria 63
four The Shaping and Shipping Away of
Mediterranean Cuisines 92
five Discovering Why Some Don’t Like It Hot 112
Is It a Matter of Taste?
six Dealing with Migration Headaches 140
Should We Change Places, Diets, or Genes?
seven Rooting Out the Causes of Disease 163
Why Diabetes Is So Common Among Desert Dwellers
eight Reconnecting the Health of the People with
the Health of the Land 186
How Hawaiians Are Curing Themselves
Sources 211
Index 225