"Debates continue to rage about what diet is best, in part because an underlying theoretical framework for choosing one over another has been lacking. Not so any longer.The Nature of Nutrition demystifies the complexity of nutrition and diet choice and shows why people and other creatures eat the way they do. Along the way, readers learn about the adaptive value of cannibalism, the impact of diet on sex lives, how dietary choices affect entire ecosystems, and so much more."--Daniel Rubenstein, Princeton University

"The Nature of Nutrition is a must-read for anyone interested in the role nutrition plays in the survival of the fittest. Starting with theOrigin of Species, Simpson and Raubenheimer guide us through the nutritional strategies that maintained reproductive health and mating behaviors despite periods of food shortage and danger from predators. The protein leverage hypothesis provides a solid foundation to explain the growing global epidemic of human obesity."--Eric Ravussin, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System

"A fascinating and authoritative treatment of nutrition in an ecological and evolutionary framework. Simpson and Raubenheimer's novel perspective crosses disciplines, from the organism to the population to the ecosystem, providing a long-needed unifying framework to what has previously largely been the domain of clinical science."--Simon A. Levin, Princeton University

"This outstanding book provides the first comprehensive theoretical framework for analyzing the roles of nutrition across a huge swath of fields, from ecology and evolution to conservation and human health. The Nature of Nutrition is creative and scholarly yet approachable. I know of no other book like it."--Bernard J. Crespi, Simon Fraser University

"The Nature of Nutrition covers a vast range of issues, from reproduction, immunology, and toxicology to insect migration, population ecology, predator-prey interactions, and ecosystem functioning, as well as applied issues such as conservation biology and human nutritional pathologies. I enjoyed each and every chapter of this excellent book."--Kenneth Wilson, Lancaster University

The Nature of Nutrition

A UNIFYING FRAMEWORK FROM ANIMAL ADAPTATION TO HUMAN OBESITYBy Stephen J. Simpson David Raubenheimer

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Copyright © 2012 Princeton University Press
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-14565-5

Contents

Acknowledgments....................................................................................................ixONE Nutrition and Darwin's Entangled Bank..........................................................................11.1 Nutrition Touches and Links All Living Things..................................................................31.2 Nutrition Is Complex...........................................................................................51.3 Dealing with Nutritional Complexity: Enough but Not Too Much...................................................71.4 Charting the Void between Nutritional Detail and Generality: The Geometric Framework...........................10TWO The Geometry of Nutrition......................................................................................112.1 The Geometric Framework: Basic Theory..........................................................................112.2 The Geometric Framework in Practice............................................................................222.3 Conclusions....................................................................................................34THREE Mechanisms of Nutritional Regulation.........................................................................353.1 How to Defend an Intake Target.................................................................................353.2 Postingestive Regulation.......................................................................................483.3 Conclusions....................................................................................................56FOUR Less Food, Less Sex, Live Longer?.............................................................................574.1 How Does Macronutrient Balance Affect Life Span?...............................................................624.2 Less Sex, Live Longer?.........................................................................................664.3 Conclusions....................................................................................................70FIVE Beyond Nutrients..............................................................................................715.1 The Distinction between Nutrients and Toxins...................................................................725.2 Self-medication and Ecological Immunology: The Distinction between Nutrients and Medicines.....................795.3 Toxins and Nutrients Interact..................................................................................845.4 Conclusions....................................................................................................87SIX Moving Targets.................................................................................................886.1 Moving Targets in the Short Term...............................................................................886.2 Moving Targets in Developmental Time...........................................................................916.3 From Parents to Offspring—Epigenetics....................................................................956.4 Evolving Targets...............................................................................................976.5 Evolving Rules of Compromise: Nutrient Specialists and Generalists.............................................996.6 Evolving Postingestive Responses...............................................................................1056.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................106SEVEN From Individuals to Populations and Societies................................................................1087.1 Cannibal Mormon Crickets.......................................................................................1097.2 Locusts Are Cannibals Too......................................................................................1137.3 Communal Nutrition in Ants.....................................................................................1147.4 The Blob.......................................................................................................1177.5 Conclusions....................................................................................................119EIGHT How Does Nutrition Structure Ecosystems?.....................................................................1208.1 From Individual Fitness to Population Growth Rates.............................................................1218.2 Interactions among Organisms and the Environment...............................................................1228.3 Do Predators Regulate Nutrient Intake?.........................................................................1248.4 The Nutritional Geometry of Food Webs..........................................................................1308.5 The Nutritional Niche..........................................................................................1388.6 Agent-Based Modeling of Nutritional Interactions: From Individuals to Ecosystems...............................1448.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................145NINE Applied Nutrition.............................................................................................1479.1 Domestication..................................................................................................1479.2 Wildlife Conservation..........................................................................................1579.3 Conclusions....................................................................................................165TEN The Geometry of Human Nutrition................................................................................16710.1 The Modern Human Nutritional Dilemma..........................................................................16710.2 Do Humans Regulate to an Intake Target?.......................................................................17010.3 What Is the Human Rule of Compromise?.........................................................................17510.4 What Are the Implications of Protein Leverage?................................................................18210.5 How Do Humans Deal with Nutrient Excesses?....................................................................19110.6 Conclusions...................................................................................................191ELEVEN Perspectives................................................................................................19411.1 Expanding GF into Further Dimensions of Nutrition.............................................................19411.2 GF and "Omics"................................................................................................19511.3 Nutritional Epigenetics and Early-Life Prevention of Metabolic Disease........................................19611.4 Human Obesity.................................................................................................19611.5 Nutritional Immunology........................................................................................19711.6 Modeling Nutritional Interactions: From Individuals to Ecosystems.............................................19811.7...