News Anthropology

Sugar may have been a key ingredient in human evolution

Fruits, not just meats, may have fueled brain growth in our primate cousins and human ancestors

A young chimp is seen seated near some older ones (only their lower backs visible) and it is holding a green fruit to its mouth.

A new analysis of the diets of early human ancestors and close relatives, including chimpanzees (shown), reveals the potentially important role of sugars from fruit and other sources in brain evolution. Researchers dubbed the finding SWEET: sugars were essential in evolution too.

Anup Shah/Stone/Getty Images

By Jake Buehler

A craving for sweets may have helped set the stage for the evolution of the human brain.