Hutton Honors College

The Dangers of Eating
—and How We Protect Ourselves Against Them

Discussion Lunch with Darwinian Gastronomists Paul Sherman
and Janet Shellman Sherman

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 * 12:30-2 p.m. * Harlos House (1331 E. Tenth St.) * SIGN-UP REQUIRED

According to Paul Sherman and Janet Shellman Sherman, eating may be one of the most dangerous things you do today—because it allows potentially harmful microorganisms and toxins easy access to your vulnerable bloodstream. But consuming food is also vital to your survival. So how does your body protect itself against the dangers of food? The Shermans explores this question through the new field of Darwinian gastronomy, a sub-field of Darwinian medicine. Traditional medicine focuses on how symptoms occur; the complementary field of Darwinian medicine focuses on why these symptoms occur and whether they are protective adaptations to environmental factors. The Shermans' answers may surprise you: morning sickness, food allergies, food preferences, lactose intolerance, and the use of spices are all, in different ways, human defenses against the potential dangers of food. Professors of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University, the Shermans are widely published, and their many articles include "Allergies: Their Role in Cancer Prevention"; "Dairying Behaviors and the Distribution of Lactose Malabsorption"; "Why We Use Spices"; "Protecting Ourselves from Food"; and "Morning Sickness: A Mechanism for Protecting Mother and Embryo."

Paul Sherman will deliver a public lecture, "Darwinian Gastronomy," at 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 29, in Psychology 100. He will be on campus as a guest of the Cognitive Science Program as part of the College of Arts and Sciences' Themester series. For more information, please go here.

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