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CrowdScience: Did cooking make us human?

Discussion & Talk

Did cooking make us human?

03/05/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Did cooking make us human?

When did we switch from eating our food raw, to heating it?

Anand Jagatia tests a scientific hypothesis that claims cooking made us the species we are today

Many of us enjoy cooking – but when did we switch from eating our food raw, to heating it? Listener Logan enjoys his beef burgers rare, but wants to know why he still feels compelled to grill them? Presenter Anand Jagatia travels to a remote South African cave where our ancestors first used fire at least a million years ago, which one man says could help prove when our species started cooking. 

And he talks to a scientist who shows how the composition of food changes when it’s cooked, to allow us more access to give us more access to calories - and hears how a completely raw food diet could have disastrous consequences for health.

Producer: Marijke Peters
Presenter Anand Jagatia

(Image: A large pan held over an open fire. Credit: Getty Images)

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