Oh dear god, the brain!

  As usual, I got a bit ahead excited and ahead of myself yesterday and ended up talking about grass seeds. Before I go on to that, I need to make sure you're aware of one major significance of the benefits of cooking. As our ancestors used less of their energy and resources in the process of digestion, they were able to put those resources to good use elsewhere in another resource hungry organ.

  I am of course referring to the brain. It is very energy hungry and because of the extra resources made available through cooking it was able to grow. Actually, it wasn't just cooking that caused the growth, but also changes in our lifestyle that needed a bigger brain. It was a virtuous circle; more resources sent to the brain which was able to do more but also demand more so more growth happened so we could do more etc. Primates brains are already big for animals of their size but human brains are even bigger. 

First we stood upright, then quiche.

  This is why I'm making such a big fuss about how cooking changed the way we evolved; because of cooking we got bigger brains and that's why you're sitting somewhere warm, reading this on a computer and not sitting a jungle picking nits out of your mates head for a snack while he scratches his arse. Get it?

  We are because we cook. Cooking releases extra nutrients from food which powers and grows the brain so we were able to organise ourselves, invent tools and weapons, settle in large groups, develop sophisticated language skills, produce food more efficiently and ultimately invent motorcycles. (You had to bring bikes into this somehow. -Ed.). 

  Before I go on to talk more about cooking, you're free to have a chat with anyone you know on a raw vegan diet and tell them to have a little word with themselves and get with the program. It's a lovely idea but... Actually, it's a load of silliness but what can you do? I'm sure I'll come back to diets later but the most important thing for now is that you've got an idea of how much we owe to cooking.

Tomorrow, life before the microwave.

Kirk out

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