Limiting Mechanisms: Why Our Senses Fail Us in the Modern Foodscape

Limiting Mechanisms: Why Our Senses Fail Us in the Modern Foodscape

For millions of years, human senses and urges have evolved through natural selection, primarily to ensure survival and the continuation of our species. Our senses developed with one primary objective: to keep us healthy enough to reproduce, protect, and nourish our offspring until they, too, could do the same. This biological cycle ensures the survival of our species. When this system fails, extinction looms.

But if our senses have been shaped to keep us alive and thriving, why do they no longer guide us toward health? Instead, they seem to contribute to the sickest human population in history.

The Disconnect: Why Our Senses Fail Us

This disconnect is the result of several factors, most significantly our profound disconnection from food—where it comes from, how it is produced, and what truly constitutes real nourishment. From an early age, many of us are restrained in high chairs and fed food that causes our bodies to revolt. Yet, despite these signals, we are often force-fed, overriding our natural instincts.

Over time, this repeated act teaches us not to trust our own senses, suppressing the very tools evolution gave us to recognize what nourishes or harms us. Meanwhile, modern, chemically engineered foods exploit our remaining senses, compelling us to overeat by hijacking our innate desires.

The Role of Limiting Mechanisms

The real problem lies in the disappearance of what I call limiting mechanisms—natural barriers that once controlled the types and amounts of food available to us. Historically, factors like:

• Seasonal availability
• Geography
• Financial resources

regulated our access to food. While modern advances like globalization and mechanization have removed these limits, they have also created new health challenges.

The Impact of Removed Limitations

Today, we can satisfy cravings year-round for:

• Sugar without waiting for rare opportunities like wild honey harvests.
• Alcohol daily, instead of encountering naturally fermented fruits occasionally.
• Nuts without the effort of hand-harvesting and shelling.
• Spinach and other vegetables, now available year-round, disrupting seasonal eating patterns.

The removal of these natural limiting mechanisms has contributed to modern health crises, including diabetes, obesity, alcoholism, and other diet-related diseases like oxalate toxicity. Simply listening to our senses is no longer enough to guide us toward health.

Navigating the Modern Foodscape

Where does that leave us? In today’s food environment, intuitive eating is no longer viable. Instead, we must approach food choices with intention and knowledge. To restore balance to our diets, we need to reinstate some of the limiting mechanisms that kept our ancestors healthy.

Final Thoughts

In this modern foodscape, simply relying on our senses is not enough. By incorporating these best practices, we can reinstate the natural limits that once kept us healthy and help guide ourselves back to real, nourishing food. When seeking dietary advice, choose sources that connect you with real food and empower you to make informed decisions for your health, your family, and your community.

We are hoping to do just that through our work at Modern Stone Age!