White Europeans 'only evolved 5,500 years ago after food habits changed' | Mail Online

10/29/13 1:46 PM

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White Europeans 'only evolved 5,500 years ago after food habits changed'
By Daily Mail Reporter UPDATED: 08:58 EST, 31 August 2009

58 View comments People in England may have only developed pale skin within the last 5,500 years, according to new research. Scientists believe that a sudden change in the diet around that time from hunter-gathering to farming may have led to a dramatic change in skin tone to make up for a lack of vitamin D. Farmed food is lacking in vitamin D and while humans can produce it when exposed to the ultraviolet light in sunlight darker skin is far less efficient at it.

People with pale skin may be descended from Europeans who dramatically changed their diets after switching from hunter-gathering to farming

Scientists at the University of Oslo believe this change in diet may have led to our dark-skinned ancestors evolving paler skin to overcome this problem. The link between skin colour and Vitamin D from sunlight has been suggested before. It had previously been believed that our ancestors skin had gradually lightened to generate more Vitamin D the further north they moved away from the equator to places where there was less sunlight. Now scientists believe that the change in their diet away from foods rich in Vitamin D also played a major factor in the skin lightening in colour. And the particularly pale skins of people in Scandinavia may have evolved to maximise the amount of Vitamin D that could be produced, the research suggests. If the theory is correct it would mean that until this period in history, the ancient inhabitants of Britain and Scandinavia - our ancestors - would have had a dark skin tone. Johan Moan, of the university's Institute of Physics, said in a research paper: In England, from 5,500-5,200 years ago the food changed rapidly away from fish as an important food source. This led to a rapid development of ... light skin. The research paper, written with Richard Setlow, a biophysicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state, states : Cold
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White Europeans 'only evolved 5,500 years ago after food habits changed' | Mail Online

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climates and high latitudes would speed up the need for skin lightening. Agricultural food was an insufficient source of vitamin D, and solar radiation was too low to produce enough vitamin D in dark skin. Children with fair skins are able to get their daily dose of Vitamin D with just 10 to 20 minutes in the sun. But research has shown that sun-protective skin pigments in black children means that it takes up four times as long for the skin to produce enough of the vitamin. Milk and a few other foods such as fatty fish are fortified with vitamin D but most people get very little through their diets. A lack of Vitamin D has been linked with cancers, bone problems, type 1 diabetes, and even multiple sclerosis. One recent study in the U.S found that nearly half of African American women of childbearing age may be deficient in vitamin D.

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Comments (58)
Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all Michael, Birmingham, 4 years ago Whatever next. I bet someone will say we were created by a an unseen being who guides us in our everyday living. 16 16 Click to rate Patrick Harris, Los Angeles, CA, 4 years ago I don't see why the majority here view this article as an insult. Who the heck cares if white skin evolved 1000 years ago instead? Or if straight hair evolved 2000 years ago? Or if beaked noses showed up last week? They're only physical features for crying out loud. They had to come from somewhere. It's not a reflection of white peoples' worth as human beings. Those of you who see downgrading in all this baffle me completely. 14 60 Click to rate Sabina Newson, Surrey, England, 4 years ago Erik, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, forgot to add: and hot cross buns toasted and buttered! Yum Yum! 15 3 Click to rate Erik, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 4 years ago The domestication of cattle began in Europe, which is widely believed to have been in the Neolithic ( about 15,000 years ago ) to around 10,500 years ago. Therefore the theory that the change from fish to farming wheat as part of the great agricultural leap forward led to white skin is undermined by just two important facts: The first Great Leap Forward in relation to Vitamin D production was nothing to do with agriculture, but when the domestication of cattle occured. The domestication of cattle occured nearly 12,000 years ago - and at that point the milk produced by cattle allowed Vitamin D to be ingested via milk, butter and cheese, far better producers of Vitamin D than agricultural foodstuffs. Therefore the idea that only when europeans grew wheat were they capable of getting enough Vitaim D from sources other than sunlight is total nonsense. Europeans had already been getting Vitamin D in milk, butter and cheese for over 5,000 years before they grew wheat etc. 15 22 Click to rate Mairie, London, 4 years ago If your entire self-concept is based around your skin tone and where it comes from, rather than what you've accomplished with your life, then I feel sorry for you, no matter who you are. 34 56 Click to rate Norm De Plume, Hertfordshire, 4 years ago @ Fred Kite, Notts, Those who live north of the Arctic Circle have to contend with very bright sunlight glaring off the snow. I would suspect their skin is darker to accommodate this sunshine and brilliant radiance. They won't need to be as white as me in order to create more vitamin D as there is more sunshine up there. And as for the rest of the questions about why black people don't seem to be lightening in America etc, it simply hasn't been long enough for them to change their skin tone. But, the point is, skin tone is such a small indicator on the DNA scale of WHO we are that it really should be ignored. But it's the first thing we see, and we make
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White Europeans 'only evolved 5,500 years ago after food habits changed' | Mail Online

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judgements based on it. One day we'll learn to ignore the colour and just remark on the man! 17 39 Click to rate Toby, Great Britain of Course, 4 years ago Im surprised by how many commenst there are asking whether that makes us whites more advanced or not and the awnser is OR COURSE NOT further evolution doesnt mean more advanced it just means more adapted to where we live! Black, White, Smurfs etc ! were just people 15 32 Click to rate David Hearn, Oxford, UK, 4 years ago "Oh dear,the BNP will be upset when they hear this. - Ritchie, Birkenhead, 30/8/2009 23:01" What? This research (which looks dubious) appears to suggest that white people have evolved even since the heyday of Gobekli Tepe, a cradle of civilization still being unearthed in southern Turkey. Are whites, then, the most evolved humans? 48 56 Click to rate Sandy, Wales, 4 years ago Ed from Lincoln Have you actually read the story ? If so do you understand what the words mean ? "And the particularly pale skins of people in Scandinavia may have evolved to maximise the amount of Vitamin D that could be produced, the research suggests." This research is not just focusing on England. What a nightmare it must be to live with the idea that the world is populated with a 'liberal elite' that is just trying to prove that as a white skinned person you are not a superior being ! In certain cases such ideas could be seen as delusional. Posts such as yours and similar do make me feel very concerned about education in Britain. 41 47 Click to rate Sandy, Wales, 4 years ago For those previous posters who express concern that their tax money may have been spent on this scientific research then I suggest they check an atlas. Check where the University of Oslo is, and they'll find it's in Norway. So unless they are Norweigian citizens or working and taxed there they'll have not paid a penny. Also their ignorance shows how little they understand of the nature of academic research. New evidence is constantly being evaluated and interpreted against existing knowledge. The paranoid ramblings of some of the previous posters about the 'lberal elite' etc just show how deluded these people are. How it must torment them to think that darker skin races may have been their ancestors ! As my husband always says ...why is it that white supremacists are usually so lacking in intellect ? 44 62 Click to rate The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

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