Why Some Like It Hot

`Mixing hard science with personal anecdotes, Nabhan convincingly argues that health comes from a genetically appropriate diet inextricably entwined with a healthy land and culture.` -Publishers Weekly

Do your ears burn whenever you eat hot chile peppers? Does your face immediately flush when you drink alcohol? Does your stomach groan if you are exposed to raw milk or green fava beans? If so, you are probably among the one-third of the world`s human population that is sensitive to certain foods due to your genes` interactions with them.

Formerly misunderstood as `genetic disorders,` many of these sensitivities are now considered to be adaptations that our ancestors evolved in response to the dietary choices and diseases they faced over millennia in particular landscapes. They are liabilities only when we are `out of place,` on globalized diets depleted of certain chemicals that triggered adaptive responses in our ancestors.