This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: James, WPT, Johnson, RJ, Speakman, JR eta l. Nutrition and its role in human evolution (Review). J Intern Med 2019; 285: 533– 549., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.12878. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.