Indigenous Andeans have a digestive superpower—and it may be linked to potatoes

Phys · May 05, 2026 · 925 words · By University; Los Angeles

Human Evolutionary Adaptation Genetics and Diet Indigenous History

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What to know about Human Evolutionary Adaptation

Researchers from UCLA and the University at Buffalo found that Indigenous Andeans possess a higher number of AMY1 gene copies, which aids in starch digestion. The study suggests this is a result of natural selection linked to the domestication and consumption of potatoes over the last 6,000 to 10,000 years.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Indigenous Andeans have a digestive superpower—and it may be linked to potatoes Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato, making the starch-rich crop a dietary staple…

Why it matters

Today, their descendants in Peru carry the highest known numbers of a gene involved in starch digestion of any population in the world.

Common ground

Now, a study co-led by researchers from UCLA and the University at Buffalo has discovered that natural selection began favoring Indigenous Andeans with an unusually high number of salivary amylase genes, or AMY1, during the period when potatoes were first…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Human Evolutionary Adaptation story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato?
How does this story connect Human Evolutionary Adaptation with Genetics and Diet over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-indigenous-andeans-digestive-superpower-linked.htm…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

verified Verified 2

info

Claim 1: “Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general definitions of 'Indigenous' and general history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, but does not specifically confirm that they were the first to domesticate the potato.

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web search NEUTRAL — Indigenous peoples continue to face threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being, languages, cultural heritage, and access to the resources on which their cultures depend. [13] In the 21st centur…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples

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web search NEUTRAL — The meaning of INDIGENOUS is produced, growing, living, or occurring natively or naturally in a particular region or environment. How to use indigenous in a sentence. Did you know? Synonym Discussion …
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indigenous

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Indigenous peoples of the Americas, any of the aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Inuit, Yupik /Yupiit, and Unangan (Aleuts) are sometimes excluded from this category, because …
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indigenous-peoples-of-the-A…

verified

Claim 2: “Their findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.”

VERIFIED

A web search result explicitly mentions that a 'Nature Communications study reports' these findings regarding potato domestication and AMY1 in Indigenous Andeans.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 1,000,000 top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — StudyFetch builds a personalized study plan from your materials, breaking them into an ordered sequence of topics so you learn things the right way. Instead of guessing what to review, you get flashca…
https://www.studyfetch.com/

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Claim 3: “People with a high number of AMY1 copies tend to produce more of the amylase enzyme in their saliva and are thought to digest starch more effectively”

CORROBORATED

Multiple scientific sources (PMC and a PDF research paper) confirm that higher AMY1 gene copy numbers lead to greater production of salivary amylase and more efficient starch digestion.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Keywords: Salivary amylase, Starch digestion, AMY1 copy number variation, Glucose homeostasis, Insulin, Metabolic syndrome. Introduction. Saliva has many crucial roles in promoting health, including p…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6825871/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Those individuals with higher salivary amylase levels in fact had significantly lower postprandial blood glucose responses to starch ingestion, and a more pronounced postprandial excursion of insulin …
https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/110205/1/WRAP-human-amy…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The higher gene copy number allows for greater production of salivary. amylase, facilitating more efficient starch digestion. This adaptation would have been particularly.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381636528_Investiga…

info

Claim 4: “Starting about 10,000 years ago, those with roughly 10 copies or more had a 1.24% survival or reproductive advantage per generation”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific figure of '1.24% survival or reproductive advantage' is mentioned in one specific web search result ('Potatoes may have shaped genetic makeup of Indigenous Andeans'), but not corroborated by other independent sources in the provided evidence.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — begin, commence, start, initiate, inaugurate, usher in mean to take the first step in a course, process, or operation. begin, start, and commence are often interchangeable. begin, opposed to end, is t…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/starting

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — STARTING definition: being a price, amount, player lineup, etc., fixed at the beginning. See examples of starting used in a sentence.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/starting

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This British colloquialism apparently had the earlier sense of bracing one-self for an effort, probably in reference to the way runners pull up their socks before starting off on a race. Or the expres…
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/starting

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Claim 5: “natural selection began favoring Indigenous Andeans with an unusually high number of salivary amylase genes, or AMY1, during the period when potatoes were first grown in the Andean highlands, roughly 6,000 to 10,000 years ago.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources (UCLA and a report on the Nature Communications study) confirm that natural selection favored high AMY1 gene copies in Indigenous Andeans during the period of potato domestication (6,000-10,000 years ago).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Starting after about 10,000 years ago, those with roughly 10 copies or more had a 1.24% survival or reproductive advantage per generation.Rapid adaptive increase of amylase gene copy number in Indigen…
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1126772

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Natural selection began favoring Indigenous Andeans with a high number of salivary amylase genes when potatoes were first grown in the Andean highlands.
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/indigenous-andeans-have-a…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A Nature Communications study reports that potato domestication 6,000–10,000 years ago favored higher copies of AMY1, a gene for a starch‑digesting saliva enzyme, in Indigenous Andeans.
https://particle.news/story/potato-farming-drove-high-amylas…

verified

Claim 6: “Indigenous people in Peru were found, on average, to carry more copies of AMY1—10 versus six—than the Maya, an Indigenous population in Mexico”

VERIFIED

Although the 'Evidence for claim 8' section was empty, the evidence provided for claim 7 explicitly contains the fact: 'Indigenous people in Peru were found, on average, to carry more copies of AMY1 — 10 versus 6 — than the Maya'.

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Claim 7: “high numbers of copies of the gene rose in frequency in the Andes several thousand years before Europeans appeared on the scene.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (UCLA, Nature Communications report) state that this genetic adaptation occurred 6,000-10,000 years ago, which is several thousand years before European contact (1532).

info

Claim 8: “Indigenous people living in Peru today carry an average of 10 AMY1 copies, approximately two to four copies more than any of the 83 populations examined in the study.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific average of 10 copies and the comparison to 83 other populations is mentioned in one source ('Peruvian indigenous have a digestive superpower'), but not independently corroborated by others.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Other terms arose during periods of conflict between the colonists and Indigenous peoples.[71].Since the 1970s, the word "Indigenous", which is capitalized when referring to people, has gradually emer…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Amer…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — # Indigenous people in Peru were found, on average, to carry more copies of AMY1 — 10 versus 6 — than the Maya, an Indigenous population in Mexico with a shared evolutionary history but without a trad…
https://notaspampeanas.com/posts/1767106852396-superpoder-di…

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web search NEUTRAL — How much does the average Peruvian make? In turn, the average monthly income for men stood at 1,721 Peruvian soles, about 390 soles more than women. Average monthly income in Lima, Peru as of April 20…
https://theflatbkny.com/central-and-south-america/how-tall-i…

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Claim 9: “the initial duplication of AMY1 occurred in humans at least 800,000 years ago”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources citing lead author Kwondo Kim confirm that the AMY1 gene may have first duplicated more than 800,000 years ago.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — “This suggests that the AMY1 gene may have first duplicated more than 800,000 years ago, well before humans split from Neanderthals and much further back than previously thought,” said Kwondo Kim, one…
https://www.jax.org/news-and-insights/2024/october/why-do-we…

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web search NEUTRAL — “This suggests that the AMY1 gene may have first duplicated more than 800,000 years ago, well before humans split from Neanderthals and much further back than previously thought,” says Kwondo Kim, one…
https://www.aau.edu/research-scholarship/featured-research-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — Kicking off genetic variation. This initial duplication of AMY1 was like the first domino to fall in a sequence that created a huge genetic opportunity that would go on to shape our species.
https://www.popsci.com/science/why-humans-like-carbs-evoluti…

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Claim 10: “Today, their descendants in Peru carry the highest known numbers of a gene involved in starch digestion of any population in the world.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources (India Today and another source discussing 'digestive superpower') confirm that Indigenous Peruvian Andeans carry the world's highest known number of AMY1 gene copies.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Indigenous peoples of Peru, also known as Native Peruvians, are a large number of ethnic groups who inhabit territory in present-day Peru. Indigenous cultures developed here for thousands of years bef…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_Peru

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web search NEUTRAL — Indigenous Andeans have the highest known number of AMY1 gene copies, which enhances starch digestion, likely due to natural selection following the domestication of potatoes 6,000–10,000 years ago.
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-indigenous-andeans-digestive-s…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A new study reveals that Indigenous Peruvian Andeans carry the world's highest number of copies of the starch-digesting amylase gene, AMY1, shaped by thousands of years of potato farming. Scientists h…
https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/peruvians-amylase-ge…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.