Genetics, Psychology, and 150 thousand years
I always find it to be such a relief to be able to blame my genes instead of my personal behavior. Actually, the work of evolutionary psychologists is deeper than that, but they do enjoy hypothesizing why some of the stranger predilections of humans exist because of the needs of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. One of the experts in the field is Dan Fessler at UCLA. He says our craving of fat and salt was a useful thing for early humans, and we are merely suffering the downside of recent cheap availability of these products. Read the article for other things we can blame our genes for.
4 comments:
With society becoming more and more fast paced, it is no wonder that many are turning to fast foods and other not-so-healthy options. It seems like evolution has given millions of years for species to adapt and evolve, but technology has overcome and outpaced our evolutionary track. In only a couple hundred years we have developed into a society which literally delivers food to your doorstep. As described in the article, we are naturally programmed to hunt for our food. Fats and salts are rarities - or so they were. Maybe evolution will take a U-turn. Those who crave and stock up on fats and salts will begin to die from obesity. Those who are not naturally predisposed to fatty/salty foods will thrive and evolution will once again take its course. After all, it is survival of the 'fittest.'
Food for thought,
Karl 4553
A similar article can be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6547891.stm
Aniela 5959
It isn't a suprise to me that human beings are fat as a result of our ancestors. Of course, salty and fatty food such as meats, starches, etc. give us more energy and nutrition so it is much easier to survive. It is disgusting the way that food has become a luxory in the world, mostly the U.S. Furthermore, I think in addition to our craving of fats due to the scarcity of them is a serious downfall in a lack of excercise. As the article told us, in those days you had to expend calories in order to get them. No pain, no gain, right? Our easy access to food isn't even that recent. Even 1,000 years ago you most likely had to plant your own food, heard your own meat, etc. How about 150 years ago? No cars, it was horse, carriage (which were only for those who could afford it), or walk. With the invention of the automobile it seems we took a giant step on the path of laziness. Think of how food developed in terms of transportation. Fast cars, faster time, faster food. Disgusting. We seem to find quicker ways to do things and the food only gets fattier as a result. Finally, if you haven't noticed, obesity and fast food are not a world wide epidemic. Americans are simply disgusting in our choices. No other nation has even half as many fast food restaurants nation wide nor obese citizens. What does that tell me? That despite our craving for fats and salts, it isn't because we can't control it, it's becuase Americans are fat, lazy, rich, disgusting, and bored.
Here is some info on obesity stats in the U.S.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=42134
Brandon Mead
5818
Our society is now base on how quickly we can get things accomplished, from our work to our meals. People are only concerned with finishing things quickly so they can move on to the next task. When I eat I always try and maximize my meals by pounding as much food into my stomach as I can possibly manage. After reading this article I can truly see that I do eat way too much because in the back of my mind somewhere I'm wondering how much food is going to be there the next time I eat or if I'm going to get a chance to eat at all. After reading this article I can only hope that evolution continues and people discontinue eating so much fat because our society has become much too obsessed with it.
This article explains what fats do to the body, hopefully this convinces you to eat fewer of them.
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_fat.html
Davidson 8776
I think this article is something that everybody should know. Understanding how our genes work and why they are the way they are due to past evolutionary tactics is important.
In today's society, food providers market high-fat, high-sugar foods to the public in chase of the all mighty dollar. But, what many people don't recognize is that people should not eat those foods because they do not suit our dietary needs. Today, there is no shortage of food in the United States, because we have become one of the largest producers of food in the world. The reason why our ancestors required so much fat was because they never knew when there next meal come. On the other hand, today, our next meal comes at the snap of a finger, or a short trip to the local grocery store. Our anccestors did not have this luxury and had to conserve the food and energy they were consuming. And even then, they had to work for their food. We have to change our tendencies to fit our current situation.
With that in mind, here's a site about the evolution of diet:
http://www.healthspan.co.uk/articles/article.aspx?Id=153&ct=true
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