In Odds with the World I. - Why, as a society, are we so fat?
My friend Glenys used to say: We are on a sinking ship. As a society, we all are on the Titanic, straight on course to hit the iceberg. Hundred or so years ago, we all could just follow mainstream lifestyle, and be all right. But today, being healthy is no longer the norm. Junk food and lack of exercise is the norm, which often results in overweight, depression, chronic lack of energy and various diseases.
This series of articles explore where we came from and how as a society we got to this stage. Further, they explore our individual ways to get off the sinking ship, and live a happy, healthy life despite anything that goes on in society as a large.
As humans, we are all heirs of two million years of history. Most of that time our human ancestors have spent under extremely harsh conditions, like in the ice ages living as cavemen. That is where most of our genetic heritage derives from.
Thus for most part, the story of the human race was the story of survival. The greatest day to day challenge was always to eat and not to be eaten. Human needed to ensure that they ate enough to have enough energy to hunt, to fight hazardous terrains, terrible weather conditions (ice age!) and often to run away from predators.
Therefore, throughout two million years a genetic program has evolved, which comes down to a simple formula:
'Eat all you can find, while save all the energy you can.'
Sometime during the course of the twentieth century, in great parts of the world an industrialised society emerged. Now food, for the first time in history, is in abundance. Many people can afford it without the need of working physically hard to attain it.
Keeping this unique change of circumstances in mind, researchers are now beginning to re-discover the roots of the current epidemic of unhealthy and obese life-style. Such research suggests that there is something deeper going on then us having become a nation of lazy, undisciplined, rotten individuals who know nothing more of life than stuffing our fat faces with fat chips on fattening sofas.
The core truth about our present situation is that
our external situation has changed to the opposite while our genetic programming remained the same.
Our message now should be:
Eat moderately, and exercise as much as you can.
It is now for the first time in history that in big parts of the world food is available in large amounts for many people, and is relatively inexpensive. Often food is for free, there it stands in front of us on buffet tables at various receptions and parties. In December, for example, there is one Christmas party after the other, while the ancient caveman inside of us is telling: ‘Eat! What an the opportunity!! Eat, see how cold it is out there! Go for the chocolate cake! It has the most fat and the most sugar and is best suitable to keep you warm! Don’t forget, it is winter out there!! C’mon, be responsible for your own survival! Look at the snow out there and don’t forget to eat A LOT!’
What the caveman inside us does not know is that you will not hike, but drive home, that there will be no mammoth and no sabre tooth tiger attacking you and both the car and the house will be heated. You will hardly need to burn any energy. You will only go to bed and sit at some desk or in front of the computer and the TV the next day.
Genetic patterns change slowly. Very slowly. They need as much time to change as drip-stones need time to grow in a cave. We cannot wait for our instincts to tell us what to do under these totally changed circumstances.
These days, our formula should be to eat less and do more exercise (which is, as we have seen, the opposite of our genetic programming). To achieve that, we try to diet, whenever we feel we need to cut our weight and force ourselves to do some exercise. But dieting, in the overwhelming majority of cases, does not seem to work…
Want to find out, why?
This series of articles explore where we came from and how as a society we got to this stage. Further, they explore our individual ways to get off the sinking ship, and live a happy, healthy life despite anything that goes on in society as a large.
As humans, we are all heirs of two million years of history. Most of that time our human ancestors have spent under extremely harsh conditions, like in the ice ages living as cavemen. That is where most of our genetic heritage derives from.
Thus for most part, the story of the human race was the story of survival. The greatest day to day challenge was always to eat and not to be eaten. Human needed to ensure that they ate enough to have enough energy to hunt, to fight hazardous terrains, terrible weather conditions (ice age!) and often to run away from predators.
Therefore, throughout two million years a genetic program has evolved, which comes down to a simple formula:
'Eat all you can find, while save all the energy you can.'
Sometime during the course of the twentieth century, in great parts of the world an industrialised society emerged. Now food, for the first time in history, is in abundance. Many people can afford it without the need of working physically hard to attain it.
Keeping this unique change of circumstances in mind, researchers are now beginning to re-discover the roots of the current epidemic of unhealthy and obese life-style. Such research suggests that there is something deeper going on then us having become a nation of lazy, undisciplined, rotten individuals who know nothing more of life than stuffing our fat faces with fat chips on fattening sofas.
The core truth about our present situation is that
our external situation has changed to the opposite while our genetic programming remained the same.
Our message now should be:
Eat moderately, and exercise as much as you can.
It is now for the first time in history that in big parts of the world food is available in large amounts for many people, and is relatively inexpensive. Often food is for free, there it stands in front of us on buffet tables at various receptions and parties. In December, for example, there is one Christmas party after the other, while the ancient caveman inside of us is telling: ‘Eat! What an the opportunity!! Eat, see how cold it is out there! Go for the chocolate cake! It has the most fat and the most sugar and is best suitable to keep you warm! Don’t forget, it is winter out there!! C’mon, be responsible for your own survival! Look at the snow out there and don’t forget to eat A LOT!’
What the caveman inside us does not know is that you will not hike, but drive home, that there will be no mammoth and no sabre tooth tiger attacking you and both the car and the house will be heated. You will hardly need to burn any energy. You will only go to bed and sit at some desk or in front of the computer and the TV the next day.
Genetic patterns change slowly. Very slowly. They need as much time to change as drip-stones need time to grow in a cave. We cannot wait for our instincts to tell us what to do under these totally changed circumstances.
These days, our formula should be to eat less and do more exercise (which is, as we have seen, the opposite of our genetic programming). To achieve that, we try to diet, whenever we feel we need to cut our weight and force ourselves to do some exercise. But dieting, in the overwhelming majority of cases, does not seem to work…
Want to find out, why?