Weight management 1 – why we put it on?

Understanding weight gain through human history.

Much attention is given to losing weight, with many techniques and approaches advocated. Why such an issue? The human body will gain weight when we consume more energy than we can expend. It’s a simple flow equation. For most of human history the odds were heavily stacked against this flow ever being positive or sustainable. For our unfortunate ancestors, food, especially high energy food was generally scarce or took lots of energy and risk to hunt down, had to be shared widely across the tribe, or would be putrid or stolen in a couple of days. It made sense to totally gorge when food was on. Bodies that could accommodate the additional energy had better survival rates during the inevitable shortages that followed. Those whose appetites and stomachs adjusted to accommodate larger meals when available, shortened survival odds. In more recent times human society, aided by labour saving devices of all sorts has tipped the battle for survival in our favour. The flow equation is now easily positive all the time for large numbers of people – especially in the west. The human body however remains as adapted as ever for those periods of food shortage, except they mostly now don’t happen! With all the food now so easily available, appetites expand with waistlines true to design. When we reduce the flow we immediately feel hungry. The body’s response from history is to attempt to maintain body size via increased appetite. Our brains complain – “just one more major food experience is normal – indulge and live!”. I understand that people who deliberately “supersize” experience greater difficulties in getting weight off than anticipated. So what to do in the modern age when diets aren’t enforceable by “kind” mother nature? Our subsequent posts will attempt to discuss some strategies.