JimC
Contributor
Less than 1% of 1% of 1% (0.000001) of our genetic structure has changed since the advent of agriculture by humans. No mesurable evolution has happened in the last few hundred years.
Over the course of 100000's of thousands of years we ate a huge variety of foods and prospered. We grew bigger and stronger and smarter. 10000 years ago give or take a few melenium, we invented something called agriculture. We started domesticating livestock and planting crops. Not long ago we started factory agriculture, we started geneticaly modifying food for higher yeild and we started processing and refining food.
Our lifestyle has changed in this time aswell. Agriculture gave us more time for other things. It took less work to feed people. Now one farm can feed tens of thousands. We have be come more and more seditary and our foods have become more calory rich in the form of simple carbs, less fiber, more fat, hydrofinated fat, saturated trans fats. There is also a lot more food avalable, and we never hunger for long.
Our bodies are genticaly designed to process huge amounts of complex carbs and fiber. They are designed to process ultra-lean wild game and thive on omega-3 and 6 fat. They are also deigned to store extra calories as fat, ready to kick in when we have famin or hard times. Through hundreds of thousands of years the most successfull humans were the ones that could put on fat easily, that could survive on lean times. The sinny ones - they all died.
We haven't changed much since then. If you put a hunter gatherer from 200000 years ago in a suit, gave him a shave and a bath he could pass for anyone today. Except he would look like an olimpic athelite, he could run for hours and hours without tiering and he would probably be bigger and stronger than most people.
Does it make you wonder why we are all getting fat now? It shouldn't. I wonder why we arn't MORE fat! We get no exercise short of walking to and from the car and fridge. We eat masive quanitites of callories in short powerfull doses. We are almost universaly malnuroushed, full yet... lacking.
The 95% of the average american's diet consists of 8 things:
sugar, refined wheat, refined corn, fried potato, milk, beef, chicken, pork. There is almost no nutritional value in the first 4. The last 4 are high in saturated fats unless you buy the right cuts from the right place.
... runs off to munch on his swish char, spinach sallad.
Over the course of 100000's of thousands of years we ate a huge variety of foods and prospered. We grew bigger and stronger and smarter. 10000 years ago give or take a few melenium, we invented something called agriculture. We started domesticating livestock and planting crops. Not long ago we started factory agriculture, we started geneticaly modifying food for higher yeild and we started processing and refining food.
Our lifestyle has changed in this time aswell. Agriculture gave us more time for other things. It took less work to feed people. Now one farm can feed tens of thousands. We have be come more and more seditary and our foods have become more calory rich in the form of simple carbs, less fiber, more fat, hydrofinated fat, saturated trans fats. There is also a lot more food avalable, and we never hunger for long.
Our bodies are genticaly designed to process huge amounts of complex carbs and fiber. They are designed to process ultra-lean wild game and thive on omega-3 and 6 fat. They are also deigned to store extra calories as fat, ready to kick in when we have famin or hard times. Through hundreds of thousands of years the most successfull humans were the ones that could put on fat easily, that could survive on lean times. The sinny ones - they all died.
We haven't changed much since then. If you put a hunter gatherer from 200000 years ago in a suit, gave him a shave and a bath he could pass for anyone today. Except he would look like an olimpic athelite, he could run for hours and hours without tiering and he would probably be bigger and stronger than most people.
Does it make you wonder why we are all getting fat now? It shouldn't. I wonder why we arn't MORE fat! We get no exercise short of walking to and from the car and fridge. We eat masive quanitites of callories in short powerfull doses. We are almost universaly malnuroushed, full yet... lacking.
The 95% of the average american's diet consists of 8 things:
sugar, refined wheat, refined corn, fried potato, milk, beef, chicken, pork. There is almost no nutritional value in the first 4. The last 4 are high in saturated fats unless you buy the right cuts from the right place.
... runs off to munch on his swish char, spinach sallad.
