Another summary about a recent book I read...
Burn by Herman Pontzer
Tag: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really BURN CALORIES, LOSE WEIGHT, and STAY HEALTHY.
Herman Pontzer is an anthropologist and studies energy expenditure and Professor at Duke. He spent time with the Hadza tribe in Tanzania which has maintained a hunter gatherer lifestyle. They are generally very skinny people (very low fat percentage) They have muscles but they are not bulky. They eat traditional food low on fat, high on carbs and moderate on protein. They also have very active lifestyles
The theories around losing weight and exercise (the burning) is the most ground-breaking with the book. He argues based on his own observation and observations by other anthropologists and researchers that all humans are evolutionary engineered to burn calories on a very narrow range and that activity level does not change it. So crudely put a coach potato in the industrial West and a super active hunter gathered will burn roughly the same amount of energy
So exercise is therefor not as relevant to our weightloss journeys but still very important to our health and well being.
The weaker part, maybe, of the book is how to explain how people still gain weight as well as suggest solutions as to how to lose weight once you get to that place. Here Pontzer relies on a few minor studies and some generalizations But it is still a bit interesting. He strongly maintains that while he does not believe in the calories out He strongly believes in calories in.
His main point is that while our bodies will try to metabolic equilibrium (the fire in our bodies. our metabolism) our brain is one of the main problem in weightgain. We “are prewired with neurons waiting to sense “good” things and release reward molecules like dopamine and endocannabinoids in response…Our brains learn to trigger our reward systems at the mere hint of an impending goodie… The human brain has a reward centres that responds strongly to food , particularly fat and sugar “
He argues that our industrialization is part of the reason why we get fat. Our busy lives make us stressed and we use food to medicate choosing things that make us feel good. .
We also eat too much processed food and food designed to make us feel good and therefore also make us overeat.
So we should make conscious efforts to, most of the time, choose food that are less processed with less added fats and sweeteners and with more fiber (Lean protein and whole food). We should eat more boring food that is about sustenance and less variety for just entertainment and pleasure.
Personally I think it makes sense as well.
