(4 reviews) Author: Michael L. Power ISBN : 9780801892622 New from $26.77 Format: PDFIn this sweeping exploration of the relatively recent obesity epidemic, Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin probe evolutionary biology, history, physiology, and medical science to uncover the causes of our growing girth. The unexpected answer? Our own evolutionary success.
For most of the past few million years, our evolutionary ancestors' survival depended on being able to consume as much as possible when food was available and to store the excess energy for periods when it was scarce. In the developed world today, high-calorie foods are readily obtainable, yet the propensity to store fat is part of our species' heritage, leaving an increasing number of the world's people vulnerable to obesity. In an environment of abundant food, we are anatomically, physiologically, metabolically, and behaviorally programmed in a way that makes it difficult for us to avoid gaining weight.
Power and Schulkin’s engagingly argued book draws on popular examples and sound science to explain our expanding waistlines and to discuss the consequences of being overweight for different demographic groups. They review the various studies of human and animal fat use and storage, including those that examine fat deposition and metabolism in men and women; chronicle cultural differences in food procurement, preparation, and consumption; and consider the influence of sedentary occupations and lifestyles.
A compelling and comprehensive examination of the causes and consequences of the obesity epidemic, The Evolution of Obesity offers fascinating insights into the question, Why are we getting fatter?
- Hardcover: 408 pages
- Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1 edition (May 5, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0801892627
- ISBN-13: 978-0801892622
- Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 6.5 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
The Evolution of Obesity PDF
This book is a sobering, but much needed, overview of the complexity of the obesity issue, a public health issue that has recently acquired prominence. Although it does not appear to have been written for a general audience, it contains numerous insights on appetite, appetite, meals, and their genetic, biochemical, and social components and origins. It you are interested in a deeper understanding of obesity, the reward is worth the effort.
As examples of the insights in "The Evolution of Obesity", I would cite two that I found particularly informative. First, the biochemical signals involved in appetite and fat storage (e.g., insulin and leptin) are active and play important roles in systems other than metabolism. Recognition of this is very important, because it implies that it is extremely unlikely that a "magic bullet" will be found to treat obesity. Second, even a relatively lean person has sufficient energy stored as fat to satisfy basic requirements for about a month! From this point of view, excess fat is clearly maladaptive, and is associated with a state of chronic internal inflammation. The human body does not appear to have a way to recognize and dispose of excess fat (adipose tissue). Carbohydrate and fat calories consumed are either used directly or stored. There is apparently no way to directly shrink adipose tissue other than through the usual metabolic pathways. It seems to me that this supports the author's concept that humanity evolved in a calorically-limited environment, but now that there is virtually unlimited access to high energy density foods, the metabolic system is unable to effectively cope with it.
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