Pity Human Bodies Havn't evolved better

Its a bad thing that human bodies store fat and put on weight, because it causes loads of health problems.

They wouldn't store fat if they were perfect, however much you eat.

I guess teenage acne and male pattern hair loss are similar flaws to human bodies to putting on weight.

I think that you are forgetting the hundreds of thousands of years where it was better to have fat reserves than be skinny and cold and more likely to die when there was a shortage of food.

We are evolved perfectly for a hunting and gathering civilization that walks everywhere. We just aren't adapted for grocery stores and drive-thrus, not to mention cars, planes, etc.

I think the fact that we aren't extinct shows that we've evolved pretty darn well.

I don't think our ability to store fat is a bad thing, either.  Or the other things that contribute to obesity...  the inventive streak that means we've found numerous ways of doing strenous things without using any physical exertion....  our ability to break down any available foodstuff and turn it into energy.... (see Giant Panda for what happens when a species is restricted to a limited diet)

If any part of our body could do with a makeover it's the bit of the brain that influences 'impulse' & 'short term gratification'.  

I don't think that storing fat is a bad thing, I mean what if there was a huge sudden famine you know?  We'd still need to depend on that extra fat that we have.  I think we've evolved pretty well quite honestly, it really is survival of the fittest and while most of us may not be as "fit" as we'd like we're still at the top of the food chain because of what we've evolved into.

Original Post by j9gwen:

I don't think that storing fat is a bad thing, I mean what if there was a huge sudden famine you know? 

 Try telling that to people who weigh over 250 pounds. Fact is you're far mor elikely to die of obesity related illness than anything resembling starvation.

Preaching to the choir here, I did weigh 289 and now I weigh 238.  Think about these things before you say things like that.

Edit: spelling

xavier, there's nothing adaptive about obesity.  evolution didn't do that to us; we did it to ourselves.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

xavier, there's nothing adaptive about obesity.  evolution didn't do that to us; we did it to ourselves.

Amen

It is true that Americans in particular have adapted a fast food way of life.. not only fast food chain eating, but eating FAST in general because we are so busy. The problem with that is what we are busy for is to get in our car to sit in rush hour traffic for an hour then sit behind a desk for another 8, only to rush home to find something for our families to eat.

In the past it was actually considered desirable to be overweight (around 16th century), because it showed wealth because you had enough money to eat well. Today all you need is 5 bucks to eat ten times the daily recommended amount of saturated fat at you local drive through though unfortunately.

 I'm pretty thankful that our bodies flat out tell us if we're treating them wrong.

...but that's just my opinion.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

xavier, there's nothing adaptive about obesity.  evolution didn't do that to us; we did it to ourselves.

 I don't really agree because its evolution made us the way we are in that we put on weight too easily and crave unhealthy food too much.

again, evolution didn't do that.  evolution favours adaptive behaviours, not ones that kill us.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

again, evolution didn't do that.  evolution favours adaptive behaviours, not ones that kill us.

generally yes but sometimes it screws up

the screw-ups are anomalies; overweight is getting to be the norm. 

besides, evolution is slow; our diet has changed quickly.  in evolutionary terms, we're not that far out of the cave.

no, our problem is that we've changed our environment so radically that we're no longer equipped for it.  and that's not just about food.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

 

besides, evolution is slow; our diet has changed quickly.  in evolutionary terms, we're not that far out of the cave.

no, our problem is that we've changed our environment so radically that we're no longer equipped for it.  and that's not just about food.

This.

Evolution doesn't "screw up" - that's not what it is - random mutations - some of them enhance survival some of them don't. If a mutation doesn't stop the organism from reproducing, the mutation is passed on.

What we are dealing with is technical progress (effortless transportation and easy access to food, not to mention the creation of foods not found in nature) that has moved a lot faster (and more directed) than evolution moves.

Yeah, we are evolved to crave high-calorie things - because if the humans of the hunter-gatherer era only wanted to munch on carrots, they would have starved. Now we have not only the high calorie things that our ancestors had at our finger tips, but new and improved super-caloric things that don't exist in nature, for little to no effort.

Basically, we've outsmarted ourselves by making thing so easy.

The biology major within me just cringed.

it would suck soooooo much if we all could get away with eating as much as we want.

think about it... if people could eat as much as we wanted we would waist so much time just eating and not getting anything done because you would have no incentive to control yourself. on top of that, we would miss out on practicing will power or finding more productive ways to deal with stress or depression.

and think of how many times we would have to use the bathroom!!! that food has to go somewhere if your body wasn't storing it as fat. im grateful that we cant just eat as much as we want, i would waist sooooo much money on buying large amount of food.

FAT IS THE HUMAN BODIES WAY, OF CRYING OUT FOR HELP!!

It is how man evolved....eons ago man would eat and pack on weight for lean periods of time.  In the 20th century we introduced processed foods, fast foods and all the other things you hear about.

Our bodies just not made to handle the quantity and quality of foods we ate.  From a very young age our youth are introduced to so much salt, sugar and all the artificial ingredients, like preservatives and hormones, then it gets a dose of pollutants on top of everything else, from water and the air.

..there is just so much that our bodies can not assimilate or digest properly.    

So the easiest place for the body to store all these excesses and foreign contaminants is in the fat cells.  Fat cells are the easiest depositories for the body.

Then when you kick in  diets, the body reverts back to what it knows best..protect the fat because you might starve.   But this fat has more in it than it had years ago.  So it is much harder to get rid of. 

It is a confusion for the body, that will not be resolved until we humans take control and put in our mouth the quality foods and proper amounts that gives us the healthy body we all want.

So do not blame the body, it does not select, what we eat. You do!

Original Post by themassageguy:

..there is just so much that our bodies can not assimilate or digest properly.    

So the easiest place for the body to store all these excesses and foreign contaminants is in the fat cells.  Fat cells are the easiest depositories for the body.

Now you're just making stuff up, if the human body can't digest something it doesn't store it as fat, it excretes it.

Calories can't be stored as fat until they have been broken down (digested), so you can't store anything as fat unless you can digest it. 

Original Post by themassageguy:

FAT IS THE HUMAN BODIES WAY, OF CRYING OUT FOR HELP!!

It is how man evolved....eons ago man would eat and pack on weight for lean periods of time.  In the 20th century we introduced processed foods, fast foods and all the other things you hear about.

Our bodies just not made to handle the quantity and quality of foods we ate.  From a very young age our youth are introduced to so much salt, sugar and all the artificial ingredients, like preservatives and hormones, then it gets a dose of pollutants on top of everything else, from water and the air.

..there is just so much that our bodies can not assimilate or digest properly.    

So the easiest place for the body to store all these excesses and foreign contaminants is in the fat cells.  Fat cells are the easiest depositories for the body.

Then when you kick in  diets, the body reverts back to what it knows best..protect the fat because you might starve.   But this fat has more in it than it had years ago.  So it is much harder to get rid of. 

It is a confusion for the body, that will not be resolved until we humans take control and put in our mouth the quality foods and proper amounts that gives us the healthy body we all want.

So do not blame the body, it does not select, what we eat. You do!

 

 haha, wow, thats a little out there