That’s right. It’s you, just 1.5 million
years ago, albeit with a slightly
protruding brow and body hair that
Ryan Giggs would envy.
You see, when framing how humans
have become softer around the
edges over time, it’s essential that we
understand why? The answer, as Pearl
Jam wrote, is: ‘... evolution, baby’.
Imagine once more, this time a book
that contains 6000 pages. Open Page
One of this book and highlight just a
third of the page with a yellow marker
pen. If the book contained chapters of
our human history then this third of
a page would symbolise the amount
of time that we have had to deal with
excess food availability, the internet
and sedentary life-style (the current
obesigenic environment).
For the previous 5999 and two
third pages of our evolution, our inner
workings haven’t been programmed
to prioritise double-stuffed Oreos,
Doritos, Grand Theft Auto or iPhones
into our daily ‘hunter gatherer’
routine. Innovative cave-dwellers who
developed the tools, fire and wheels to
ease the hunter/gather process, swiftly
leapt up the food chain, thus gaining
a couple of extra kilos of fat - albeit
a rare luxury, wasn’t the issue it once
was for escaping predators. Now,
the most likely 21st Century urban
predator posed to do most bodily harm
are the obesity-related diseases we
gather from over frequented chippy’s
and kebab vans.
You see, over the past million
years or so, our bodies have
evolved to survive challenging
physical conditions. By retaining
energy through storing fats and
carbohydrates, along with being
resourceful with our energy
expenditure, we developed the ability
to manage extended periods of time
without food and water. So, you can
thank your hairy, Homo-erectus
former-self for starting that process
off. However, how was he to know
that just a few million years later, fried
chicken and kebabs wouldn’t be so
tough to hunt down and catch.
Today the over-consumption of
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energy stores are either too high or low
and require reducing or topping up.
The latter, non-homeostatic impulse,
on the other hand, is achieved
through heightened hunger signals
a