Herman Pontzer "Burn"
Today I am recommending a book and a list of videos. Evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer explains why exercise will not help to lose weight (even though it is extremely useful to health and mood), why you cannot compensate with exercise that donut you ate, how healthy hunter gatherers eat almost half of their caloric intake in honey and other ideas that make you re-think things you (thought you) knew about eating.
To those who will not watch – some condensed facts. Energy amount any person uses depends on the body weight only. If person moves more, the energy resources are redistributed to other activities, for example less energy is spent on inflammation processes. Body weight only depends on the amount of food consumed. If you weigh too little – then you eat too little. Content and quality of the food is important. Worst food we can eat is overprocessed food (factory produced and packaged). This is high sugar, high salt, high fat food with taste enhancing additives confuses taste and satiety signals, it is designed to make us overeat it (even though we routinely call it food that “tastes good”). So, we end up eating more than it is healthy.
To me a very important moment is that we do not eat for energy. Such popular oversimplification forces us to incorrect conclusions. The feeling of “strength” or “energy” that we feel is not a direct result of the food we ate. If you ate too much food – it is very likely that you will sleepy and not energized. “Strength” or “energy” is a state that body creates through a complex process; we should think about it like this: our part is to eat healthy and in moderation and not try to interfere with things we cannot really control. Every person responds differently to different food types and food excess, so the same diet will result in one person to be hot all the time, while another person will produce more fat reserves. So, a diet that is great for someone might not work for you. Do not try to control something that is out of your hand. You only have a spoon in your hands – so let it be the best spoon you can get your hands on.
Herman Pontzer ?Burn“ if you want to read.
Video links in the comments.
Photo: ?Antony Trivet from Pixabay
Several interviews that I liked:
(long interview)
https://youtu.be/do6qcVFYdjI (long interview)
https://youtu.be/2XRfAjcNRII (short ?interview)
https://youtu.be/LEGui51lSPI (audio only)
My name is Monika, I am health and nutrition psychologist. I help to deal with daily and difficult questions about behaviour, thinking, emotions. I write, give lectures, and provide psychological counselling. Book my session here: https://calendly.com/saukstasproto