I learned something new the other day. – Not terribly shocking, but I was still …
I learned something new the other day.
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Not terribly shocking, but I was still surprised. Hadn’t heard it before.
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On average, today, we consume the same amount of calories we did in the early 1900 — when obesity was rare.
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In Stephan Guyenet’s “Hungry Brain” he went through some data showing this is true. We did see a dip in the middle of the 1900s down closer to 2200 calories a day.
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Then a sharp rise back up to 2500-2600 like it had been.
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There’s two key differences between those two times.
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1. Physically life was harder back then. –
We walked more and sat less. We did our physical world and I couldn’t even fit all the ways tech has allowed us to live with less movement.
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So, as Guyenet explained, our energy/calorie intake *matched* our calorie needs much better back then.
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2. The quality of food changed.
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The title of this book “Hungry Brain” has a lot to do with the impacts processed/manufactured foods have on our brains. If they’re around, and we have some, we have a hard time stopping.
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So the why I’d see it, when the food is natural it’s much easier to regulate calorie intake to what our body needs. There was no diet Industry back then.
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When the food is unnatural and processed, we lose control.
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So although calorie intake is the same as it was before obesity.
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Food quality, activity, and are overarching environment that supports less activity and the convenience of lower quality foods.
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Lower quality foods that add up fast.
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So, if you’re looking to control your waist line and lose fat for good, calories matter, sure, but the closer you stick to low quality foods and the less you move, the harder it’s gonna feel — and less your goals will be.
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You don’t have to eat perfectly, but you’re gonna have to make some changes.
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All credit @chadhargrove1
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Questions or comments?
