Human evolution can't cope with fast food, say scientists

Ananova ^ | October 22, 2003 | Unknown

[HarleyD]

Calorie-packed fast food encourages over-eating and weight gain because it is out of step with human evolution, scientists have said.

They pointed out that humans are designed for conditions in which food is relatively scarce and low in energy.

But fast food from take-aways and convenience stores is typically energy dense. You do not need to eat much of it to consume a lot of calories.

The result is people accidentally over-eat without feeling particularly full.

Nutrition experts Professor Andrew Prentice and Dr Susan Jebb highlighted the problem by combining British and African diet study data with information on the ingredients in fast food.

Professor Prentice, head of the Medical Research Council's International Nutrition Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "We all possess a weak innate ability to recognise foods with a high energy density. We tend to assess food intake by the size of the portion, yet a fast food meal contains many more calories than a similar-sized portion of a healthy meal.

"Since the dawn of agriculture, the systems regulating human appetite have evolved for the low energy diet still being consumed in rural areas of the developing world where obesity is almost non-existent.

"Our bodies were never designed to cope with the very energy dense foods consumed in the West and this is contributing to a major rise in obesity."

The World Health Organisation estimates there are 300 million obese people worldwide.

In England, obesity rates have trebled in the past 25 years. Experts predict that by the end of the decade three in 10 UK adults will be obese.

[HarleyD]

"Our bodies were never designed to cope with the very energy dense foods consumed in the West and this is contributing to a major rise in obesity." The World Health Organisation estimates there are 300 million obese people worldwide.

I thought they were all in the West? Are they all coming here to eat?

[IncPen]

I thought they were all in the West? Are they all coming here to eat?

No, it's the U.N., world's biggest drive-thru.

[tbpiper]

Calorie-packed fast food encourages over-eating and weight gain because it is out of step with human evolution, scientists have said.

They pointed out that humans are designed for conditions in which food is relatively scarce and low in energy.

Ok, which is it? Did we evolve or were we designed? (None of this 'we were designed to evolve' crap allowed.)

[G.Mason]

Don't look at them as fat. Look at them as easy targets!

[El Laton Caliente]

...how about we were designed to evolve...

[El Laton Caliente]

...make that evoled by design...

[tbpiper]

...how about we were designed to evolve...

Not allowed.

[tbpiper]

...make that evoled by design...

Make that still not allowed (sitting on the same fence, facing opposite direction).

[Guillermo]

And their conclusions:

Fast Food chains should pony up billions, we should go back to a simpler (ie "sustainable") lifestyle (except for them, of course), and fuel taxes should increase the price of gas to $5 per gallon.

[ml/nj]

Human evolution can't cope with fast food, say scientists

It's not evolution that they are talking about. It's adaptation. The reason they confuse one with another is to confuse somthing that does happen with something else that never happened.

ML/NJ

[ClearCase_guy]

They pointed out that humans are designed for conditions in which food is relatively scarce and low in energy.

I believe that the Greens would like to return us to a time in which food is scarce and low in energy. That would solve all our problems.

[Vaduz]

You have that right.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Posters seem to want to jump on this article for ulterior purposes - evolution vs. creation, the potential for lawsuits, government regulation, etc.

If we confine ourselves to the science of the article itself, I think it makes a pretty compelling case.

[G.Mason]

'You have that right."

Do I really?

You're most gracious!

[SamAdams76]

I agree with your take. I stopped eating all fast food (as well as virtually all processed foods) in April and I have lost 95 pounds since. It is a certainty that fast food and processed foods were making me fat because those are the only foods I eliminated from my diet.

We should certainly be on guard for nannies and busybodies who will surely use this study in an attempt to foister more government regulations and taxes on us, but we should not ignore the fact that the dietary trends of the past few decades have been increasing obesity and its medical side-effects (i.e. Type II diabetes, hypertension) to epidemic levels.

[CanisMajor2002]

What does the UN have to gain by taking out McD/BK/TacoB et al? Are we looking for extortion payments here? Or are they just pissed because we landed a BK in Baghdad? :)

[CanisMajor2002]

Bah...UN, WHO...whatever /pizzathehutt

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks for your personal take on the issue. Please also accept my congratulations and best wishes for continued success - that is a tremendous achievment!

[KevinDavis]

My wife and I is on a diet. We also have stopped eating fast food. There has been a big difference. More energy for us. So far I have lost 24 pounds and my wife has lost 12 pounds. I agree with being on guard from the nannies and the busybodies.

[SBprone]

People must learn to feed themselves.

I think the reason for high-calorie restaurant and fast food meals is economic. If you sell meals it makes sense to provide enough calories for about 95% of your customers. That will leave 5% still hungry or having to order extra food and most of the 95% majority will get more than they need. If they're dumb enough to eat it all or, as this story suggests if the portions seem deceptively small in relation to their calorie content, then folks will eat too much.

What it comes down to is that for about five bucks in a fast food joint or ten bucks in a sit-down restaurant, customers expect to get enough food to make themselves full. Companies that sell meals can ignore this simple fact at their peril.