Our ancestors were prone to stuffing themselves in times of plenty, in order to have enough fat to survive the lean (excuse the pun!) times.
Our genes have not changed much since then. Breastfeeding women tend to not lose weight (contrary to popular belief) because their metabolisms slow down in order to allow them to retain fat to feed their babies in times of famine.
I think as humans, we do have a tendency to overeat at times but since most of us no longer have to deal with famine, we need to trick our bodies into knowing that food will always be plentiful, therefore there is no need to binge. And that can be difficult. It may take several more thousand years to get to the point where our genes become accustomed to plenty.
Our problem now is that we have so much food, yet we still binge. We need to somehow mentally and emotionally stop thinking in terms of want and think in terms of need like in the days of old.
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Our ancestors were prone to stuffing themselves in times of plenty, in order to have enough fat to survive the lean (excuse the pun!) times.
Our genes have not changed much since then. Breastfeeding women tend to not lose weight (contrary to popular belief) because their metabolisms slow down in order to allow them to retain fat to feed their babies in times of famine.
I think as humans, we do have a tendency to overeat at times but since most of us no longer have to deal with famine, we need to trick our bodies into knowing that food will always be plentiful, therefore there is no need to binge. And that can be difficult. It may take several more thousand years to get to the point where our genes become accustomed to plenty.
Our problem now is that we have so much food, yet we still binge. We need to somehow mentally and emotionally stop thinking in terms of want and think in terms of need like in the days of old.
I hope this makes sense!
What do you consider "normal" eating?
March 2, 2008 - 6:47pmThis Comment
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