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Obesity - a natural consequence of human evolution

100%

Henneberg M., Grantham J.

Anthropological Review

2014

vol. 77

issue 1

1-10

Obesity is considered a major epidemic of the 21st century. In developed countries, about 1/3 of adults are obese and another 1/3 overweight according to the oversimplified measure - the Body Mass Index. More precise indicators of adiposity: waist circumference, skinfolds, underwater weighing and absorptiometry indicate similar levels of fatness. Obesity per se does not necessarily lead to pathological states, nor to premature mortality. Recent results of large sample studies indicate that more than 1/3 of people classified as obese by fatness indices are physiologically normal. Others, however, suffer from a number of pathological conditions, common among them being the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. The classical explanation for increasing obesity is the positive energy balance - too much food intake and too little exercise. It seems, however, that this explanation is too simplistic. In societies, and in families, exposed to overeating and lazy lifestyles, about 1/3 of individuals have normal body mass and low levels of fatness, while others become obese. There is, therefore, individual variation in propensity for obesity. We have identified two specific variables differentiating fatness. People who have large lean trunk frames - large volumes of abdominal cavities and thus large gastrointestinal tracts - put on more subcutaneous fat than those with smaller trunk frames (Henneberg and Ulijaszek 2010). This may be a result of larger volumes of food required for antral extension to release ghrelin, or larger surface area of small intestines for food absorption. The second variable is concentrations of Alanine Transaminase, an enzyme responsible for conversion of an amino acid to a carbon skeleton that can be used in fat synthesis. Our study of 46000 young Swiss males (Henneberg, Rühli, Gruber and Woitek 2011) found consistent correlation between levels of Alanine Transaminase and body weight in groups of normal body mass individuals, overweight individuals and moderately obese individuals. Coupling this finding with the fact that among vegetarians, even those living in North America with overabundance of food and low levels of exercise, obesity and overweight are much less common than among non-vegetarians, we have now hypothesized that the increased obesity of modern affluent societies is a result of consumption of animal protein when energy needs are already covered by carbohydrates and fat consumed concurrently. Until the advent of agriculture, humans relied on consumption of a variety of terrestrial and aquatic animals supplemented by relatively small amounts of plant foods. In this situation our bodies became adapted to use proteins as a source of energy, and became efficient at storing occasional surpluses of amino acids by their deamination and conversion to fats. In the modern diets carbohydrates are abundant and provide, together with fats, energy required by human bodies, proteins after deamination are efficiently converted to fats. When new types of crops are introduced to mass production of cheap foods our bodies may not be able to react correctly to all their contents and some of the ingredients may cause additional fatness. An example of widespread recent introduction of industrially processed soybean products that correlates with prevalence of obesity across countries of the world is discussed

Ideologia czy zdrowie – dwa typy wegetarianizmu

72%

Adamczyk D., Maison D.

Marketing i Rynek

2019

issue 8

15-24

In recent years, vegetarianism has become an increasingly popular dietary trend in the area of nutrition, not only in the world, but also in Poland. Previous research shows that vegetarians are not a homogenous group - one of the possible divisions is based on motivation – ethical or health. The aim of the study was to examine whether vegetarians and meat-eaters differ in terms of demographic features, and also what differences also occur between ethical and health vegetarians. It was also decided to check whether the type of vegetarianism is reflected in the food preferences and choices. In order to reach that goal, a study was conducted on a nationwide sample of Poles aged 16–73 years (N = 402, including 163 vegetarians). The results of the study showed that vegetarians are mainly women, young adults (aged 18–24), living in large or medium-sized cities. Significant differences between ethical and health vegetarians in terms of demographics occur only in the case of sex – 52% of vegetarian women and 30% of vegetarian men indicate ethical reasons for their decision. Differences in dietary behaviors (food choices) were also observed. Health vegetarians were much more likely to choose meat dishes (20%) than ethical vegetarians (1%).

Wegetarianizm staje się w ostatnich latach coraz popularniejszym trendem żywieniowym, nie tylko na świecie, ale również w Polsce. Dotychczasowe badania pokazują, że wegetarianie nie są grupą homogeniczną – jeden z możliwych podziałów różnicuje wegetarian ze względu na motywację: etyczną lub zdrowotną. Celem przeprowadzonych badań było wstępne sprawdzenie, czy wegetarianie i osoby jedzące mięso różnią się pod względem cech demograficznych, a następnie czy i jakie różnice występują pomiędzy wegetarianami etycznymi i zdrowotnymi. Postanowiono również sprawdzić, czy typ wegetarianizmu przekłada się na preferencje żywieniowe i wybory potraw. W tym celu przeprowadzono badanie na ogólnopolskiej próbie osób w wieku 16–73 lat (N = 402, w tym 163 wegetarian). Wyniki badań pokazały, że wegetarianie to głównie kobiety, osoby młode (w wieku 18–24 lat), mieszkające w dużych lub średnich miastach. Natomiast istotne różnice pomiędzy wegetarianami etycznymi i zdrowotnymi pod względem demograficznym występują jedynie w przypadku płci – na etyczne powody swojej decyzji niejedzenia mięsa wskazuje 52% kobiet wegetarian i 30% mężczyzn. Zaobserwowano również różnice dotyczące zachowań żywieniowych (wyborów potraw) – wegetarianie etyczni niemal zawsze wskazywali preferencje wobec potraw wegetariańskich, natomiast zdrowotni wyraźnie częściej dopuszczali w swoich wyborach potrawy mięsne (20%).

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Obesity - a natural consequence of human evolution

Ideologia czy zdrowie – dwa typy wegetarianizmu