Re-adaptation hypothesis: explaining health benefits of caloric restriction.
For the effectiveness of under-eating or caloric restriction a simple evolution-based re-adaptation hypothesis is offered. Our ancient ancestors, whose bodies we inherited, ate and weighed a good deal less in relation to their size than we do. Over hundred thousands of years their desire for food was checked by its scarcity and the effort it took to collect it daily from all over the countryside. Thereby they set the reference standard for living and eating normally and healthily, not we. We eat as much as we like. No creature has ever been adapted to that. By practicing caloric restriction and daily exercise, we simulate to some degree the essentials of the way of life of our well adapted forbears. By such re-adaptation to our generic heritage, we re-gain their health at least approximately.
Dehmelt
Hans
H
Department of Physics, PO Box 351560, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1560, USA. dehmelt@phys.washington.edu
D000064:Acclimatization; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D031204:Caloric Restriction; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans