Evolutionary wisdom could give some answers...

Published: Wed, 11/04/15

Hi

We are living in a new environment now which is very different to what we evolved in.

I believe that the wider the gap between our ancestral make up and the increasing convenience we are creating for our environment is directly related to the increase in health issues, increasing waist lines and related diseases.
There are a couple of evolutionary traits that have been pretty useful to us as a survival tactic in the past and that understanding their origin could go a long way to fix things:

Built in drive to conserve energy:
  • Food, shelter, procreation and finding water were the main pillars of survival.
  • These was the only things we really expended energy on.
  • Think how much effort these things would have taken to provide for a tribe. 
  • Once we have all these this supplied we are driven to rest.
  • Today these are a given, therefore this is possibly why we have to really work hard to get out and do activity! WE DON'T NEED TO
Natural suspicion of new food as infants:
  • Often overlooked, when we try to change our nutrition, is the fact that as infants we are evolutionarily primed to avoid new foods.
  • This comes to bear as we start walking...think toddlers shuffling about the tribal environment coming across a new mushroom. A natural suspicion could prevent a tragedy.
  • In our foraging days the elders of the tribe would have had an innate understanding of every plant in our environment. This would then be taught to our youngest as they develop. Good nutrition is proven to be better the wider the spread of food we consume.
  • Could you improve your health by opening your mind to new foods by taking some time to research natural and wild food diets?
  • Did we stop 'evolving' our nutritional wisdom far too early?
  • Shouldn't it be our duty as a parent to increase our knowledge of what real whole foods can do for us so we can teach this to our kids? (as we do ourselves)
Fat reserves in the body are useful:
  • Fat IS energy, the fat we have stored on our body can keep us alive for months without food.
  • In our hunter gatherer days it was famine and feast.
  • Sugar was SPARCE...honey, berries and fruits were seasonal and hard to find.
Our health, body composition and activity levels were balanced by a natural ebb and flow of life

Could you return to your roots and think more like your ancestors?



Making our live a little less CONVENIENT is a fantastic starting point


Embrace the wisdom of the ancients, the more I learn about the human body and how we have evolved the more I feel that the answer lies in looking backwards NOT forwards so much...


J

James Chandler
Personal Trainer
07870 262741
www.eatwellandworkout.com


'To inspire, educate and support our clients on their journey to better health'