One of the most significant evolutionary advantages of humans is our energy management systems. From sweating, to bipedal long-distance locomotion, to cooking meat, the modern human has developed an extraordinary set of characteristics that have turned us into energy-efficient super machines. Some may argue that our position at the top of nature’s pecking order comes down to our mastery of energy usage both internally and externally, which has increased our capabilities and output exponentially.
These exceptional capabilities include long-distance running and easier digestion of nutrient dense foods. However, most notably, our energy efficiency has enabled us to develop larger relative brain size, particularly in the frontal lobe which is the area of the brain responsible for higher order thinking. Because of this, the human brain is extraordinarily energy demanding, responsible for about 25% of our total energy output.
With our brains, cognitive skills, and higher order thinking being one of the most distinguishing traits necessary for our survival, our energy demands are quite different from our primate cousins. Our brains must receive a constant supply of energy in order to properly function. This has made the ability to manage our energy of the utmost importance, and our bodies have adopted a mechanism to ensure this is the case.
This mechanism is the dreaded yet highly necessary thing that we call body fat.
Man’s Energy Solution
I’m from Louisiana which is in the crosshairs of Hurricane alley. Unfortunately, whenever a hurricane passes it’s very common for the power to go out for extended periods of time; I’m talking days, maybe even weeks. This is obviously a less than ideal situation.
As a fix, many people install backup generators in their homes which uses gasoline power to help keep the lights on and the major appliances in working order. The more gasoline you have, the longer you can go without electricity from the grid.
Now lets look at this example but instead think about our bodies as our homes and electricity as our food (our energy source). When our main energy source becomes unavailable for an extended period of time, we want to be able to tap into an alternative source to keep us going and keep our brains functioning. In this case, our body fat can be compared to the gasoline that we use as a backup fuel source. The more body fat (gasoline) that you have, the longer you can go without food (grid power).
Our bodies have developed a natural propensity to store extra body fat during times of abundance in preparation for the inevitable periods of food scarcity. This genetic hardcoding has played a vital role in our survival and our rise to the top as a species.
A Breakdown of Human Nature
This explains why the typical human of healthy body fat percentage is considerably fatter than our most similar animal cousins. We are better at saving up our energy and storing it away in body fat for later use. This makes us more durable and capable of weathering difficult food situations. Below is a chart of the average body fat percentage of chimps and bonobos compared with humans.
Animal
Relative to the body fat of our primate cousins, we are very, very fat. In other words, we are supposed to be fat. I do not mean fat in the sense of being obese, but we absolutely are suppose to easily accumulate and store body fat. It’s quite literally nature doing what its supposed to do and our bodies functioning as intended.
Fat Storage Triggers
Now that we understand that easily storing body fat is a survival mechanism that is essential for humans. Let’s take a look at what it is that actually triggers fat accumulation.
It stands to reason that if fat storage is a survival mechanism, then situations that the brain interprets as threatening to survival tend to trigger fat build up. Let’s envision for a moment that we are living in prehistoric times and we are experiencing a number life threatening situations such as predators trying to eat us, lack of food, or being gravely injured. A few of the responses we are likely to have to these situations are as follows:
Increased stress from the possibility of being eaten
Slower metabolism to reduce the risk of starvation
Sleeplessness from the physical pain of injury
Today, we may not face these types of challenges to the same extent as our ancestors. However, we do introduce these same triggers into our lives in different ways.
Increased stress from the pressures of a job
Slower metabolism from sedentary living
Sleeplessness from artificial light, noise, entertainment, drinking, etc
Our bodies do not understand the difference between prehistoric living and modern living. Therefore when we are stressed out, when our metabolism slows, and when we get insufficient sleep, our bodies interpret it as a threat to survival.
Add on top of this, eating habits of abundance which were virtually impossible to sustain in prehistoric times, we kick our fat accumulation into overdrive resulting in an imbalanced situation that has quite literally grown out of proportion.
Evolutionary Mismatches and Unwanted Body Fat
In my article “Becoming Uncivilized: The Savage Manifesto” I discussed the evolutionary mismatches that result in our biology going awry. Our tendency to gain excessive body fat, far beyond what is necessary for survival is one of the results of these evolutionary mismatches. Our current lifestyles, culture, and relationship with food has led to a massive imbalance that has driven our backup energy systems to store excessive body fat.
We no longer oscillate from periods of abundance and fat storage to periods of food scarcity and fat burning. We have created a world in which we live in constant food abundance, fat storage triggers such as chronic stress and sleep deprivation are now the norm, and our energy expenditure is far lower than what our bodies require to maintain a reasonable energy balance. The results to all of this are visceral.
To be specific:
The advent of agriculture and subsequent technological advancements has dramatically increased the quantity and availability of food, virtually eliminating food scarcity in the western world. The resulting abundance of food leads us eat more than was ever possible throughout most of human history.
The proliferation of ultra-processed foods has stripped foods of their nutrients and altered how they react with the human body. This disrupts the metabolism resulting in higher fat storage.
Cultural evolution has turned food from being a necessity for survival into a source of recreation, thus distorting our perceptions on how, why, when, and what we should eat. These perceptions are misaligned with the reality of how our body functions and creates an energy imbalance.
Technology advancements have enabled sedentary lifestyles in which our energy output is far, far lower than what we were evolved to expend. This also contributes to an energy imbalance.
This is why it is essential to not let the “experts” shame you into thinking that the problem lies with you only. The fact is that we are doing exactly what a responsible human in pre-historic times would have done, which is to take advantage of abundant food when it is available, to eat the sweetest high-energy foods available, and to conserve our energy by being as sedentary as possible. However the "advancements" of civilization have resulted in evolutionary mismatches that cause our own human nature to backfire and work against us.
Using Human Nature to Our Advantage
By understanding this context, we can make smarter decisions to combat excessive fat accumulation and to become leaner. The logical solution to battling this issue which is far too common in the western world is to look back into our prehistoric origins and mimic diets and lifestyles of prehistoric ancestors. These are the conditions in which our body’s metabolism was formed, so by aligning with our ancestral past, we can reduce the degree of mismatch we are experiencing, and minimize our bodies’ inclination to build up excess fat.
Specific measures we can take to reduce evolutionary mismatches include:
Returning to a primarily whole foods diet with minimal processed foods and replacing high sugar, high carb, diets with high protein and high fat diets to mimic the diet of our ancestors.
Incorporating fasting to simulate extended periods of hunger and force our body to tap into internal energy stores.
Maintaining an active lifestyle including frequent walking, sporting, enjoying the outdoors, etc.
Strength training to build muscle which helps to create a favorable energy balance
Taking steps to reduce stress, including meditating, reading, mindfulness, therapy, and maintaining healthy social connections.
Getting plenty of sunlight and sleep.
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