Weight gain is not a disorder or a lack of willpower, but rather a normal response by normal people to an abnormal situation. It’s been suggested that our genetic predisposition to obesity is rooted in our DNA, with a history of survival and scarcity driving us to consume and store calories. This “thrifty gene” theory explains how our biology is mismatched to our modern environment, leading to an obesity epidemic.
Our physiology is finely tuned to maintain balance, but our bodies lack an upper limit to fat accumulation. Evolutionary pressures to store calories for lean times may have led to a propensity for weight gain in our current environment of abundance. Obesity is not a disease, but a natural response to excess calories in a world of calorie-rich and processed foods.
Efforts to combat weight gain through drugs or surgery are not correcting a physiological anomaly but interfering with normal body operations. The abnormal situation that contributes to weight gain is the availability of calorie-rich processed foods. This series explores the history of the obesity epidemic, with more videos on related topics to come.
Join us on this journey to understand the roots of weight gain and how we can address it in a world designed for excess.
