Since the beginning of modern humans
on this planet, about 84,000 generations (2.4 million) years ago,
our ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers.
In fact, modern humans evolved as hunter-gatherers and natural selection
has designed us to survive and thrive in the wilderness, not as specialists,
but as generalists. For our ancestors, every
day was a challenge and exercise wasn’t optional, but a lifelong requirement,
simply to eat and to keep from being eaten!
However, 350 generations ago, just a
short 10,500 years, the world changed when some early Middle Eastern peoples switched
from being hunters and instead began planting crops and tending to domesticated
animals. Ever since then technology has
been increasing by leaps and bounds. Just
seven generations ago the Industrial Revolution began, and the Space and Computer
Age is just two short generations old!
Unfortunately,
compared with the snail’s pace of genetic change, technological and cultural
evolution moves at a light speed and this quantum leap in technology has
resulted in large reductions in the amount of physical work required simply to stay
warm and fed. But modern humans are
still genetically designed to need and require the same amount of exercise and
activity that our hunter-gatherer ancestors expended every day. But in the 21st century, with our
increasingly sedentary, highly convenient, ultra mechanized society, our
increasing physical inactivity has surged to become the 4th leading
cause of death, with obesity becoming the 5th cause of an early
death!
Today three quarters of Americans are overweight or
obese. Currently in America
more than 80% of the adult population are not meeting the Office of Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion’s Physical Activity Guidelines, and the average
adult walks only about 5,000 steps, a mere 2 miles (3.2 km) per day. The average hunter-gatherer typically takes
16,000 to 17,000 steps, or about eight miles (13 km) each day. Meanwhile, American children spend more than
7 ½ hours in front of a screen.
The rate of high blood pressure (hypertension) is a shocking 90% among
Americans today and cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, accounting
for 41% of deaths. What is
worse it is projected to double in the next 50 years!
It
is time to get back to basics and get paleo fit like our hunter gatherer
ancestors.
Don’t get dead, come back next week and read “Getting Paleo Fit...Take Steps to Manage Your Inheritance Wisely©”, where we will talk about how to get into the same shape as our Great Grandad, 84,000 generations ago.
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Sources
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accessed November 12, 2024
O’Keefe,
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accessed November 14, 2024
O’Keefe, James H., et al.;
“Achieving Hunter-gatherer Fitness in the 21st Century:
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accessed November 14, 2024
O’Keefe, James H., et al.; “Cardiovascular Disease
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The Walking Site; “10,000 Steps A Day”, [©
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accessed November 16, 2024
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accessed November 13, 2024
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