During the evolution it was uncommon for our ancestors to have so much food that they became obese. Now and again, there was a temporary excess of food which probably led to a good bit of gluttony, but in general most people struggled to find enough food to eat, and of course they had to do large amounts of exercise. Overall, our genetic inheritance as a human race often called our genome which is one that evolved to help survival in a life of constant activity and the ability to put on fat quickly should a surplus amount of calories become available through good luck or theft.
Unfortunately, this genome is now unsuitable for the environment in which we live in which calories are a super abundance wherever one turns. For this reason, diseases like type II diabetes are now epidemic and Professor Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University calls this a mismatch disease, namely due to a mismatch between our genome and the environment in which we live.
There are many different aspects of a diet for living longer better but it is possible to lay down a few simple principles
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
During the evolution it was uncommon for our ancestors to have so much food that they became obese. Now and again, there was a temporary excess of food which probably led to a good bit of gluttony, but in general most people struggled to find enough food to eat, and of course they had to do large amounts of exercise. Overall, our genetic inheritance as a human race often called our genome which is one that evolved to help survival in a life of constant activity and the ability to put on fat quickly should a surplus amount of calories become available through good luck or theft.
Unfortunately, this genome is now unsuitable for the environment in which we live in which calories are a super abundance wherever one turns. For this reason, diseases like type II diabetes are now epidemic and Professor Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University calls this a mismatch disease, namely due to a mismatch between our genome and the environment in which we live.
There are many different aspects of a diet for living longer better but it is possible to lay down a few simple principles
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
Put in line 2 of your Oxford Longevity Plan how you plan to improve your diet
During the evolution it was uncommon for our ancestors to have so much food that they became obese. Now and again, there was a temporary excess of food which probably led to a good bit of gluttony, but in general most people struggled to find enough food to eat, and of course they had to do large amounts of exercise. Overall, our genetic inheritance as a human race often called our genome which is one that evolved to help survival in a life of constant activity and the ability to put on fat quickly should a surplus amount of calories become available through good luck or theft.
Unfortunately, this genome is now unsuitable for the environment in which we live in which calories are a super abundance wherever one turns. For this reason, diseases like type II diabetes are now epidemic and Professor Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University calls this a mismatch disease, namely due to a mismatch between our genome and the environment in which we live.
There are many different aspects of a diet for living longer better but it is possible to lay down a few simple principles
- Try not to consume more calories that you need, and if you are overweight, compared to the weight of your age, say, twenty-two lose weight. For many people the new drugs to treat obesity have had beneficial effects in one way, but the side-effects of these drugs are now being recognised, particularly the decrease in muscle. It is therefore vitally important to reduce energy intake and seek to control one’s weight by getting the balance right with input and output
- Eat food that is natural and beware of what are now called ultra processed foods which can be detected fairly simply by looking at the contents list at the back of the bottle or package.
- Shift from red meat to white meat, chicken and fish
- Shift from meat to vegetable protein
- Increase the amount of fibre you consume, and
- Decrease the amount of alcohol you consume. The aim of our alcohol intake should be no more than seven units a week and every decade from fifty on it is sensible to try to drink no more than one unit a day and to have an increasing number of days in the week which are alcohol free – one day in your fifties, two days in your sixties, three days in your seventies and four days in your eighties.
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST
During the evolution it was uncommon for our ancestors to have so much food that they became obese. Now and again, there was a temporary excess of food which probably led to a good bit of gluttony, but in general most people struggled to find enough food to eat, and of course they had to do large amounts of exercise. Overall, our genetic inheritance as a human race often called our genome which is one that evolved to help survival in a life of constant activity and the ability to put on fat quickly should a surplus amount of calories become available through good luck or theft.
Unfortunately, this genome is now unsuitable for the environment in which we live in which calories are a super abundance wherever one turns. For this reason, diseases like type II diabetes are now epidemic and Professor Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University calls this a mismatch disease, namely due to a mismatch between our genome and the environment in which we live.
There are many different aspects of a diet for living longer better but it is possible to lay down a few simple principles
- Try not to consume more calories that you need, and if you are overweight, compared to the weight of your age, say, twenty-two lose weight. For many people the new drugs to treat obesity have had beneficial effects in one way, but the side-effects of these drugs are now being recognised, particularly the decrease in muscle. It is therefore vitally important to reduce energy intake and seek to control one’s weight by getting the balance right with input and output
- Eat food that is natural and beware of what are now called ultra processed foods which can be detected fairly simply by looking at the contents list at the back of the bottle or package.
- Shift from red meat to white meat, chicken and fish
- Shift from meat to vegetable protein
- Increase the amount of fibre you consume, and
- Decrease the amount of alcohol you consume. The aim of our alcohol intake should be no more than seven units a week and every decade from fifty on it is sensible to try to drink no more than one unit a day and to have an increasing number of days in the week which are alcohol free – one day in your fifties, two days in your sixties, three days in your seventies and four days in your eighties.
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
- Could you reduce the amount of ultra-processed foods you eat?
- What changes do you need to make to create a more Mediterranean type of diet?
Put in line 2 of your Oxford Longevity Plan how you plan to improve your diet