Related
Related Books
Reviews
Reviews
Michael L. Power and Jay Schulkin take a frankly Darwinian approach... The evolutionary account of obesity is a powerful one—indeed, almost too powerful.
Elbowing the weight-loss guides on 'health' bookshelves, is a spate of new, more diet-neutral books that track the sociology of obesity, including... The Evolution of Obesity.
Goes far beyond anything else that is available on obesity... Power and Schulkin deserve much credit for their bold attempt to combine evolutionary and reductionist explanations, and for their unflinching acknowledgment of complexity.
An excellent and comprehensive explanation for the increased incidence of obesity... Power and Schulkin suggest that there is a mismatch between our evolved biology and our modern life—the advantages of fat storage in the past have become disadvantages today.... This informative and easily read book is an important companion for students, fellows, and clinicians who wish to understand the causes of the obesity epidemic and how obesity might lead to metabolic disease.
This will be an extremely useful introduction for graduate and undergraduate students and for mainstream researchers to set the wealth of endocrine and metabolic data connected with obesity into a wider framework of understanding.
Power and Schulkin look for the origins of obesity in our evolutionary past... They stress the complexity of obesity's origin and caution against simplistic solutions, especially biomedical therapies for obesity that often have unintended adverse effects. Their goal is to elucidate the biological roots of weight gain, not make policy recommendations.
Power and Schulkin argue that our present-day obesity crisis is the consequence of a 'mismatch' between our biology and the environment in which we live... It is in the detail of its explanation that their study excels.
While obesity may lead to pathology, and even be viewed as pathology, its biological underpinnings likely helped enable human evolution, say Power, a nutrition and metabolism researcher at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, and Schulkin, a behavioral neuroscientist with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
A well written and scholarly tome with many fascinating observations and findings that highlight the many biological challenges to effective weight control in a modern society with a very efficient food delivery system. The breadth of scholarship is impressive and well documents in detail why humans are becoming obese.
Compelling, well written, and brimming with fascinating facts and observations. With its broadly comparative perspective and holistic focus, this is an important and unique contribution to the obesity literature that challenges conventional assumptions about the disease and its origins.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
408
ISBN
9781421409603
Illustration Description
16 halftones, 46 line drawings
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Human Biology, Evolution, and Obesity
1. Humanity on the Fat Track
2. Our Early Ancestors
3. The Evolution of Meals
4. Evolution, Adaptation, and Human Obesity
5. Evolutions
Preface
Introduction: Human Biology, Evolution, and Obesity
1. Humanity on the Fat Track
2. Our Early Ancestors
3. The Evolution of Meals
4. Evolution, Adaptation, and Human Obesity
5. Evolutions, Adaptation, and the Perils of Modern Life
6. Energy, Metabolism, and the Thermodynamics of Life
7. Information Molecules and the Peptide Revolution
8. Appetite and Satiety
9. Getting Ready to Eat
10. The Paradox of Feeding
11. The Biology of Fat
12. Fat and Reproduction
13. Genetic and Epigenetic Correlates of Obesity
Conclusion: Surviving the Perils of Modern Life
References
Index
Resources
