\u201cEvolved to Exercise: Unlike our ape cousins, humans require high levels of physical activity to be healthy\u201d<\/a> \u2014 by Herman Pontzer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, is not only extremely interesting but offers some quite practical implications. \u00a0Herewith, some notes from it:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We share more than 97 percent of our DNA with orangutans, bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas \u2014 although, I add for the sake of perspective, we apparently also share roughly 60 percent of our DNA with bananas. \u00a0And the great apes are like us in many regards. \u00a0They\u2019re clever, use tools, fight and make up, seek privacy for sex, sometimes kill for \u201cturf.\u201d \u00a0Their kids learn from their mothers, roughhouse and play with one another, and throw temper tantrums.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd yet,\u201d writes Pontzer, \u201cit is the differences, rather than the similarities, between humans and apes that are casting new light on the way our bodies work.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s not a matter merely of \u201cshape and behavior\u201d but of \u201cthe fundamental function of our cells.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A typical day\u2019s agenda for a chimpanzee in the wild reads like the daily schedule for lethargic retirees on a Caribbean cruise, though with fewer organized activities. \u00a0Wake up early, crack of dawn, then off to breakfast (fruit). \u00a0Eat until you are stuffed, and next find a nice place for a nap, maybe some light grooming. \u00a0After an hour or so (no rush!) go find a sunny tree with figs and gorge yourself. \u00a0Maybe go meet some friends, a bit more grooming, another nap. \u00a0Around five o\u2019clock, have an early dinner (more fruit, maybe some leaves), then it is time to find a nice sleeping tree, build a nest and call it a night. \u00a0Sure, there are frenetic pant-hoot choruses when the fruit is really great and the occasional scuffle or monkey hunt, and the alpha male needs to carve some time out every day to thrash a few victims or display mightily. \u00a0But in general, chimpanzee life is pretty mellow.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this is pretty much the way for orangutans, bonobos, and gorillas, as well. \u00a0Great apes spend roughly eight to ten hours daily resting, rooming, and eating before they knock off in the evening for nine or ten hours of well-earned sleep.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In humans, such regular behavior would be a recipe for serious health problems. \u00a0Taking fewer than 10,000 steps daily, for example, has been linked with increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease (such as type 2 diabetes). \u00a0Sitting at a desk (as I\u2019m doing right now) or in front of the television has been associated with increased risk of disease and a shorter life span, even among people who exercise. \u00a0Physical inactivity is arguably on a par with smoking as a risk to health. \u00a0\u201cAmong Scottish adults, those watching more than two hours of television a day had a 125 percent increase in cardiac events such as heart attack or stroke. \u00a0A study in Australian adults reported that every hour accumulated watching television shortened life expectancy by 22 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
By contrast, even in captivity, chimpanzees and other apes suffer only rarely from diabetes, blood pressure doesn\u2019t increase as they age, and, despite naturally high levels of cholesterol, their arteries don\u2019t harden and clog over time. \u00a0They don\u2019t develop heart disease or suffer from heart attacks brought on by occluded arteries. \u00a0And they remain lean, with levels of body fat reminiscent of Olympic athletes.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what happened to us<\/em>?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
(To be continued.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 An article in the January 2019 issue of Scientific American\u00a0\u2014 \u201cEvolved to Exercise: Unlike our ape cousins, humans require high levels of physical activity to be healthy\u201d \u2014 by Herman Pontzer, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, is not only extremely interesting but offers some quite practical implications. \u00a0Herewith, some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3268,3280,3277,3283,2412,3157,3271],"class_list":["post-69847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apes","tag-chimpanzee","tag-fitness","tag-gorilla","tag-health","tag-human","tag-primates"],"yoast_head":"\n
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