Why Not Really Lose Weight When You Go For A Run – Wel.nl

Running is very healthy, but it will not help you lose weight. Our body is very smart for that, according to evolutionary anthropology professor Hermann Pontzer.

Explains professor at Duke University in his book burn How evolution prevented us from losing weight through exercise. He spent ten years studying the Hadza Community, a group of hunters and gatherers in Kenya. The average Hadza man travels 9 miles a day. However, their energy consumption is barely higher than that of us sedentary people, Bonzer writes.

how is that possible? Our body uses 60 percent of our energy in resting mode, just to keep the system working, for example. The hypothalamus monitors our energy consumption: If we move more, this part of the brain ensures that less energy is used for other things, says the anthropologist.

For example, the stress response and the production of sex hormones are reduced. Therefore, Hadza men possess half the amount of testosterone that men in the Western world possess.

It has been known for quite some time that you lose relatively little weight through a lot of sports, just because they make you feel hungry and start eating more again. But Pontzer goes one step further. He actually says that our bodies are working against us by searching for a new energy balance.

This does not change the fact that exercise is extremely healthy. But if you want to lose weight, you’d better eat less.

Bron (nene): Newsweek