Posted by Admin | 5:58 AM

Let us assume that we collected data on the presence or absence of a trait (e.g., propensity toward risky behavior) in a population of indi...

Labels: costly traits, evolution, genes, genetics, omega-6, omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, research, Zahavian traits

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

This post is a revised version of a previous post . The original post has been or will be deleted, with the comments preserved. Typically th...

Labels: evolution, genetics, recent common ancestor, research, statistics

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

I recently read an interesting review paper by Dr. Edmund T. Rolls titled "Taste, olfactory and food texture reward processing in the b...

Labels: evolution, Food reward, hyperphagia, overweight, paleolithic diet

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

As far as explaining natural phenomena, Darwin was one of the best theoretical researchers of all time. Yet, there were a few phenomena that...

Labels: bipolar disorder, costly traits, evolution, manic-depressive disorder, mental health, personality traits, Zahavian traits

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

I recently returned from AHS12 and a little side trip to visit family.  The conference was hosted at Harvard University through the Harvard ...

Labels: diet, evolution, Food reward, low-carb, metabolic syndrome, overweight, paleolithic diet, presentations, research bloopers

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

In previous posts, I reviewed some of the evidence suggesting that human evolution has accelerated rapidly since the development of agricult...

Labels: archaeology, celiac, diet, evolution, genetics, gluten, Masai, minerals, native diet, paleolithic diet, phytic acid

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

In previous posts, I described how Otzi was (at least in large part) a genetic descendant of Middle Eastern agriculturalists, rather than be...

Labels: diet, evolution, native diet, paleolithic diet

Posted by Admin | 8:00 AM

In the previous post, I explained that Otzi descended in large part from early adopters of agriculture in the Middle East or nearby.  What I...

Labels: diet, evolution, genetics, native diet, paleolithic diet

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

There are two reasons why I chose this time to write about Otzi.  The first is that I've been looking for a good excuse to revisit human...

Labels: diet, evolution, native diet, paleolithic diet

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

Otzi's Diet Otzi's digestive tract contains the remains of three meals.  They were composed of cooked grains (wheat bread and whea...

Labels: diet, disease, diseases of civilization, evolution, infection, native diet

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

Biochemistry-based arguments can be very misleading. Yet, biochemistry can be extremely useful in the elucidation of diet and lifestyle effe...

Labels: adiponectin, evolution, interleukin-10, interleukin-6, leptin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha

Posted by Admin | 7:00 PM

Now that WHS readers around the globe have adopted the Eocene Diet and are losing weight at an alarming rate, it's time to explain the ...

Labels: evolution, genetics

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

I find costly traits fascinating, even though they pose a serious challenge to the notion that living as we evolved to live is a good thing ...

Labels: bipolar disorder, cave painting, costly traits, evolution, manic-depressive disorder, mental health, personality traits, schizophrenia, Zahavian traits

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

If you follow a paleo diet, you follow a diet that aims to be consistent with evolution. This is a theory that has undergone major changes a...

Labels: Darwin, Dobzhansky, evolution, Fisher, Haldane, Hamilton, Kimura, Maynard Smith, Mayr, Price, research, Trivers, Wallace, Williams, Wilson, Wright, Zahavi

Posted by Admin | 4:00 AM

The graph below (from Wikipedia) plots body fat percentage (BF) against body mass index (BMI) for men. The data is a bit old: 1994. The top-...

Labels: BMI, body fat, diabetes, evolution, obesity, research, skinny-fat

Posted by Admin | 5:00 AM

This post has been revised and re-published . The original comments are preserved below. Typically this is done with posts that attract man...

Labels: evolution, genetics, recent common ancestor, research, statistics

Posted by Admin | 7:28 AM

Undoubtedly one of the big differences between life today and in our Paleolithic past is the level of stress that modern humans face on a da...

Labels: evolution, information overload, research, stress

Posted by Admin | 7:20 AM

Loss of muscle mass is associated with aging. It is also associated with the metabolic syndrome, together with excessive body fat gain. It i...

Labels: BMI, body fat, diabetes, diseases of civilization, evolution, fat loss, muscle gain, muscle loss, obesity, Okinawa

Posted by Admin | 5:40 AM

Most human traits (e.g., body fat percentage, blood pressure, propensity toward depression) are influenced by our genes; some more than othe...

Labels: bell curve, evolution, genes, genetics, HCE, standard deviation, statistics

Posted by Admin | 7:47 AM

There are human traits that evolved in spite of being survival handicaps. These counterintuitive traits are often called costly traits, or Z...

Labels: costly traits, evolution, genes, genetics, research, Zahavian traits