Evolutionary Aspects of Human Exercise – Born to Run Purposefully

Let me commend this paper by Mark Mattson to you. Take the time to read and understand the consequences of exercising.. or not!

The take home message of this article can be appreciated from the following few sentences in which I comment on daily life in modern societies. Ah, this is the life – no need to run, nary even to walk. We curse the ‘inconvenience’ of a broken elevator and the ‘annoying’ bicycle rider who slows our drive home. We work with our fingertips and relax by watching television, while consuming large amounts of omnipresent tasty morsels. As a consequence, our body and brain experience a chronic positive energy balance. Unless we are motivated to rectify this dangerous lifestyle, obesity and/or insulin resistance occur, hastening the development of age-related diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. Because this scenario has become hauntingly common, our society must endure the increasing burden on the health care system and the workforce as the time window of productivity of persons in positive energy balance (PPEBs) shrinks.