4 ms·
Inuit have unique gene differences (obvious), those may give them an ability to metabolize fat better. However there is some evidence that Inuit that eat west
by eagsalazar2 11y ago
Inuit have unique gene differences (obvious), those may give them an ability to metabolize fat better. However there is some evidence that Inuit that eat western diets have the same rate of heart disease as us and westerners who eat their diet have the same rate of heart disease as them? (from "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes).
I think they are coming from an assumption (which is possibly incorrect) that eating fatty meats causes heart disease. So they are trying to solve a mystery but the entire foundation for their search is in question IMO.
It is interesting either way. Maybe if we keep eating high fructose corn syrup and refined grains, this obesity and heart disease epidemic will just cause selection for a few generations that will result in us as a population being able to live nicely eating all this shit we eat now.
- mildbow 11y agoThe last paragraph is very wrong, or I don't remember high school biology. So please correct me if I'm wrong. Humans aren't evolving in response to their environment: they change the environment to suit them. And anyway, selection doesn't really work in a few generation, and definitely not if what you are trying to select out doesn't change how many kids you might have. By the time you die from heart disease, you've probably had all the kids you were going to.
- hellrich 11y agoOur ability to change our environment is limited and was even more limited in the past. • Look at infectious diseases killing those without inborne resistance and you see humans evolving just fine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle-cell_disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle-cell_disease • Also changing your environment, e.g. by starting to herd animals can jumpstart evolution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence