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Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor, talks quite a bit about a study he did on the calorie needs of people who are highly active on this podcast: https://

Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor, talks quite a bit about a study he did on the calorie needs of people who are highly active on this podcast: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/examining-energy-evolution-herman-pontzer-podcast-transcript-n1270125 https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/examining-energy-evoluti... Spoiler alert: you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active.

Alupis 2y ago
> Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor > you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active Can you provide more evidence for this, because it sounds entirely bogus. Perhaps you mean one's base metabolic rate? If you are physically active, you will consume more calories than sitting all day - because, you know, you are exerting yourself. Also, an anthropology professor is not a credible source on diet, exercise, fitness and health.
- aaronbrethorst 2y ago
  https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myths-about-how-humans-burn-calories-and-why https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myth...
  - Alupis 2y ago
    Your citation is to another piece by the same guy?
- goostavos 2y ago
  HN is not the place to discuss diet, exercise, fitness, or health. Every thread is the same: the human body ackchuwally runs on magic. Diet is really, really complicated. In fact, nobody burns calories at all. The body just does it's own thing. Watch this Youtube video about it. They quote an anthropologist.
nh2 2y ago
No, that's wrong. Somebody else burns the same number of calories being active as you do sitting. The article does not compare the the same individuals performing sitting vs. being active. It says that members of hunter-gatherer tribes such as the Hadza on average consume as much energy per day as US-Americans sitting on their butt at home. It says the Hadza's bodies have adapted to perform a more exhausting task with less energy expenditure than US-Americans need. But the same person (being a Hazda or US-American) will still need more energy being active than being inactive. (Source: Read from "here's what we know so far" in the article.) This is similar to finding that from N calories, an obese person may only run 1km while a professional marathon runner will run 5km. Edit: The Kurzgesagt video refers to the same Hazda people, and states that if you start working out after being sedentary for a while, you burn a lot more calories, until your body eventually adapts: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s?feature=shared&t=212 https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s?feature=shared&t=212
- I_am_uncreative 2y ago
  You can call us just "Americans". The US is unnecessary, thank you.
  - warmlander99 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - mc32 2y ago
      People from those continents call themselves south americans or north americans. Just as you have european and asians, people don't call themselves eurasian. Furthermore, both people from north and south america understand that american means a person from the USA. It doesn't refer to a person that may be from either one continent or the other. Also people don't call themselves western hemispherian or eastern hemispherian either. What does African refer to? a person from Nigeria and Zimbabwe or also a person from Egypt or Algeria, or are they north-africans? Are algerian-americans african-americans? Who is a 'new yorker', someone from manhattan, or new york city, or new york state? Sometimes things are blurry.
lostlogin 2y ago
> you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active. I think I’m missing your point. How do you explain weight loss from exercising?
- krapp 2y ago
  People tend to lose weight from dieting, not exercise. Unless you're training for a marathon or something, even vigorous exercise tends to burn so few calories that an hour at the gym can be erased with a single trip to McDonald's.
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    Probably accurate. The amount of exercise needed for effect is less than a hour per day (less than 30 minutes if intensive) but this is a not done by most. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556592/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556592/ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm

Alupis 2y ago

> Herman Pontzer, an anthropology professor > you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active Can you provide more evidence for this, because it sounds entirely bogus. Perhaps you mean one's base metabolic rate? If you are physically active, you will consume more calories than sitting all day - because, you know, you are exerting yourself. Also, an anthropology professor is not a credible source on diet, exercise, fitness and health.

aaronbrethorst 2y ago
https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myths-about-how-humans-burn-calories-and-why https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-busts-myth...
- Alupis 2y ago
  Your citation is to another piece by the same guy?
goostavos 2y ago
HN is not the place to discuss diet, exercise, fitness, or health. Every thread is the same: the human body ackchuwally runs on magic. Diet is really, really complicated. In fact, nobody burns calories at all. The body just does it's own thing. Watch this Youtube video about it. They quote an anthropologist.

nh2 2y ago

No, that's wrong. Somebody else burns the same number of calories being active as you do sitting. The article does not compare the the same individuals performing sitting vs. being active. It says that members of hunter-gatherer tribes such as the Hadza on average consume as much energy per day as US-Americans sitting on their butt at home. It says the Hadza's bodies have adapted to perform a more exhausting task with less energy expenditure than US-Americans need. But the same person (being a Hazda or US-American) will still need more energy being active than being inactive. (Source: Read from "here's what we know so far" in the article.) This is similar to finding that from N calories, an obese person may only run 1km while a professional marathon runner will run 5km. Edit: The Kurzgesagt video refers to the same Hazda people, and states that if you start working out after being sedentary for a while, you burn a lot more calories, until your body eventually adapts: https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s?feature=shared&t=212 https://youtu.be/lPrjP4A_X4s?feature=shared&t=212

I_am_uncreative 2y ago
You can call us just "Americans". The US is unnecessary, thank you.
- warmlander99 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - mc32 2y ago
    People from those continents call themselves south americans or north americans. Just as you have european and asians, people don't call themselves eurasian. Furthermore, both people from north and south america understand that american means a person from the USA. It doesn't refer to a person that may be from either one continent or the other. Also people don't call themselves western hemispherian or eastern hemispherian either. What does African refer to? a person from Nigeria and Zimbabwe or also a person from Egypt or Algeria, or are they north-africans? Are algerian-americans african-americans? Who is a 'new yorker', someone from manhattan, or new york city, or new york state? Sometimes things are blurry.

lostlogin 2y ago

> you burn basically the same number of calories per day sitting on your butt as you do being quite physically active. I think I’m missing your point. How do you explain weight loss from exercising?

krapp 2y ago
People tend to lose weight from dieting, not exercise. Unless you're training for a marathon or something, even vigorous exercise tends to burn so few calories that an hour at the gym can be erased with a single trip to McDonald's.
- lostlogin 2y ago
  Probably accurate. The amount of exercise needed for effect is less than a hour per day (less than 30 minutes if intensive) but this is a not done by most. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556592/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556592/ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/exercise.htm