Here’s another “interesting article” post from me. Yea, yea, I know, people usually do this sort of thing thru Twitter, and do it with a lot fewer words. Seems much more efficient, right? Well maybe, but I try to squeeze all the “juice” that I can out of an interesting article and share it with the world. And that wouldn’t go so well on Twitter. So, here’s another article post for you, this time from the October, 2015 Scientific American (gonna be about science, right?).<\/p>\n
This one is called “The Fat Gene”<\/strong>. Sounds like it’s about the question of genetics and obesity — many people claim that obesity is driven largely by genetics and not all that much by eating and exercising habits. Thus, the fact that they are overweight is not their fault. There is some solid evidence<\/a> for the existence of such “fat genes”, although it remains that for most people, being overweight is driven more by eating and exercise<\/a> patterns — i.e., too many calories go in, and not enough go out. Although heredity may make it harder for some people than others to maintain a proper weight, in most cases, genes are not destiny<\/a> with regard to weight. <\/p>\n But the article in question<\/a> is not about that. Instead, the authors are searching for clues about how modern humans evolved from the great apes and early hominids. Many aspects of our past are written within our genes, and scientists are getting better and better at opening this book and reading it. More and more evidence shows that a gene that regulates uric acid in the body and blood played an important role in distinguishing modern humans from apes. Yes, uric acid, as in “gout”. <\/p>\n It now appears that a mutation in a gene that regulates the production of uric acid (called the “uruicase gene”) happened right at the time when the more generic apes started branching off into differing species. This happened around 18 million years ago, and the resultant species became the orangutan, chimpanzee, gorilla . . . and yes, human. Interestingly, the mutation did not happen to some apes in Africa, where all wild apes are today. Before that time, apes had headed north into southern Europe and western Asia (including Spain and Turkey and Iraq). It was a lot warmer 22 million years ago, and parts of Europe were semi-tropical, just the way that apes like it. <\/p>\n However, over a few million years, things change weather-wise (unlike today, when climate changes over much shorter time-scales, e.g. global warming effects being seen within hundreds and not millions of years). It was getting colder, and the apes, who were designed originally for hot climates, were at a big disadvantage. They didn’t die out from Europe immediately, however; many millennium’s worth of natural selection pressures started to favor those apes whose genes could efficiently store fat. Obviously, the ape that could put on some weight around the belly in the milder years had a better shot at getting through a cold, dry famine period. So, the Euro-ape population increasingly came to possess the “thrifty gene”; this gene did its work by allowing more uric acid to be formed when digesting sweet things. Uric acid works to help the convert sugars into fat.<\/p>\n Unfortunately this had some nasty side-effects such as raising blood pressure and increasing insulin resistance. But hey, back then most apes only consumed a moderate amount of sugar anyway, from whatever fruit they scrounged up. The benefits of putting on the pounds in preparation for the cold and lean years outweighed any problems regarding cardiovascular disease, metabolic problems and diabetes. Hey, hardly any apes lived long enough in the wild to worry about old-age diseases like this.<\/p>\n As it kept on getting colder and colder, the Euro-ape populations shrunk, until by 7 million years ago they were completely gone. Did they just die off? Yes, for the most part; but a handful of them started to migrate south, back toward the land of their distant ancestors. Enough of their progeny survived to re-establish themselves as a viable species in Africa. Actually, though, the tough winter conditions they had been through gave them both mental and physical capabilities that made them a bit better than the other apes who had stayed in the warm jungle or savanna all along. They became the species to beat, the species from which modern humans eventually arose. <\/p>\n So, two interesting points. First off, we sometimes hear it said that every human is ultimately an African<\/a>. This is probably true, but if you trace where our progenitors had been, then everyone on the planet is also ultimately European !!! When the hominid species later found their way back to Europe (Neanderthals around a quarter million years ago, and modern homo sapies about 50,000 years back), perhaps they experienced a sense of deja vu . . . “you know, it really seems like we’ve been here before”. <\/p>\n Second, and more importantly, this “thrifty fat gene” gives humans increased risk of heart disease and diabetes (and the metabolic syndrome leading up to it). And also obesity, so long as times stay good and famine never strikes. It’s pretty clear that the thrifty gene, and the uric acid that it helps to produce, work in conjunction with the fructose sugar found in fruit. When the only sugar that humans got was from an occasional banana, obesity, heart disease and diabetes weren’t such a big deal. But fast forward to the modern era, when fructose consumption is very high . . . so now you DO have a big problem.<\/p>\n As I discussed recently, over the past 10 years, the notion that fructose (the key component to table sugar) is more damaging than any other carbohydrate has emerged based on preliminary research. A variety of experts pushed back against this idea, claiming that a carb is a carb, and that obesity is entirely a matter of too many calories relative to calorie use. In my opinion, this contention is losing the battle; sugars really are the bad carb. A recent study<\/a> published by the Mayo Clinic concludes that “added sugar (i.e. sugar added in processed foods including cookies, cakes and soft drinks) is the principal driver of type 2 diabetes and its consequences”. <\/p>\n And now, Scientific American tells us that a study of human evolutionary genetics shows that “as we have added more and more table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup to packaged foods, obesity and diabetes have skyrocketed and average uric acid levels in our blood have increased. By cutting way back on our fructose intake . . . we should be able to protect ourselves from multiple diseases”. Not much doubt is left in my mind. Sugar tastes wonderful, and a VERY little bit of it won’t hurt . . . but get past 5 or 6 total teaspoons a day and it ain’t very good for you (6 teaspoons sounds like a liberal allowance, but that has to include sugar from EVERYTHING, not just soda, candy, cookies and coffee; there’s plenty of sugar in fruit drinks, sauces, catsup, yogurt, milk, most cereals, salad dressings, smoothies, raisins, on and on).<\/p>\n So that’s the interesting article review for today . . . an interesting story about a cold-weather gene mutation in some ancient apes that changed the world and helped to form the bodies that we inhabit . . . for both better and for worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here’s another “interesting article” post from me. Yea, yea, I know, people usually do this sort of thing thru Twitter, and do it with a lot fewer words. Seems much more efficient, right? 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