Evolution doesn’t always mean progress in terms of longevity, safety, comfort or even fitness, just look at zoo animals compared to those in the wilderness. It simply means change. That change, for better or worse, is driven by our environment (what we eat, when we sleep, how much we move, where we live, etc.). Today, the human body is changing in ways we’re not prepared for. Instead of passing down robustness to create antifragile adaptations, our offspring are inheriting traits that are detrimental to our health.

Story time…

Let’s go back to the 1930’s, where Dr. Francis Pottenger carried out a 10-year multi-generational experiment on 900 cats that were explicitly fed an inferior diet. The impact from poor nutrition was not so startling during the first-generation, but became progressively worse  during subsequent generations. From the second-generation on, the cats showed increasing levels of structural deformities, birth defects, impaired-mental health, stress-driven behaviors, vulnerability to illness, allergies, reduced learning ability, and reproductive problems. (poor Bootsy!!)

Why is this relevant?

Because we are running the same experiment, just on ourselves! Your back ache, digestive problems, fertility issues, depression, diabetes, and insomnia aren’t for a lack of mediations, they’re due to the poor and mismatched environment we find ourselves in. Pottenger’s work shows how the simple act of eating poorly can destroy a group in just a handful of generations. We’re up against more than inferior nutrition, yet that should be the EASIEST choice.

Is dysevolution a thing? Because if not, it’s certainly heading that direction. 

more on Pottenger's experiment