If I eat really crappy food, like McDonald’s, before work where I walk upwards of 6 miles a day or more, I’m obviously burning off some of the bad stuff in the food, but why? What makes walking burn off and lower the consequences of eating really bad food?
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Your body was designed to be a hunter/gatherer. Your body still thinks that you are a caveman, and so it responds that way. If Caveman Bob runs across a Big Mac Extra Value Meal when he’s out hunting the Woolly Mammoth, that’s *awesome*. It has almost everything his body needs. He’s gonna eat the Big Mac, the Large Fries, and guzzle that Large Dr Pepper. He just got enough calories to sustain him the rest of the day, and halfway through tomorrow. You go, Caveman Bob.
Later that day, Caveman Bob comes across the Mammoth he’s hunting. The carbohydrates from the Extra Value Meal are giving him plenty of energy. He’s going to be fully fueled to throw like ten spears, and then chase after the Mammoth until it collapses. He can now feed the other people in his tribe. Next time Caveman Bob comes across an Extra Value Meal just sitting there on the ground in 50,000 BC, he’s going to be sure to scarf it all down.
Our bodies are designed to splurge on sugar and fats. Those things aren’t common in nature, just laying on the ground where you can find them. Coming across an Extra Value Meal in 50,000 BC is a rare treat. As a result, whenever you *do* find something with a little extra fat or sugar, your body signals “eat as much of this as you can!!!” Since Caveman Bob spends his whole life on the edge of starvation, the idea of getting *too many* calories is ridiculous. He’ll just store the rest as fat on his body, which is wonderful the next time there’s no food for a month.
But you aren’t Caveman Bob. You don’t have to find rare plant fruits with a little bit of spare sugar. You can go to McDonald’s ten times a day if you want (don’t worry, they will let you). McDonald’s food isn’t *poison*. It’s perfectly healthy. But you have to keep in mind that your body sends you hunger signals to keep you from starving to death. It doesn’t know that you are playing video games instead of going out hunting the Mammoth. If doesn’t know that you haven’t got off your fat ass for longer than it takes to walk fifteen feet to the bathroom in more than a year.
If you are walking six miles a day at work? McDonald’s is probably just fine. You probably need to drink some orange juice every now and then, maybe eat some vegetables every once in a while, just to make sure all your nutrients are covered. But yeah if you aren’t overweight, having a Big Mac isn’t hurting you.
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