An international group of researchers have recently shown that the addition of excess weight among urban residents of the civilized world is not the result of a sedentary lifestyle. The fact that primitive hunter and city residents a day spend the same amount of energy. This was refuted the assumption that were considered obvious.

"Epidemic" of obesity, engulfing the entire civilized world has long vexed scientists, because no one can really say why this happened. Interestingly, the common people do not scratching their heads over this problem - they are confident that obesity comes from a lack of movement. They say, everything is clear - the inhabitants of the civilized world and often are moving, it is only from the sofa to the TV or from the machine to an office chair.

Well, if the answer is obvious, that, according to non-specialists, scientists nothing to break their heads over this problem and nothing to spend the budget money (which any man in the street loves to read, although they not belong). You just have to follow the example of king Julian from animated trilogy "Madagascar", which, as we know, rather "...like to move it".

However, as was fond of saying Sherlock Holmes, "nothing could so quickly be misleading, as things that seem obvious". By the way, if you remember the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, the eternal opponent Holmes inspector Lestrade never did this - and in the end could not solve any crimes, appearing regularly on the wrong path. That is why scientists always want to check any version, even if everything around it seems quite obvious - you don't want to collect "Lavra" Lestrade.

And now, an international team of researchers from the US, UK and Tanzania, having started this very serious work, first of all decided to find out how much energy it consumes each day of the average urban resident of the civilized world and hunter, living as ancient people lived. As the second model of the object have been selected representatives hunting the hadza tribe living in the North of Tanzania. Their way of life is really not very different from those that were primitive people.

It should be noted that hunting among the hadza are mostly adult men and women gather edible plants. Hunting weapons are bows and spears, which tips are for the most part are made of stones and rarely - from traded iron. When hunting of large game often used poisoned arrows. Since the peak of hunting falls on the dry season, groups of hunters every day make great transitions in search of prey.

However, all the other members of the tribe during the dry season't sit - they wander with their simple belongings from one water source to another. Sedentary life at the hadza begins only when it rains, when they build their huts from the grass with a frame made of branches. However, base camps, that is what can be called the "small homeland", none of the groups hadza not have - their life all the time passes in moving from place to place. Agree, it was difficult to find a more suitable object for research, whose way of life is so bright be contrasted with that of the modern sedentary civilized humanity.

Scientists for several months to find out how much energy on average spend the hadza in the daytime. Those members of the tribe, who agreed to cooperate with investigators and are constantly measured body weight, percent body fat, sweat rate, blood pressure, pulse, and other settings, change them, you can understand how many calories a day spends people. To ensure that the results are accurate, scientists built a separate graphics for adult men (and those of gazda is any boy after he reaches the age of 13 years), young women, children and the elderly of both sexes. Furthermore, the authors investigated the typical diet hazda and the frequency with which members of groups usually eat.

After the field research was completed, scientists have processed the results and finally found out how much energy on average spends a member of the tribe hasta every day. Similar data for urban inhabitants of Europe and America were already known, so scientists could only compare them. And now it turns out that the daily consumption of energy in modern citizens and primitive African hunter absolutely identical, that is, we spend the same amount of calories as representatives of the tribe hazda!

Moreover, the researchers suggested that, apparently, the usual level of metabolism in humans, no matter where he lived, generally constant, if his body is not experiencing extreme stress (although this hypothesis has to prove). However, apparently, it is in the balance loads that all living difficult, but the serene life of the African hunter take the muscular effort of the citizen takes away stress and intense mental activity. Which, by the way, despite the widespread delusion, takes even more calories than a simple exercise for the brain consumes several times more oxygen than all the muscles together.

So, as you see, studies have shown that what is obvious, actually not true (that is, Holmes again won Lestrade). But why residents of cities actively trying to enter overweight? Scientists think that perhaps the reason lies in the following - modern civilized man eats too much. For hazda three meals a day is a pipe dream - often they even twice a day to eat can't. But the inhabitants of the cities sometimes even this is not enough. By the way, portion size also matters - judging by weight, jazda a day eat a lot less.

Also can play a role and a variety of daily menu. African hunters eat every day almost the same thing - that they cannot find or catch (as in the Savannah during the dry season variants of production is not so much). As for urban residents, many of them have become quite usual to eat, for example, in "McDonalds", dine in the Italian restaurant, and dinner - in Japanese. Every day we used fundamentally different (caloric content and digestibility) food, and this too can affect metabolism.

So, it turns out from fitness, Jogging and exercising in the gym just no good? If you set a goal to lose weight, then - no. However, if a person just wants to maintain their health, then, of course, all this should do. Because it is absolutely certain that all representatives hasta excellent health, and they certainly is the result of daily physical activity...