Everyday Systems

Persistence-hunting, water-carrying, tree-climbing hunter-gatherers don’t actually expend more energy than lazy soda-guzzling Westerners, a new study has found, dispelling the popular notion that losing weight is all about burning calories.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Ad ... ne.0040503

This study adds credence NOS theory that we gain weight because we eat too much, therefore control food volume and lose weight.

UPDATE

After reading other reviews of the study and my further review it's my opinion that the study's conclusions are not valid because:

1.Westerners and the Hadza are not comparable for obvious ethnic and sociological reasons and

2.Westerners burn the same amount of calories because they are bigger and fatter than the Hadza. The Hadza burn more calories per pound of bodyweight.

My most sincere apologies if my original post misled anyone.

Weight gain or loss is not only about diet. There are many other crucial factors involved. If this study you have mentioned puts forward one theory there are hundreds or thousands more which talk about the importance of exercise or how physical activity helps expend more energy. What’s importance is to understand there are multiple factors involved in weight loss or gain.

The study measured the Hadza hunter-gatherers and found that although "physical activity level, PAL, was greater among Hadza foragers than among Westerners...average daily energy expenditure of traditional Hadza foragers was no different than that of Westerners after controlling for body size. The metabolic cost of walking (kcal kg−1 m−1) and resting (kcal kg−1 s−1) were also similar among Hadza and Western groups. The similarity in metabolic rates across a broad range of cultures challenges current models of obesity suggesting that Western lifestyles lead to decreased energy expenditure. We hypothesize that human daily energy expenditure may be an evolved physiological trait largely independent of cultural differences."

Please provide randomized control trials that support your theory and challenge the researchers' study.