Hunter-Gatherer | Health and human nature from an evolutionary perspective

Natural bacteria are cleaning up the BP oil spill

The BP oil spill is dissipating faster than expected. Why? One reason is bacteria. From today's NYT:

"Scientists said the rapid dissipation of the surface oil was probably due to a combination of factors. The gulf has an immense natural capacity to break down oil, which leaks into it at a steady rate from thousands of natural seeps. Though none of the seeps is anywhere near the size of the Deepwater Horizon leak, they do mean that the gulf is swarming with bacteria that can eat oil."

When I attended Jackson Landers' deer hunting seminar earlier this year (see here and here), we learned how deer can't immediately eat as much as they want of a new food supply (say, acorns) -- it can take a few days to grow the required bacteria in their stomachs.

Makes you wonder about all the beneficial bacteria we kill off with the overuse of antibiotics.

Dan Lieberman back from Africa

Harvard Professor Dan Lieberman just joined Barefoot Runners NYC for a morning run in Central Park. We did a little over 3 miles before I had to split. He's recently back from Kenya, the land of barefoot runners, where he is preparing for an ambitious study on running injuries. Very cool.

Amazing, though, how few companies and institutions are interested in funding his work. I can't think of a more practical area of study, with direct implications for tens of millions of running Americans. Professor Lieberman also observed how psychologically wedded we are to our fancy modern running shoes -- even though they're only a few decades old.

You can check out a few interviews with Professor Lieberman.

Workout Anywhere #24: The Hotel Rooftop

With the right mindset, you can find a good workout anywhere.

I was at a wedding in Chicago this weekend. The hotel had a nice gym (by conventional standards), but I had forgotten to bring VFFs or sneakers. And of course, they don't allow people to work out barefoot. So I did some laps in the pool, then went out on a sun balcony and improvised my own CrossFit-style workout. I used different pieces of furniture for box jumps and uneven push-ups, and then did some squats, burpees, and some ab work. A few circuits of that hit the spot. Plus, a stunning view of Chicago, fresh air, a nice breeze, and no rules on footwear.

Finished, I went back into the pool area. A hotel employee walked past me and out on the balcony, apparently looking for whomever was jumping on furniture on the roof. He went that-a-way, sir, and I got a good look at him: no beard, short hair, very clean cut, wearing shoes.

Another benefit to high intensity, short duration workouts: you're done before the authorities notice and can come tell you to stop.

Footnote:

(Photo credits: Lily Harrington)

Healthy is the new normal

I took biology during my freshman year of high school. The class came right after lunch, and I struggled to stay awake. It should have been easy. Our teacher, Mr. Otto, was a rock star. He had studied gorillas in Africa (Lesotho), rocked a pony tail (and pulled it off), and was just one of those cool teachers. But day after day, I'd nod off in class. I just accepted it as normal -- people get sleepy after lunch. No different than people getting sleepy at night.

It didn't help that I couldn't see the blackboard. It was a large, lab-style classroom and I sat near the back. As I would squint at the board trying to take notes, I thought, "Huh, it's a little odd that they would build a classroom so long that you couldn't see the blackboard from the back." As if the classroom were defective, not my eyes. (My delusions of grandeur started at a young age.) I asked the girl sitting next to me if she could see the blackboard. She said no, it's fuzzy for me too. So we both continued squinting, confirming each other's belief that we each had normal eyesight. Turns out, of course, that both of us needed glasses.

The moral is simple. Don't define "normal" by looking at the people around you. We understand this concept in the case of the girl with bad eyesight sitting next to me in class, but we forget it elsewhere. We think that if everybody in our family has bad eyesight, then it's normal to have bad eyesight. Or if everybody in the country is overweight, then it's normal to be overweight. Or if all the kids in class fall asleep after lunch, then it's normal to be tired after eating.

But when you widen your frame of reference to include other people (like other cultures) and periods of time (like our hunter-gatherer ancestors), you see normal in a whole new light. The body's natural condition is to be healthy. That is normal. And to be overweight is abnormal, to have acne is abnormal, to have flat feet is abnormal, to have allergies is abnormal, to get sick every month is abnormal, to fall asleep after every meal is abnormal, to be weak is abnormal, to be depressed is abnormal, to be unhealthy is abnormal.

Well, it's time to take back normal. Healthy is the new normal.