Balance as Nature Provided

Sandon Stokes

Curated Paper #1

Balance as Nature Provided

The earth holds an outstanding abundance of diverse ecological systems teaming with millions of different species from microorganisms to the largest of mammals. These ecosystems require a balance of many different factors from the amount of sunlight received each day, precipitation, predator-prey relationships and adequate habitat. When the ecosystems are in balance with vital factors, life flourishes and species thrive. On the other hand when some of those conditions are not met or there is too much of something disorder occurs. For example, if all the top predators are removed from a jungle the prey they once fed upon becomes overabundant with no limit to their reproduction causing damage to underlying food networks. These trophic cascades are intricate and very complex, but one thing is obvious, they require balance. 

Of the most complex organisms on planet Earth is the human body. With 11 different organ systems and over 200 different cell types we are in a sense our own ecological system. Much like the ecosystems in nature, the human body requires optimal conditions to thrive and live. Some of those basic conditions include air, water, food and shelter. It is obvious to us that when these basic conditions are not fulfilled there is disorder and surmountable distress caused even to threaten human life. 

Now, not all of the conditions of the human body are that severe in their consequences. Much like the ecosystem in nature if one piece of the puzzle is missing the system doesn’t automatically collapse, but it does cause an amount of distress to disrupt the natural balance of the community. This is the same way with the human body. When vital conditions are not fulfilled or are over abundant the result is not death but a lesser form called disease. Thus the ecosystem of the human body requires a balance to remain in a stable healthy condition.

Humans evolved from living in hunter gatherer societies that are drastically different from our modern society. In this kind of society they relied on hunting, fishing and foraging for nutritious vegetation as their sources of food. Groups of people travelled many miles to find food and were consistently changing areas where they lived. They also lived in small tight knit communities where everyone played a role and was important for the survival of the group. This way of life is very different from our current culture, we essentially may not fit for our current modern life. The way we now live may be out of balance to how evolution was built for millions of years. Thus, as we see that an ecosystem without balance leads to disorder and chaos and the same may be true for the human race. 

In our modern society one of the fastest increasing diseases is Obesity. According to the National Institute of Health 1 in 3 adults are reported to be obese and and this rate has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years. Obesity is defined by a person having a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 with excess amount of body fat. Obesity is a disease that has been generally referenced to people who have a lack of willpower and discipline when it comes to diet, but there are actually a lot more factors that play into the disease. Some of those factors include, nutritional content of food, stress and the microbiome of the digestive tract.

A common misconception of the nutrition field is that all calories are created equal, but current academic research has shown otherwise. Diets high in fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate have shown to be more effective in fat loss than standard diets while both are maintaining the same caloric load. Diets like this are similar to what our hunter gatherer ancestors would have found available to eat travelling place to place. This finding is hypothesized that eating this way has more nutritional value than standard diets and allows for better uptake of minerals and vitamins which allow the body to work more efficiently. Nutrition plays into the balance of the human body, when the body has the correct nutrients available it functions better.

Another factor that contributes to obesity is the amount of stress in daily life. While stress responses are natural for the human body during times of immediate danger, like getting chased by a lion, but if that response is left on too long those stress hormones can wreak havoc. One symptom of chronic stress is weight gain. This is caused by stress hormones stimulating hunger signals constantly leading to overconsuming nutrients even though the body has more than enough. 

The last factor to note is how the microbiome in the digestive tract can influence metabolism. The microbiome is heavily influenced by the diet and environment which surround us. Within the microbiome there are many different bacteria that communicate and work with the human body in intricate mechanisms. Scientific research is just barely starting to understand how it influences disease like obesity and other metabolic syndromes. One interesting new finding is that people who are obese have very different microbiomes than those people who are normal weight. Researchers even went a step further into testing to see if transplanting the microbiome of a lean person into an obese person would have an effect. This this process know as a Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) showed that obese patients who recieved the transplant lost a significant amount of weight than those who had a placebo while neither group changed diet or activity levels. This is a preliminary new finding, but quite interesting to see how the microbiome influences the metabolic processes as welll.

Another imbalance that is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States is Diabetes. This disease is characterized by the human body’s inability to utilize glucose in the body. This is caused by the pancreas not producing insulin (Type 1) or by insulin resistance (Type 2). Both are denoted by high blood sugar levels and can lead to neuropathy, cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer's disease. In type 2 diabetes, there is an excess amount of glucose in the blood, more than the body can handle at a time. When the blood sugar is out of balance, damaging inflammation is triggered leading to a cascade of other maladies. Because our modern way of eating is drastically different then our evolutionary diet, the body is essentially not made to handle such levels of sugar in the common diet. The majority of sugar found by our ancestors would have been in fruit which wasn’t always in season. Cheesecake and ice cream were not something they were able to forage for or hunt down so thus the modern nutritional intake may not be in balance from which evolution granted. 

Treatments of diabetes include a number of prescriptions that lower blood sugar and allow the body to use glucose more efficiently. With these medical treatments though, there are a multitude of side effects ranging from weight gain to liver disease. New diet and exercise therapies are being researched to control diabetes without medication. One such diet of interest is the Ketogenic Diet with less than 10% of the energy obtained come from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are our main source of sugars and energy in the diet but if not kept in check could lead to high blood sugar. Research has shown that this diet lowers blood glucose levels in diabetes patients better than medication in some cases without the side effects. This may be because the way of eating closely resembles to how people ate for thousands of years prior to industrialization and the rise of agriculture.

Exercise as well as shown promising effects on slowing the progression of diabetes. Some forms of exercise that have shown the greatest effect are strength training and aerobic exercises. Exercise allows the body to use glucose more efficiently, decrease stress and improve quality of life overall. Again, exercise reflects more of our ancestral history and what we are adapted to be doing. Lifting weights and running mimics the lifestyle once had for thousands of years travelling and hunting.

Hunter gatherer communities still exist today in some isolated parts of the world and some scientists say they are the model of health and wellness. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other metabolic syndromes are a rarity and even life expectancy rivals that of industrialized nations without modern medicine. In these communities daily exercise time is much higher than the common sedentary lifestyle in developed nations. Their diets as well are much more rich in nutrients that are lacking in modern diets. In a sense these societies may be living in a balance that evolution has provided.

From ethnographic studies on hunter gatherer societies we know much about the health and lack of disease in these communities. Modern society is nothing like this and is rampant with cardiovascular and metabolic disorder. It may seem unrealistic to return to living in hunter gatherer societies, but there are some things we can do to return to balance. Exercise, adequate nutrition, and stress management may be differences between modern society and our hunter gatherer society. By improving on these aspects we may be able prevent disease and increase quality of life. By doing so we may be able to live in harmony with which nature has provided.