Burn, Herman Pontzer PhD
Burn, Herman Pontzer PhD
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Burn
New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy

Author: Herman Pontzer PhD

Narrator: P.J. Ochlan

Unabridged: 11 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/02/2021

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

One of the foremost researchers in human metabolism reveals surprising new science behind food and exercise.

We burn 2,000 calories a day. And if we exercise and cut carbs, we'll lose more weight. Right? Wrong. In this paradigm-shifting book, Herman Pontzer reveals for the first time how human metabolism really works so that we can finally manage our weight and improve our health.

Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes show how exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. This was a brilliant evolutionary strategy to survive in times of famine. Now it seems to doom us to obesity. The good news is we can lose weight, but we need to cut calories. Refuting such weight-loss hype as paleo, keto, anti-gluten, anti-grain, and even vegan, Pontzer discusses how all diets succeed or fail: For shedding pounds, a calorie is a calorie.

At the same time, we must exercise to keep our body systems and signals functioning optimally, even if it won't make us thinner. Hunter-gatherers like the Hadza move about five hours a day and remain remarkably healthy into old age. But elite athletes can push the body too far, burning calories faster than their bodies can take them in. It may be that the most spectacular athletic feats are the result not just of great training, but of an astonishingly efficient digestive system.

Revealing, irreverent, and always entertaining, Pontzer has written a book that will change how you eat, move, and live.

* This audiobook edition contains a downloadable PDF of charts included in the print edition.

About The Author

Herman Pontzer is an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University and Associate Research Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. He is an internationally recognized researcher in human energetics and evolution. Over two decades of research in the field and laboratory, Dr. Pontzer has conducted pathbreaking studies across a range of settings, including fieldwork with Hadza hunter-gatherers in northern Tanzania, fieldwork on chimpanzee ecology in the rainforests of Uganda, and metabolic measurements of great apes in zoos and sanctuaries around the globe. Dr. Pontzer's work has been covered in The New York Times, BBC, PBS, Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, Scientific American, and others.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on March 12, 2021

I've always struggled with my weight, but during my 8-year drug addiction, I put on over 200 lbs. I've been sober for 8.5 years, and I've been struggling to take the weight off. Something that drives me nuts is all of the non-scientific contradictory information about diet and exercise out there, so......more

Goodreads review by 8stitches 9lives on March 01, 2021

One of the foremost researchers in human metabolism reveals surprising new science behind food and exercise. We burn 2,000 calories a day. And if we exercise and cut carbs, we'll lose more weight. Right? Wrong. In this paradigm-shifting book, Herman Pontzer reveals for the first time how human metab......more

Goodreads review by Alek on October 01, 2021

The smarmy tone and navel gazing that suffuses this tome cannot make up for any number of useful anecdotes about his adventures: “We were a clever crew, after all—budding scientists pursuing our PhDs at prestigious academic institutions from around the world. We had the intelligence and temperament t......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on September 24, 2021

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. I was prepared to give it five stars at the beginning, but at the end I found myself having to put the book down every three or four pages in order of pace out my frustration. I've settled on three because the science is sound and I think incredibly im......more

Goodreads review by Debra on April 17, 2021

I had such high hopes for this book. Had to sift through much information ( honestly though interesting, I skimmed a lot of it) to locate what I wanted. About 15,000 steps to maintain weight, eat less than 2,000 calories ( more like 1500 or less) to lose weight.......more


Quotes

"A wide-ranging romp through evolutionary biology, physiology, and anthropology, Burn will make you question what you think you know about metabolism and your waistline."
–Stephan Guyenet, PhD,  author of The Hungry Brain

"Burn
is science writing at its best: big ideas, wild and often hilarious stories from the field, and deft explanations. The result will reshape what you thought you knew about how our metabolisms work."
—Alex Hutchinson, New York Times bestselling author of Endure

"Herman Pontzer is one of the most gifted science writers of our time."
–Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author of The Joy of Movement

"Herman Pontzer’s Burn is a fun, fast-paced, eye-opening, and innovative book that will revolutionize how you think about the energy that fuels your body and everything you do. Please read Burn if you are interested in diet, exercise and what makes us human. It’s also enormously entertaining."  
–Daniel E. Lieberman, author of Exercised and The Story of the Human Body

"An absorbing, instructive lesson for anyone concerned about their health."
Kirkus starred review