Continuing what I learned from the podcast, I hope you had the chance to listen to it as well. I checked out Dr. Daniel Lieberman’s research, and he is a leading expert in his field. There are three facts that stood out to me.

Three Facts

The first thing I learned is that hippopotami have less body fat than the typical human being! It seems incredible that animals who are that round can have so little body fat. Assessing body fat was my job when I was in grad school, and whether that’s absolutely accurate or off by a bit, I’m not going to try to assess body fat in a hippo any time soon.

Second, as time proceeded, our digestive systems changed: our small intestine became longer and our large intestine became shorter. Our digestive system has adapted to cooked foods; that means our microbiome has shifted over the millennia, and less time is needed for fermentation in the gut to extract nutrients.

Third, the typical protein intake never really exceeded 30% of total dietary intake. We can survive on any type of diet as long as we get enough of the raw materials to take in or to make the nutrients we need such as hormones and vitamins.

The Bottom Line

There’s no perfect diet for everyone—we are too genetically different, raised in different environments, and process foods differently. The key is to find the perfect diet for you that gets you to a normal body weight and allows you to stay there. These recommendations never change: eat less. Eat better. Move more. For life.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Zoe. August 6, 2026. The Evolutionary Science Behind Why You Can’t Lose Weight.