Tag Archive for: hippopotamus

Body Fat: Location Matters

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Last week, I mentioned in passing that a hippopotamus has less body fat than most humans. Since then, I’ve wondered exactly how little body fat they had. By several estimations, it’s around 5%—about the same as elite soccer players. That’s not enough fat to cause the hippo health problems as we see in humans; they have a thick skin and a bad disposition to boot. What they also have is a lot of muscle.

I was reminded about the differences between visceral and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is found underneath the skin and seems to be more a storage facility for fat. Visceral fat is the worst type because it’s packed in and around our organs like the liver, kidneys, and intestines. It’s also metabolically active and not in a good way. It causes the release of inflammatory hormones which contribute to all sorts of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. But is it hazardous for every person who is obese, even morbidly obese? I’ll let you know on Saturday.

Tomorrow is the Insider Conference Call. Without realizing it, I picked a day where many readers have another important teleconference that they want to attend. The Guest Pass is still a great option because you can watch the replay at your leisure, and if you send your questions before the meeting begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, I’ll answer them as well. It’s an opportunity to double your education investment that can help your business and your health. I hope you’ll join me.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Your Perfect Diet

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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.