Evolution Cons

Most of us pen down our new year resolutions and among that list many of us opt for starting a new diet plan. The motivation that we start with fizzles out quickly. The bright side is that you can now blame evolution for putting you through that guilt of not sticking with your diet. A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests that evolution is the main culprit for overeating during the winter and for the likely failure of your New Year's resolution to lose weight.

Researchers feel that storing fat was an insurance against the risk of failing to find food, which for pre-industrial humans was most likely in winter. Being overweight was not a significant survival threat to our ancestors; in fact being underweight was dangerous. In addition, maintaining body fat was a compulsion, especially during winters when finding food was a task. As a result we have developed the urge to eat excessively without taking into account the amount of calories we are secretly consuming; thus resulting in being overweight and obese. To add to it, today's foods have unnecessary calories (sugar and flavour) that tempt us to have an extra bite.Thus, if you want to diet you can start anytime during the year and not wait till New Year's Eve as evolution may play a small part in deviating from your intentions, especially during the winters.