Skip to main content

Obesitas: evolutie van een symptoom van overvloed

Hoe voedsel ons bestaan heeft vormgegeven

Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Diabetologie volume 9, pages 175–184 (2011)Cite this article

Samenvatting

In dit artikel wordt de evolutionaire achtergrond geschetst van de ongekende obesitasepidemie die in de vorige eeuw ontstaan is. Zo’n twee miljoen jaar geleden bracht een klimaatverandering in de habitat van onze primatenvoorouders voedingsaanpassingen op gang die maakten dat onze hersenen konden groeien. Een verschuiving in eetgewoonten voornamelijk gebaseerd op koolhydraten naar eetgewoonten op basis van vis en vlees verschafte voldoende brandstof en bouwstenen om encefalisatie mogelijk te maken. Tegelijkertijd kan insulineresistentie zijn ontstaan als middel om het gevaar van cerebrale hypoglycemie (in het licht van de afgenomen inname van koolhydraten) af te wenden. De daaruit voortvloeiende cognitieve vermogens maakten controle over vuur en de vervaardiging van gereedschappen mogelijk, waardoor voedsel nog meer energie ging opleveren en verdediging tegen roofdieren makkelijker werd. Die laatste ontwikkeling verlichtte de selectieve druk om een optimaal lichaamsgewicht te handhaven, een druk die aangestuurd werd door de predatie van te zware individuen. Willekeurige mutaties die maakten dat het lichaamsgewicht kon toenemen, hebben zich sindsdien via genetische ‘drift’ in de menselijke genenpool verspreid. Ook heeft (seizoensgebonden) voedselonzekerheid in jager-verzamelaargemeenschappen aangezet tot de evolutie van zuinigheidsgenen die tot optimalisatie leidden van de absorptie van voedingsstoffen en de opslag van energie in tijden van voedselaanbod. Door de agrarische en industriële revoluties is onze habitat snel veranderd: vrijwel onbeperkte voorraden van (geraffineerde) voedingsmiddelen en mechanische vervanging van fysieke inspanning stuwen de energiebalans omhoog, vooral bij diegenen onder ons die nog altijd zijn aangepast aan vroegere leefomstandigheden, dat wil zeggen mensen met zuinigheidsgenen en ontbrekende (genetische) bescherming tegen gewichtstoename. Intra-uteriene epigenetische mechanismen versterken potentieel de invloed van deze genen op de aanleg voor obesitas.

Summary

This paper delineates the evolutionary background of the unprecedented epidemic of obesity that has evolved over the last century. Some two million years ago, a change of climate in the habitat of our primate ancestors triggered dietary adaptations which allowed our brain to grow. A shift from principally carbohydrate- based to fish- and meat-based eating habits provided sufficient fuel and building blocks to facilitate encephalisation. Insulin resistance may have evolved simultaneously as a means to avert the danger of hypoglycaemia to the brain (in view of the reduction of carbohydrate intake). Ensuing cognitive capacities enabled the control of fire and the manufacturing of tools, which increased energy yield from food even further and eased the defence against predators. The latter development relieved the selective pressure to maintain an upper level of bodyweight (driven by predation of overweight individuals). Since then, random mutations allowing bodyweight to increase spread in the human gene pool by genetic drift. Also, (seasonal) food insecurity in hunter-gatherer societies spurred the evolution of thrifty genes to maximise nutrient intake and energy storage when food was available. The agricultural and industrial revolutions rapidly changed our habitat: virtually unlimited stocks of (refined) foodstuffs and mechanical substitutes of physical efforts push up energy balance, particularly in those of us who are still adapted to former environmental conditions: i.e. who carry thrifty genes and lack (genetic) protection against weight gain. Intrauterine epigenetic mechanisms potentially reinforce the impact of these genes on the propensity to grow obese.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Referenties

  1. WHO. Global Strategy on Diet Physical Activity and Health. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/index.html.

  2. WHO. Global Alliance for the Prevention of Obesity and Related Chronic Disease. http://www.preventionalliance.net.

  3. Haslam D, Rigby N. A long look at obesity. Lancet. 2010;376(9735): 85–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Gaulin SJC, Konner M. On the natural diet of primates, including humans. In: Wurtman RJ, Wurtman JJ, editors. Nutrition and the Brain. New York: Raven Press, 1977;1–86.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Reed KE. Early hominid evolution and ecological change through the African Plio-Pleistocene. J Hum Evol. 1997; 32(2- 3): 289–322.

  6. Leonard WR, Robertson ML, Snodgrass JJ. Energetics and the evolution of brain size in early Homo. In: Roebroeks JWM, editor. Guts and Brains. An integrative approach to the hominin record. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2007: 29–46.

  7. Broadhurst CL, Cunnane SC, Crawford MA. Rift Valley lake fish and shellfish provided brain-specific nutrition for early Homo. Br J Nutr. 1998;79(1): 3–21.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cordain L, Eaton SB, Miller JB, Mann N, Hill K. The paradoxical nature of hunter-gatherer diets: meat-based, yet nonatherogenic. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002;56 Suppl 1:S42–S52.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Huang M-C, Brenna JT. On the relative efficacy of alinolenic acid and preformed docosahexanoic acid as substrates for tissue docohexanoate during perinatal development. In: Mostofsky DI, Yehuda S Jr, editors. Fatty acids: physiological and behavioral functions. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2001: 99–113.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Carlson BA, Kingston JD. Docosahexaenoic acid, the aquatic diet, and hominin encephalization: difficulties in establishing evolutionary links. Am J Hum Biol. 2007;19(1): 132–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Leonard WR, Snodgrass JJ, Robertson ML. Effects of brain evolution on human nutrition and metabolism. Annu Rev Nutr. 2007;27: 311–27.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Cunnane SC, Crawford MA. Survival of the fattest: fat babies were the key to evolution of the large human brain. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2003;136(1): 17–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Cordain L, Watkins BA, Mann NJ. Fatty acid composition and energy density of foods available to African hominids. Evolutionary implications for human brain development. World Rev Nutr Diet. 2001;90: 144–61.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Goren-Inbar N, Alperson N, Kislev ME, Simchoni O, Melamed Y, Ben-Nun A, et al. Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Science. 2004;304(5671): 725–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Carmody RN, Wrangham RW. The energetic significance of cooking. J Hum Evol. 2009;57(4): 379–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. McDonald K. Ecological hypotheses for human brain evolution: evidence for skill and learning processes in the ethnographic literature on hunting. In: Roebroeks JWM, editor. Guts and Brains. An integrative approach to the hominin record. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2007: 107–32.

  17. Coward F, Gamble C. Big brains, small worlds: material culture and the evolution of the mind. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2008;363(1499): 1969–79.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Guthrie RD. Haak and Steek-The tool that allowed hominins to colonize the African savanna and to fourish there. In Roebroeks JWM, editor. Guts and Brains. An integrative approach to the hominin record. Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2007: 133–64.

  19. Speakman JR. A nonadaptive scenario explaining the genetic predisposition to obesity: the ‘predation release’ hypothesis. Cell Metab. 2007;6(1): 5–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Stringer C. Human evolution: Out of Ethiopia. Nature. 2003;423(6941): 692-3, 695.

  21. Diamond J. Guns Germs and Steel. The fates of human societies. New York: W.W.Norton & Company Ltd, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Cordain L, Miller JB, Eaton SB, Mann N, Holt SH, Speth JD. Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000; 71(3): 682–92.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Cordain L, Watkins BA, Florant GL, Kelher M, Rogers L, Li Y. Fatty acid analysis of wild ruminant tissues: evolutionary implications for reducing diet-related chronic disease. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002;56(3): 181–91.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Cohen MN. Health and the rise of civilisation. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1989.

  25. Cohen MN. The significance of long-term changes in human diet and food economy. In: Harris M, Ross EB, editors. Food and Evolution: Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1987: 261–83.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Cassidy CM. Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers: a case study of two prehistoric populations. In: Jerome NW, Kandel RF, Pelto GH, editors. Nutritional Anthropology: Contemporary Approaches to Diet and Culture. Pleasantville, NY: Redgrave Publishing Co, 1980: 117–45.

  27. Ruff CB, Trinkaus E, Holliday TW. Body mass and encephalization in Pleistocene Homo. Nature. 1997;387(6629): 173–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Haslam D. Obesity: a medical history. Obes Rev. 2007; 8 Suppl 1: 31–6.

    Google Scholar 

  29. O’Grada C. Markets and famines in pre-industrial Europe. Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 2005;36: 143–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Maddison A. The World Economy. Historical Statistics. Paris: OECD, 2003.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  31. Food and Agricultural Organisation EaSDD. World Agriculture: towards 2015/2030. Summary Report. 2002.

  32. Popkin BM, Gordon-Larsen P. The nutrition transition: worldwide obesity dynamics and their determinants. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28 Suppl 3:S2–S9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Cordain L, Eaton SB, Sebastian A, Mann N, Lindeberg S, Watkins BA, et al. Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;81(2): 341–54.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. O’Keefe JH, Vogel R, Lavie CJ, Cordain L. Achieving Huntergatherer Fitness in the 21(st) Century: Back to the Future. Am J Med. 2010;123(12): 1082–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Haslam DW, James WP. Obesity. Lancet. 2005;366(9492): 1197–209.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. van Marken Lichtenbelt WD, Vanhommerig JW, Smulders NM, Drossaerts JM, Kemerink GJ, Bouvy ND, et al. Coldactivated brown adipose tissue in healthy men. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(15): 1500–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Cypess AM, Lehman S, Williams G, Tal I, Rodman D, Goldfne AB, et al. Identifcation and importance of brown adipose tissue in adult humans. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(15): 1509–17.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Diamond J. The double puzzle of diabetes. Nature. 2003;423(6940): 599–602.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Daniel M, Rowley KG, McDermott R, Mylvaganam A, O’Dea K. Diabetes incidence in an Australian aboriginal population. An 8-year follow-up study. Diabetes Care. 1999;22(12): 1993–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Ebbesson SO, Schraer CD, Risica PM, Adler AI, Ebbesson L, Mayer AM, et al. Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in three Alaskan Eskimo populations. The Alaska-Siberia Project. Diabetes Care. 1998;21(4): 563–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. O’Dea K. Marked improvement in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in diabetic Australian aborigines after temporary reversion to traditional lifestyle. Diabetes. 1984;33(6): 596–603.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Neel JV. Diabetes mellitus: a ‘thrifty’ genotype rendered detrimental by ‘progress’? Am J Hum Genet. 1962;14: 353–62.

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Vallence-Owen J, Lilley MD. Insulin antagonism in the plasma of obese diabetic and prediabetics. Lancet. 1961;1(7181): 806–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Neel JV, Weder AB, Julius S. Type II diabetes, essential hypertension, and obesity as ‘syndromes of impaired genetic homeostasis’: the ‘thrifty genotype’ hypothesis enters the 21st century. Perspect Biol Med. 1998;42(1): 44–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Maes HH, Neale MC, Eaves LJ. Genetic and environmental factors in relative body weight and human adiposity. Behav Genet. 1997;27(4): 325–51.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. O’Rahilly S. Human genetics illuminates the paths to metabolic disease. Nature. 2009;462(7271): 307–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. McCarthy MI. Genomics, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(24): 2339–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. O’Rahilly S, Farooqi IS. Genetics of obesity. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2006;361(1471): 1095–105.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Staiger H, Machicao F, Fritsche A, Haring HU. Pathomechanisms of type 2 diabetes genes. Endocr Rev. 2009;30(6): 557–85.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Stumvoll M, Goldstein BJ, van Haeften TW. Type 2 diabetes: principles of pathogenesis and therapy. Lancet. 2005;365(9467): 1333–46.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Walley AJ, Asher JE, Froguel P. The genetic contribution to non-syndromic human obesity. Nat Rev Genet. 2009;10(7): 431–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Barker DJ, Winter PD, Osmond C, Margetts B, Simmonds SJ. Weight in infancy and death from ischaemic heart disease. Lancet. 1989;2(8663): 577–80.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Jackson AA, Burdge GC, Lillycrop KA. Diet, nutrition and modulation of genomic expression in fetal origins of adult disease. World Rev Nutr Diet. 2010;101: 56–72.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Jaenisch R, Bird A. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression: how the genome integrates intrinsic and environmental signals. Nat Genet. 2003;33 Suppl: 245–54.

  55. Heerwagen MJ, Miller MR, Barbour LA, Friedman JE. Maternal obesity and fetal metabolic programming: a fertile epigenetic soil. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2010;299(3):R711–R722.

  56. Stein AD, Kahn HS, Rundle A, Zybert PA, van der Pal-de Bruin, Lumey LH. Anthropometric measures in middle age after exposure to famine during gestation: evidence from the Dutch famine. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(3): 869–76.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Hult M, Tornhammar P, Ueda P, Chima C, Bonamy AK, Ozumba B, et al. Hypertension, diabetes and overweight: looming legacies of the Biafran famine. PLoS One. 2010;5(10):e1358–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. DeFronzo RA. Pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Med Clin North Am. 2004;88(4): 787-835, ix.

  59. Pereira S, Marliss EB, Morais JA, Chevalier S, Gougeon R. Insulin resistance of protein metabolism in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes. 2008;57(1): 56–63.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Alberti KG, Eckel RH, Grundy SM, Zimmet PZ, Cleeman JI, Donato KA, et al. Harmonizing the metabolic syndrome: a joint interim statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association; World Heart Federation; International Atherosclerosis Society; and International Association for the Study of Obesity. Circulation. 2009;120(16): 1640–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Lahiry P, Pollex RL, Hegele RA. Uncloaking the genetic determinants of metabolic syndrome. J Nutrigenet Nutrigenomics. 2008;1(3): 118–25.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Colagiuri S, Brand MJ. The ‘carnivore connection’–evolutionary aspects of insulin resistance. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2002;56 Suppl 1:S30–S35.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Miller JC, Colagiuri S. The carnivore connection: dietary carbohydrate in the evolution of NIDDM. Diabetologia. 1994;37(12): 1280–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Galic S, Oakhill JS, Steinberg GR. Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2010;316(2): 129–39.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Pasquali R, Patton L, Gambineri A. Obesity and infertility. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2007;14(6): 482–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Afdeling interne geneeskunde, Universitair Medisch Centrum Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Hanno Pijl

Authors
  1. Hanno Pijl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanno Pijl.

Additional information

In: Neth J Med. 2011 Apr;69(4):159-66.

Afdeling interne geneeskunde, Universitair Medisch Centrum Leiden

Correspondentie:

Hanno Pijl Afdeling interne geneeskunde Universitair Medisch Centrum Leiden tel.: +31 (0)71 526 37 38

h.pijl@lumc.nl

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pijl, H. Obesitas: evolutie van een symptoom van overvloed. NED. TIJDSCHR. DIABET. 9, 175–184 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12467-011-0126-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12467-011-0126-0