The move from hunter-gatherer to agriculture certainly severely impacted nutrition - but the trade off was that on the whole more infants survived (infant mortality in hunter gatherers is really grim, as are the maternal stats for that matter) and the farm lifestyle supports massively higher population densities. I'd rather have been an ancient egyptian than an ancient hunter gatherer. The same tradeoff happened again with urbanization, even worse diets (i.e much more processed grains and even fewer vegetables/meats in exchange for even higher population density). Really its only been in the last 150 years or so that poor city dwellers have had the option of a decent diet - and I suspect if you asked a resident of any 1850s city whether they'd swap their life for one in the deprived parts of the US today they'd jump at it in a heartbeat. Historically humans have been too thin not too fat.
In re exercise and diet. I suspect that prior overindulgence (and genetics) contributed to Mr Fixx' heart problems. Personally I've never been a lardass or smoked heavily and while I've not weighed myself religiously but I doubt my weight has ever been above 90kg and I know my waist has never been above 38". Mind you having said "can eat whatever" I generally don't pig out on Foie gras or even cakes. I eat them with gusto on occasion but in general we eat a lot of cooked and raw veggies, meat and fish as well as the carbo sources of rice, potatoes and grains. It seems to me the key is to eat in moderation most of the time.
no subject
In re exercise and diet. I suspect that prior overindulgence (and genetics) contributed to Mr Fixx' heart problems. Personally I've never been a lardass or smoked heavily and while I've not weighed myself religiously but I doubt my weight has ever been above 90kg and I know my waist has never been above 38". Mind you having said "can eat whatever" I generally don't pig out on Foie gras or even cakes. I eat them with gusto on occasion but in general we eat a lot of cooked and raw veggies, meat and fish as well as the carbo sources of rice, potatoes and grains. It seems to me the key is to eat in moderation most of the time.