PEDS334 Lecture Notes - Thrifty Gene Hypothesis, Glut4, Blood Sugar

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Physical Education and Sport
• Course: PEDS334
• Professor: Scott Forbes

Document Summary

Need for regular physical activity to maintain normal metabolic function. Food abundance + sedentary lifestyle = metabolic derangement. In hunter gatherer, we would have to do physical activity to get the food. If there was an unsuccessful hunt or there was drought, there would be famine. There was a rest physical activity cycle. Blood insulin goes down when we do activity, increases when we eat. People who survived more were the ones who could conserve muscle glycogen stores and replenish these stores. If you could replenish the stores, we could undergo more endurance tests. Thrifty gene hypothesis: our genome adapted to an environment lacking in predictable access to food, efficiently use and storage of energy. Hunter gatherer: humans evolved during palaeolithic period (2. 6 million 10,000 years ago, human genome remained same but our diet and lifestyle are very different. Daily physical activity required for hunting and foraging for food survival: men hunted 1-4 days/week, women gathered food every 2-3 days.