The Nutritional Ecology of Obesity

On 29 October 2020, Prof David Raubenheimer (The University of Sydney) spoke to the Food Values Research Group about nutrient specific appetites among humans and animals.

David spoke about the similarities and differences between the dietary intakes of both humans and animals. He presented evidence of the way in which animals regulate their diet to maintain a balanced intake of nutrients and also discussed the way in which animals deal with dietary imbalance in times of food unavailability. On the other hand, imbalance in human diets has had major implications for weight gain and overall health. This imbalance has been caused in part by the increasing prevalence of processed foods in modern human diets. In discussing the human food environment, David also spoke about external factors such as taste, cost and politics, and the impact these have on food consumption.

You can view the full presentation here.