L’Homme, victime de son cerveau ?

Abstract

Is the obesity pandemia resulting from an inadequate human physiology faced to a changing alimentary environment or is it the consequence of his own peculiarities leading him to build himself an unadapted environment, thus differing from animals like apes (monkeys)?We propose an enlarged conceptual organization of the regulation of food intake and body mass. It would imply four partners. The level of energy intake, metabolic energy utilisation, the level of fat stores and functional digestive ability. Each of these four players would be a controlled variable in relation to the three others and at the same time working towards their control in a system in dynamic equilibrium. They would be under the permanent control of a central integrator able to limit the variation of the center of gravity of the system in acceptable bounds relatively to an individual set point.A number of physiologic knowledges support this concept and we may insist on the role of visceral sensitivity and central integration. The refinement of the regulation of our integrity offering important adaptative mechanisms lead us to consider that human physiology is able to cope with usual changes of our alimentary environment.By exploring what coud differenciate humans from animals, particularly apes, the idea arises that humans could be victimized by his cognitive capabilities and more particularly by his communicative capabilities. Able to construct and to infer from incomplete knowledge he is capable to build up an unadapted environment driving him to destruction.Again, whatever their illusions human beeings cannot infrige their physiologic limits.