I’ve tried to eat healthy for the majority of my adult life, especially as I’ve gotten older. Consistent exercise has also been a part of my regimen. Combined with regular chiropractic care, these are the pillars of wellness as taught by my father.
But like all of us, I occasionally fall off the wagon. My weakness is ice cream; mint chocolate chip to be exact. I have often vowed that toward the end of my life I will eat little else.
But I knew (or at least I thought I knew) that I could always add time to the treadmill, elliptical or stairs as an effective way of burning off those 137 excess calories that came with every scoop. The threat of an extra 25-20 minutes on the treadmill (per scoop) kept me from eating more than I could have.
Oddly, my exercise compensation method didn’t seem to be as effective as I thought it should have been.
I lived with this belief for decades – until a recent study1 of 4,200-plus people in 34 different countries confronted my belief with facts.
The study examined the energy expenditures of people living a wide range of lifestyles with varying levels of prosperity, including hunter-gatherer, pastoralist, farming, and industrialized populations. Findings revealed the following:
- People in more developed communities had greater body mass.
- Energy intake was greater in developed populations.
- Ultraprocessed food consumption was associated with body fat percentage.
- Adjusting for body size, energy expenditure did not vary much among the participants, with a marginal decrease for those in developed communities.
This last point threw me. It essentially means that pound-for-pound, we all burn the same amount of energy.
The study provided an example: Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania travel 5-8 miles a day in search of food. The nomadic Daasanach people are crop farmers and livestock herders in Ethiopia. Yet both groups have the same size-adjusted total energy expenditure as people in the U.S. and Norway.
This is not to suggest consistent exercise isn’t important for better health, but it does suggest you can’t compensate for a poor diet through greater activity.
So, why are people heavier (and fatter) in more developed communities? According to the authors: “Comparisons of energy expenditure across populations strongly suggest that increased energy intake (i.e., caloric consumption and absorption) is the primary factor promoting overweight and obesity with economic development.” In other words, you can’t outrun your fork.
This information has helped bolster my resolve to keep a sharp eye on my eating habits while continuing to exercise for my fitness. I hope it does the same for you. Share this with your patients.
Reference
- McGrosky A, Luke A, Arab L, et al. Energy expenditure and obesity across the economic spectrum. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA), 2025 Jul 22;122(29):e2420902122.
