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Diet May Be More Important Than Exercise for Long-Term Weight Control

Dr. Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary biologist, says his research suggests that exercise is not so effective for weight loss but it's key for health.

But what makes exercise ineffective for weight loss might explain why it's so good for our health — working out could divert excess energy from potentially harmful bodily processes like inflammation and stress, according to Pontzer. That theory falls apart in the face of new data Pontzer obtained from working with the Hadza, a group of indigenous inhabitants of Tanzania, who walk miles each day as part of a traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle. Pontzer and his team were stunned to find that they burn only slightly more calories each day than the average sedentary American adult, far fewer than expected given their very high activity levels.

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