your body plan
{ ID your five appetites }
Australian scientists David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson have been studying appetite in animals for decades, and have since applied their findings to humans. They found that animals as varied as baboons, cats and locusts instinctively know exactly what to eat for balanced nutrition, and always manage it, whatever is available in their environment. They identified five appetites for protein, carbohydrate, fat, salt and calcium.
In one study, they recorded everything a South African baboon, Stella, ate for 30 days. What they found was that her intake maintained a consistent balance between protein and carbs – she instinctively chose the right ratio for her dietary requirements.
They were were curious to find out whether humans shared the same innate ability to tune into our nutritional needs. In order to investigate, they put 10 people in a remote chalet for a week. For the first two days, they could eat freely from a buffet. Then half the group switched to a high-protein buffet, while the other half was given a low-protein, high-carb, high-fat menu, before both groups returned to the original offering towards the end of the week. Those on the low-protein diet ate more carbs to replace the missing protein, and consumed more calories overall, while those on the highprotein diet consumed fewer carbs to compensate for the imbalance. Subsequently, larger, more sophisticated versions of the experiment have found the same results.