Too Much of a Good Thing: How Four Key Survival Traits Are Now Killing Us

by Lee Goldman

Overview

The dean of Columbia University's medical school explains why our bodies are out of sync with today's environment and how we can correct this to save our health.

Over the past 200 years, human life-expectancy has approximately doubled. Yet we face soaring worldwide rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, mental illness, heart disease, and stroke. In his fascinating new book, Dr. Lee Goldman presents a radical explanation: The key protective traits that once ensured our species' survival are now the leading global causes of illness and death.

Our capacity to store food, for example, lures us into overeating, and a clotting system designed to protect us from bleeding to death now directly contributes to heart attacks and strokes. A deeply compelling narrative that puts a new spin on evolutionary biology, Too Much of a Good Thing also provides a roadmap for getting back in sync with the modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316236805
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	12/08/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	743 KB

About the Author

Dr. Lee Goldman is dean of the medical school at Columbia University. An internationally renowned cardiologist, he developed the Goldman Criteria (a set of guidelines for healthcare professionals to determine which patients with chest pain require hospital admission) and the Goldman Index (which predicts which patients will have heart problems after surgery). He's the author of more than 480 medical articles and also the lead editor of Goldman-Cecil Medicine, the oldest continuously published medical textbook in the U.S.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Part I The Pros and Cons of Four Key Human Survival Traits

1 How Our Bodies Became What They Are 11

2 Hunger, Food, and the Modern Epidemics of Obesity and Diabetes 39

3 Water, Salt, and the Modern Epidemic of High Blood Pressure 88

4 Danger, Memory, Fear, and the Modern Epidemics of Anxiety and Depression 120

5 Bleeding, Clotting, and the Modern Epidemics of Heart Disease and Stroke 157

Part II Protecting Our Bodies in the Modern World

6 Can Our Genes Evolve Fast Enough to Solve Our Problems? 193

7 Changing Our Behavior 218

8 Changing Our Biology 248

Acknowledgments 283

Notes 285

Bibliography 327

Index 331

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Goldman takes the long, long view in Too Much of a Good Thing, arguing that many common modern ills result from the surpassingly excellent genes that allowed our species to endure over the millenniums. Only very recently did these survivor genes turn on us, creating the collection of overweight, hypertensive, jumpy and miserable individuals we are today. Some of his argument will probably be familiar, at least when it comes to the question of why we have all become so fat. Less has been written about other areas of human physiology where our genetic programming seems to butt up against the circumstances of modern life. Dr. Goldman integrates it all into a complex narrative—a little tough sledding at points, but still thought-provoking.

The New York Times - Abigail Zuger M.D.

"In this highly original and profound book, Lee Goldman describes how the same physical traits that evolved to ensure our survival are now working against us. For anyone interested in their own and their family's well-being, Too Much of a Good Thing is a must read!"—Eric Kandel, Winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, University Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, author of The Age of Insight and In Search of Memory

"A fascinating look at the health problems that plague us, illuminating why they happen and what to do about them."
—Jerome Groopman, M.D., Pamela Hartzband, M.D., Harvard Medical School, Authors of Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What is Right For You

"This book, written from a deeply expert yet broad medical viewpoint, sets current medical challenges into their larger contexts of our human history and biological pre-history, to provide a crisply related and refreshingly clear-eyed perspective on much that ails us these days. And throughout the book, I also enjoyed the fascinating snippets on topics ranging from platelets to percentages of paleolithic food components to polyandry to presidential obesity."
—Elizabeth Blackburn, Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

"Lee Goldman is a pioneer in medicine in the best sense of the word: his 'Goldman Criteria' and 'Goldman Index' are in the vernacular of daily practice. As an educator and writer, he has influenced many: as just one example his visionary ideas created the first hospitalist movement in America. In this provocative and elegant book, Goldman examines the very survival traits that have brought our species this far. It could be that these traits are now killing us-the arguments, insights and solutions offered here are profound. It is a book that I think only someone with the stature and perspective of Lee Goldman could write. It's an important book for our times."
—Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

"An interesting explanation for our current medical woes....Goldman presents a convincing case for the power of our genetics and explains why conquering these inclinations is so difficult."—Candace Smith, Booklist

"Goldman goes beyond diet issues to talk about survival mechanisms that worked well for thousands of generations but have now turned against human health."—Nancy Szokan, Washington Post

From the Publisher

02/01/2016
Obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease are leading causes of death in the United States today. The statistics are startling—more than one-third of Americans are obese and an additional one-third are overweight; approximately 30 percent of adults have high blood pressure; one in ten have depression; and more than 600,000 die every year from heart disease. Here Goldman (MD, Columbia Univ. Medical Ctr.) argues that each of these diseases has its roots in the basic needs of our prehistoric ancestors to eat, remain hydrated, evade danger, and stanch bleeding. These predecessors developed behaviors—calorie loading, salt cravings, anxiety, and rapid clotting—that helped them survive. Now, these behaviors result in serious health problems. Goldman writes persuasively about each of these traits, tying present problems to past instincts and weaving biological explanations with historical research. He expresses skepticism that humans can overcome these problems through behavior modification or natural genetic selection, but he is optimistic about future medical treatments, including surgery, medications, and gene therapy. VERDICT Recommended for a general audience, including readers of popular health literature such as Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.—Talea Anderson, College Place, WA

Library Journal

Dan Woren’s clear voice and broad phrasing range complement the flow of this thought-provoking audiobook. Written with exceptional lucidity, it’s a captivating evolutionary history of our biological traits and why they were more useful in pre-industrial societies than they are now. In accessible language, the author explains how natural selection and other factors have not changed these traits fast enough to be useful in today’s world where food is plentiful, jobs are sedentary, and physical danger is rare. Woren’s consistency and sensitivity to the book’s thematic shifts help make this a captivating audio that provides medical and historical background for eating healthfully, staying fit, and becoming more proactive in managing our bodies and emotional lives. T.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2016 - AudioFile

Dan Woren’s clear voice and broad phrasing range complement the flow of this thought-provoking audiobook. Written with exceptional lucidity, it’s a captivating evolutionary history of our biological traits and why they were more useful in pre-industrial societies than they are now. In accessible language, the author explains how natural selection and other factors have not changed these traits fast enough to be useful in today’s world where food is plentiful, jobs are sedentary, and physical danger is rare. Woren’s consistency and sensitivity to the book’s thematic shifts help make this a captivating audio that provides medical and historical background for eating healthfully, staying fit, and becoming more proactive in managing our bodies and emotional lives. T.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2016 - AudioFile