Applied Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Herman Pontzer

Dr. Herman Pontzer

Dr. Herman Pontzer is a bit of a maverick in the anthropological community.  He employs traditional research methods and tools to answer questions concerning human evolution, but the conclusions he reaches stretch and often contradict the expectations of his peers.  He is a widely published scholar who has articles published in prestigious journals and books, but he also not afraid and does not shy away from ensuring the public hears about his work.  He takes to social media and talk shows to share his conclusions.  All in all he is an interesting character who is helping not only scholars better understand the biological aspects of how we became the human species we are today, but also how that information can be used to enhance the athletic potential of endurance athletes and the health outcomes of the average individual living within industrialized societies. 

 

Dr. Herman Pontzer is currently employed at Duke University’s Global Health Institute, where he leads his own laboratory.  He and his team study human and nonhuman primate physiology, specifically examining the effects of ecology, lifestyle, diet, and evolution on metabolism (the ability to burn calories into energy) and health.  He applies these understandings to better understand how and why certain diseases (e.g., diabetes and heart disease) are more common in industrialized groups versus non-industrialized ones (e.g., foragers). 

 

It was through the employment of methods created and refined by physiologists that he established a great deal of information and conclusions that have stretched the scholarship on human evolution and human physiology.  For example, he identified that exercise in and of itself does not lead to greater caloric expenditure.  Human bodies, which require a great deal of calories to maintain appropriate functioning of the expansive and complex brain, will compensate for energy expenditures as needed in order to keep enough energy for the brain.  This conclusion refutes a longstanding and popular idea that one can exclusively exercise themselves to a better body.  Instead, his work supports the conclusion that it is a balanced diet and exercise that allows one to get the body they want.

 

These conclusions were reached through the financial support of various grants, such as the prestigious Wenner-Gren grants, as well as work on both animal and human subjects.  His initial research started with dogs, but then graduated to goat and later nonhuman primate, specifically ape, species.  After continually discovering that larger animals expend fewer calories than smaller ones, except for humans, he moved on to studying modern populations, including foraging groups in Africa, horticulturalists in South America, and industrialized populations in the United States.  It was through comparative studies of contemporary human groups that he realized that exercise is not the only factor in burning calories.  The applications of his research can and do help those working in nutrition, athletics/exercise physiology, and human health.

 

His conclusions have not been accepted without criticism.  There were those who were hesitant to accept his conclusions because they ran counter to expected results, but with greater research these concerns have decreased.  Currently the concerns are in the delivery of the information to the public, specifically in encouraging those interested in weight loss to take on unhealthy diets.  Pontzer is unafraid of the critiques.  In his interview with Science magazine, he remarked: “When you have a bad experience and life plucks you off your track, it’s scary. You have to move forward, though, and that teaches you not to be scared of new things.”  This philosophy has undoubtedly helped him move past the negative critiques and foster better scientific research that  is helping not just the scientific community but the general public as well.

 

Bibliography

Gibbons, A. (2022, February 17). The Calorie Counter: Evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer busts myths about how humans burn calories—and why. Science.

Pontzer, H. (n.d.). Herman Pontzer, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Global Health. Retrieved from Duke Global Health Institute: https://globalhealth.duke.edu/people/pontzer-herman