Burn Audiobook By Herman Pontzer PhD cover art

Burn

New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Burn

By: Herman Pontzer PhD
Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

One of the foremost researchers in human metabolism reveals surprising new science behind food and exercise.

We burn 2,000 calories a day. And if we exercise and cut carbs, we'll lose more weight. Right? Wrong. In this paradigm-shifting book, Herman Pontzer reveals for the first time how human metabolism really works so that we can finally manage our weight and improve our health.

Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes show how exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. This was a brilliant evolutionary strategy to survive in times of famine. Now it seems to doom us to obesity. The good news is we can lose weight, but we need to cut calories. Refuting such weight-loss hype as paleo, keto, anti-gluten, anti-grain, and even vegan, Pontzer discusses how all diets succeed or fail: For shedding pounds, a calorie is a calorie.

At the same time, we must exercise to keep our body systems and signals functioning optimally, even if it won't make us thinner. Hunter-gatherers like the Hadza move about five hours a day and remain remarkably healthy into old age. But elite athletes can push the body too far, burning calories faster than their bodies can take them in. It may be that the most spectacular athletic feats are the result not just of great training, but of an astonishingly efficient digestive system.

Revealing, irreverent, and always entertaining, Pontzer has written a book that will change how you eat, move, and live.

This audiobook edition contains a downloadable PDF of charts included in the print edition.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Herman Pontzer (P)2021 Penguin Audio
Diets, Nutrition & Healthy Eating Exercise & Fitness Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Weight Loss & Weight Control
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

"A wide-ranging romp through evolutionary biology, physiology, and anthropology, Burn will make you question what you think you know about metabolism and your waistline." (Stephan Guyenet, PhD, author of The Hungry Brain)

"Burn is science writing at its best: big ideas, wild and often hilarious stories from the field, and deft explanations. The result will reshape what you thought you knew about how our metabolisms work." (Alex Hutchinson, New York Times best-selling author of Endure)

"An absorbing, instructive lesson for anyone concerned about their health." (Kirkus starred review)

Fascinating Scientific Insights • Engaging Anthropological Research • Great Narration • Witty Sarcastic Humor
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This book was incredibly informative. I went into it with a bit of dread that it would be a bit too "scientific" for me to understand. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I plan on buying it for wife to read. The book was well written and easy to follow. The author had some witty yet nerdy humor scattered throughout(my personal style of humor as well!).
It was truly eye opening and I learned much and I recommend it for anyone who is curious about how our body handles food, excercise, stress, and challenges. The book was recommended to me, I am not an individual seeking to lose weight.

The narrator also did a great job. I especially enjoyed the part when discussing the results of a study showing that people who are generally less informed or ignorant on a subject are the ones who have the most confidence in being correct. The American people are aware of this and would never elect a Politician to high office who, while very confident, is totally unqualified. That had me chuckling! The irony!

Excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Just stick with it through the chemistry dissertation. Chapters 6, 7 and 9 are amazing!

A fantastic book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I was not a fan of this narrator, however, the topic was very informative so I stuck with it.

Information worth digging for

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I've always struggled with my weight, but during my 8-year drug addiction, I put on over 200 lbs. I've been sober for 8.5 years, and I've been struggling to take the weight off. Something that drives me nuts is all of the non-scientific contradictory information about diet and exercise out there, so I decided to check out this book from Herman Pontzer. I must say that Pontzer did an incredible job with this book, and I think it's perfect for a wide range of readers. 

I'm more of a psychology guy than a biology guy, but Pontzer was able to break down how the body functions in a simple way. There are still a few concepts I may need to go back and revisit, but his overall thesis was easy to grasp. What I really enjoyed about this book was how the author dispelled a lot of myths about diets, exercise, metabolism, and more. My only critique is at the end of this book, I personally didn't leave with many solutions, but that's not what this book was about. Fortunately, Herman replied to me on Twitter and recommended some other great books that I can check out.

Great book dispelling weight myths

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book should lay to rest any doubts on how the body functions and how diets do and indeed don't work. The details will evolve but the macro theory is here and it should inform. The books juxtaposition of hunter gatherer lifestyle and modern ones is very effective and the book can be transformational when you see that against the madness of modern industry (food in particular but the consequences are broader).

Probably the last "diet" book I'll ever read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is much more than a diet book. This teaches a tremendous amount about energy in general. We need to change the way we live to change ourselves. But small dietary and life changes should have a big impact on our lives.

I read a lot. This is worth reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Science with a touch of humor. Thought provoking story telling weaving science with history of humanoids on planet earth

Humor

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

THIS IS MY GO TO AUDIBLE TO LISTEN TO WHEN BICYCLING ALL THE TIME. THANKS.

loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It was very thorough and thoughtful. More than that, it was a fun read for how informative it is.

Fantastic research presented in a fun way

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What do we have to learn about ourselves from studying hunter-gatherers in the East African bush? Lots. The author combines his research with the Tanzanian Hadza tribe with solid laboratory work and his studies of our fellow primates around the world to create a fascinating picture of what makes us run. Or...walk, which is just as good. One of the surprising revelations for me (as I age) was that I get as much benefit from walking a mile as I do from running a mile -- which I do much less often these days. And another is that the food I eat is not just part of a weight-loss effort, it's pretty much the whole game! You don't lose weight from exercise. What?! But Herman Pontzer's solid science makes that case convincingly, while at the same time reminding us about the other great benefits we get from exercise. it's all presented in an very readable (OK, I had to really concentrate for a couple of chapters because he delivers the science without flinching) story that teaches us humans how we're like other primates and what sets us apart. I loved the factual de-bunking of what so many of us think about food, fad diets, and our weight. And I love the continual references to hunter-gatherers who have contributed their time to this researched and helped us understand ourselves so much better.

Captivating story beautifully told

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews