Excessive Eating Only Performed by Humans and Orangutans

News Health Articles - Excessive Eating Only Performed by Humans and Orangutans. In addition to humans, the only primates who have binge eating behavior in their natural habitat is the orangutan. Humans and orangutans also have relevant similarities such behavior, which are equally many who are obese.

Overeating behaviors at certain seasons was observed in the study Erin Vogel, a scientist from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Over the past five years, he observed a urine sample some orangutans in the jungles of Borneo island.



Vogel reveals, at certain seasons orangutan show overeating behavior ie when a lot of fruit trees. Orangutans tend to eat as much as possible, until his body distending due to excess calories stored as fat.

But once inside the dry season, the orangutan change her diet dramatically. Of the original 80 percent of the food menu is dominated fruit, when fruit begins rare orangutans ate only the leaves and bark contain more fiber than calories.

"Orangutans are the only non-human primates that store food reserves in the form of fat. It is not we found in other species," said Vogel who published his findings in the journal Biology Letters, as quoted by Reuters on Wednesday (14/12/2011) .

When the diet changed, Vogel and her colleagues found chemical composition changes in orangutan urine samples. One is the increase in ketone, which indicate the presence of fat metabolism in the body to convert into energy.

Other changes in urine is increased nitrogen isotopes, which indicate the presence of muscle cells are broken down to produce proteins and energy. The body is consuming its own muscle cells also occur in humans, especially those experiencing anorexia because they want to be thin.