Survival of the fittest - Mike Stroud

For over 15,000 years human beings have hardly changed genetically at all. We are therefore as capable today as our ancestors of withstanding extremes of heat and cold, going for long periods without food, and of finding sudden bursts of energy. This is an explanation of how we might regain our natural physical prowess and adaptability.;Mike Stroud, polar explorer, hospital physician and former adviser to the Ministry of Defence on matters of survival, sets out the genetics, diet and exercise that allow human beings to perform at their peak. Based on medical science, the book takes an anecdotal form, describing individual feats of survival and athletic prowess that illustrate the way the body functions at its best. Stroud dissects his own experiences crossing Antarctica, running marathons in the Sahara and participating in gruelling cross-country endurance races in the United States. He ends with some hints for those of us who do nothing more strenuous than walking the dog on how we too may remain "fit for life".