changes in genomes from around the globe which suggests that prion diseases like kuru and the cannibalism that spreads them were common in our evolutionary history but prion diseases aren't the only reasons you'd think eating people would be too risky and this is where things get weird oh there are plenty of super contagious diseases that can spread just by touching an infected person let alone eating them but despite the number of cases of human and animal cannibalism we've found fewer examples of it causing disease outbreaks than we'd expect and according to a review paper published in the American Naturalist in NUMBER_TOKEN there might be a good reason for that cannibalism could actually protect people from catching dangerous diseases because it gets rid of some of the microbes that spread them sure eating someone else exposes you to more pathogens but at the same time you're also protecting the rest of your community from coming into contact with the disease a lot of microbes can't survive things like cooking or the destructive juices in our guts so you destroy them by eating them plus removing the infected person from the population both through their death and any action that gets rid of their body means there's one less person spreading the disease around so cannibalism might actually slow the spread of some diseases or even wipe them out you'd still have the prions to worry about but the net effect of reducing other diseases could make it worth the risk so the more we study cannibalism the more it seems like eating other people's flesh might not be too bad for our health our physical health anyway that said I wouldn't recommend trying it it can still be pretty dangerous and when it comes to preventing diseases modern medicine is a lot more effective than eating people plus there are plenty of other ways to practice a healthy lifestyle and it helps to have a variety of resources for staying in shape both mentally and physically Skillshare is an online learning community with over NUMBER_TOKEN classes in health and well from nutrition to mindfulness and more a lot of these classes talk about how exercise and an active lifestyle are key for success in creative careers in this lesson of seven simple habits of highly creative people habit number five is literally exercise and this class about writing productivity emphasizes the importance of taking a break from the desk to stretch your legs on a walk and if you by some miracle already nailed health and wellness you still have something to learn from skill shares NUMBER_TOKEN plus classes in design photo and more premium membership gives you unlimited access you can improve your skills unlock new opportunities and do the work you love the first NUMBER_TOKEN scishow viewers to use the promo link in the description will support the production of this channel and get a free two month trial of skill share thanks for the support and thanks for watching
START_SPONSOR_TOKEN is an online learning community with over NUMBER_TOKEN classes in health and well from nutrition to mindfulness and more a lot of these classes talk about how exercise and an active lifestyle are key for success in creative careers in this lesson of seven simple habits of highly creative people habit number five is literally exercise and this class about writing productivity emphasizes the importance of taking a break from the desk to stretch your legs on a walk and if you by some miracle already nailed health and wellness you still have something to learn from skill shares NUMBER_TOKEN plus classes in design photo and more premium membership gives you unlimited access you can improve your skills unlock new opportunities and do the work you love the first NUMBER_TOKEN scishow viewers to use the promo link in the description will support the production of this channel and get a free two month trial of skill share thanks for the END_SPONSOR_TOKEN