Over the past 200 years, human life-expectancy has approximately doubled, yet we face soaring worldwide rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, mental illness, heart disease, and stroke. A cardiologist and dean of medical studies at Columbia University, Lee Goldman presents a radical explanation: The key protective traits that once ensured our species' survival are now the leading global causes of illness and death. Our capacity to store food, for example, lures us into overeating, and a clotting system designed to protect us from bleeding to death now directly contributes to heart attacks and strokes. Putting a new spin on evolutionary biology, this book is also a roadmap for getting our bodies back in sync with the world around us.