Herman Pontzer

Herman Pontzer is an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, where he is associate professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health.^[1] He is best known for his research into human bioenergetics.^[2][3][4]

Herman Pontzer
Alma mater	Penn State University (BA) Harvard University (MA, PhD)
Known for	Human evolution
Scientific career
Fields	Biologist, Evolutionary Anthropology
Institutions	Duke University

Constrained Daily Energy Expenditure Model

In the context of the exercise paradox (where weight-loss was^{[clarification needed]} not a direct outcome of all the calories burned), Pontzer helped develop a theory of human metabolism where the total amount of a human's energy expenditure (calories) is not the additive linear sum of the individual's metabolic parts (e.g., calories burned during basal metabolism, expediture of energy for movement, reproduction, digestion, immune system, etc.), instead it is a model whereby daily energy expenditure begins linearly and then plateaus off at some tipping point, suggesting some evolved constraint in the total energy expended in a human's day.^{[needs copy edit]}

This new model is called the constrained daily energy expenditure model.^[5]

Books

• Pontzer, Herman (2021). Burn: The Misunderstood Science of Metabolism. Penguin. ISBN 978-0141990170.
• Pontzer, Herman (2025). Adaptable: How Your Unique Body Really Works and Why Our Biology Unites Us. Random House. ISBN 9780593539309.