English zoo stopped serving bananas to monkeys

With summer approaching, miraculous diets are beginning to emerge that promise to shed many pounds in just a few days and without giving up your favorite candy! Our body is a complex organism, and we do not always overcome the urge to eat a delicious piece of pie.

Fruit consumption is important and healthy, but if your goal is to lose weight, you might want to consider the steps taken with these monkeys living at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England.

Banana Free Monkeys

It may seem strange, but the fruits we are used to eating have been modified over time to make them sweeter and less fibrous. "People often try to improve their diets by eating more fruits, but sugar levels are very high relative to the amount of protein and fiber, " explains Amy Plowman, one of the zoo's chiefs and animal nutrition expert.

Before mass cultivation, directed at humans, fruits were not as sweet and tasty as the ones we eat today. For Plowman, feeding animals the bananas we are used to eating is like giving them cake and chocolate.

The body of monkeys is not used to eating such sweet foods, which causes several consequences, such as cavities, diabetes and gastrointestinal problems. Considering their natural habitat, where there is no such abundant supply of fruit as bananas, the monkey's digestive system works best by eating fibrous foods with much slower digestion.

Readapt Diet

The diet used so far was not bad; However, based on new research, monkey makers have chosen to change what is offered to improve their quality of life. Food substitution took place progressively, and much of the fruit was replaced by vegetables, especially green leaves, which have less rapidly digesting carbohydrates and a high concentration of nutrients.

Another modification was the way food is offered. In the wild, no animal gets food effortlessly, so a technique known as environmental enrichment has been implemented - a solution also used with dogs and cats as part of a balanced routine in domestic spaces.

The most common way is to hide the food, encouraging demand, but it is also possible to use specific toys, making the process a skill training. During the feeding period, animals should always be supervised to ensure that at some point they reach the food.

Plowman points out that “Food for humans is much more energy-dense than wild food and easier to digest. Consuming this type of food effortlessly can give rise to problems we see in most Western societies, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease - conditions not recorded in nature. ”

The change in diet has had positive results on the animals' behavior and coat, which now look much healthier. Small monkeys, such as marmosets, behave naturally tense and can be quite aggressive in some situations. Behold, the reduction in sugar in the diet caused the quarrels to subside and the group began to live more quietly.

They continue to eat bananas, but now the fruit only serves as a reward for specific situations or when medication is needed. Determining a balanced diet can only be done by a qualified and responsible professional, but perhaps trading fruit for vegetables is a good idea if those extra pounds don't want to go away.

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