“It certainly would have been adaptive for ancestral man to have a chubby wife during stressful times of famine. Not only would she have had more calories to burn, and thus more energy and endurance, but since fat stores estrogen, she would have remained fertile for longer.”

American anthropologist and research fellow at the Kinsey Institute, Helen Fisher is best known for her work on human mating patterns and the science of romantic love. Her studies explore how biology influences attraction, relationships, and even cultural differences in love.