How is there a severe obesity epidemic?!

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by ManFromEurope

 

I don't know...I have seen some fairly heft Germans powering down Beer, Sausage and White Asparagus covered in Butter soaked bread crumbs! LOL!

What I do like about Beer Gardens is that a person is expected to get drunk! LOL!

Split Infinity

Hey, I didn't took us out of the discussion. I mean, as I came back from SA, I sat in the tube/metro/whatever you call the underground train and thought "MAN, how FAT these people are! Never seen such an amount of body fat over the whole of capetown combined!".

Asparagus is not considered a meal for every day being too expensive.
Beer is not considered a beverage for every day. Drinking at a beer garden is fun!
Sausage.. Well... I had a currywurst monday, that was yummy.

reply to post by ManFromEurope


Many people who come to live in the U.S. from other countries gain weight very quickly once getting here as the average portions of food in the States is enormous.

Add to this the VAST amount of available food in every possible catagory as well as the basic American standard of anything, anytime, anywhere and one can get a Pizza, Chinese Food, German, Indian...etc...etc...variety of food delivered to them 24/7.

This is not the case in Europe.

Split Infinity

It's almost all about laziness and addiction. The OP is exactly right. I don't know which comes first, but in my own case, I lived with a morbidly obese partner for several years and can vouch first hand for this exact behaviour. I even found my own eating habits sliding into hell, which caused me problems much more quickly, simply because I was eating what I cooked for him, and the portions were massive.

He's long gone from my life, thankfully, and my weight and health are almost back to where they should be, but it's such an insidious process, this obesity thing. Firstly, there was a huge sense of entitlement on his part...he wanted what he wanted, and if he didn't get it in terms of food, life would be miserable. At the same time, he would look for every other solution imaginable to lose weight, besides actually getting off the couch. It was never his fault, he was a victim of his genes, he had a disease...anything but admit he was at fault.

Modern foods are addictive, and I can't agree enough with the posters who say that we need to get back to an old fashioned unrefined vegetable rich diet that we grow and cook ourselves. Our dependence on refined wheat for instance, is now so much part of most people's lives that we actually suffer withdrawal symptoms if we try a wheat free diet. Headaches, cravings, feeling sick....it all happens. It's an addictive substance, white flour, and very hard for a lot of people to digest, causing other digestion problems in the process. And dairy....how insane are our dairy consumption levels? Put the two things together, and there is a large part of your obesity epidemic. And we haven't even started on the artificial additives......

I kinda see the human race dividing itself naturally into people who are food and health aware, and who can GROW and COOK for themselves, and people who thing that all foods come out of a packet, straight into the microwave, and have that weird over-seasoned plasticy taste. It's a matter or personal responsibility and if they got themselves there, I have no sympathy for them...it's up to them to fix it. I'm not going to apologise for that sounding harsh either.

Originally posted by fireysnowman29
So there seems to be a problem with Americans in the world today. Almost 70% are either overweight or obese.

How!? Why!?

The answer is simple. People are addicted to the pleasure eating gives.

We no longer eat to survive, we eat because of the same reasons people take drugs. It makes us feel good.

Do you know what makes you feel hungry? It is your stomach contracting as food digests. So the more you eat, the more your stomach expands, and the more it will contract once that food starts digesting. If you believe that when you feel hungry, it is your body telling you that you "need" something to eat, then you are hooked.

Think about it. A morbidly obese person "needs" to eat 3 whole chickens for lunch, otherwise they will still be "hungry". Will they die if they only eat one?

Be honest with yourselves. Do you eat foods you don't enjoy because they will sustain your body, or will you only eat things that "taste nice"?

Remember, anything that provides pleasure can easily become an addiction.

Another problem is that if people miss a meal, most of us will start getting headaches and even nausea. People tend to think that they are "getting sick" because they "haven't eaten".

What is happening here is that because the lack of food in your stomach, your body will start burning fat instead. Toxins are stored in this fat, and as the fat burns, they are released into the blood, causing these effects. I found (when I lived unhealthy) that it would take one or two days of "fat burning" for these effects to stop. After that, I could go 2 days without eating anything and instead of feeling sick, I actually felt really, really good.

Lots of reasons all combining towards it...

1) High fat, high carb foods are cheaper. It costs a fortune to shop healthy at the grocery store. Lean meats are twice as much, fresh fruits and veggies go bad quicker, etc.

2) Soda. Our culture is so geared for soda being the "go-to" drink. I've switched to water and using water enhancers for flavor. Luckily, this is starting to trend, so should help.

3) Fast food. Face it, I can get a meal at McDonalds for as much or less than I can buy the ingredients to make a meal. It's cheap and convenient, and in our quick-paced world, an easy solution. But, look at the fat and calories of an average fast food meal, and it will shock you.

4) Restaurant Portions. They are enormous, for the most part. Having been raised to "clean my plate", it's tricky for me not to eat all of what I order. Solution, get a to-go box upfront and put some in there. Out of sight, out of mind. (and lunch for the next day).

All of these factors combine to make us fat.

The answer is simple. People are addicted to the pleasure eating gives.

Totally correct.

I call it "Mouthertainment".

Many people don't eat to fuel their bodies. They eat to entertain their mouths.

And it's not the fat, per sey. It's the TYPE of fat. For example, I use large amounts of grass fed butter, full fat raw milk and cream, coconut oil and beef tallow that I render myself. I am 6'0" tall and weight 160. I am almost 53 years old. My diet is at least 60% of calories from fat. I used to weigh 185, but that was when I ate crap food like wheat and stuff out of boxes and cans.

The fats you want to avoid are margarine and vegitable oils and anything that is hydrogenated. Poisen they are. Poison. Cheap poison and rancid when you buy them.

reply to post by fireysnowman29

So what gives? I would love to hear some intelligent insight on this subject matter!

High fructose corn syrup
Aspartame
processed foods with little nutritional value.
Food additives that effect your body chemistry as such to make your brain ignore the signals telling it you are full
Processed foods that contain more than your weekly reccomended intake for certain minerals, vitamins and proteins.

Actually, it's pretty simple if you ask me.

I agree with posts above about the average income of Americans to date. Many don't have the money to buy fresh foods or healthy foods because that whatever pack of ramen (I wouldn't know, I don't like Ramen so don't eat it plus when I do, it makes my heart act up) are only a few cents and huzzah! Dinner for a week. That along with the sheer laziness that is associated with all of us today in America, it's just disgusting. I mean, I myself am not a very active person but I try to keep at least a certain degree of health for my body by not eating TOO much food and going for walks even because I enjoy them. Now, I know that if I continue living the way I do now that someday I'm going to be overweight however. I'm just blessed with the metabolism of a... I don't know what. Whatever it is, it's speedy.

Also, along with the laziness thing, something that REALLY grinds my gears is whenever I go to the supermarket and see obese and overweight people riding around on the scooters and carts whenever they have no handicap, they're just too lazy to walk. Obesity is not a handicap in any way. And then I see people with missing limbs, problems from a stroke or whatever, and the sweet little old ladies and little old men that can't get around the store because they can't walk very well anymore and all of the carts and scooters are gone with some fatass driving them around like it's a motor speedway. And then this bring to mind my 85 year old grandma that can't go to the store for herself because of all of the walking and if I were to see an obese person taking the last scooter or something if I were with my grandmother, it would be on.

reply to post by Myomistress


Oh god yes...the scooters...how many times do you see someone on one of those who clearly doesn't need it. Let's face it...if you're a 20 something with a couple of kids, and have some kind of genuine disability, you would have a wheelchair, not a mobility scooter meant for elderly people who have serious issues with how fit they are due to age, not over consumption. Grrrr!

It's cheaper to take your family out to dinner to McDonalds than buy healthy ingredients and prepare a dinner large enough for a whole family.

reply to post by Drezden


In the short term, yes it is, although I'm sure I could come pretty close to the cost of McDonalds for a family or four, with a really wholesome natural home cooked nutritious veggie something. Maybe we should investigate the arithmetic of decent grocery shopping against the cost of commercial junk fast food, and see how many healthy calories we get.

Long term, it will be very expensive dealing with the health issues a cheap fast diet creates, and not just for the people directly involved. Benefits and healthcare costs have to be shared by the rest of us too, in some way.

I still think it's more about addiction, laziness, ignorance and marketing.

reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck


Or how about the fact the BMI is a meaningless measurement. Or the fact that americans have grown about 2 inches since the 1950s. Or how about the fact that the health nuts changed the definition of obese and overwieght back in 1998?

www.cnn.com...

Millions of Americans became "fat" Wednesday -- even if they didn't gain a pound -- as the federal government adopted a controversial method for determining who is considered overweight.

of course - now that there is an "epidemic" of obesity (how can something that is not a disease be an epidemic?), the government has good reason to tax food, don't they?

Wasn't that a clever campaign?

Tired of Control Freaks

www.gmaonline.org...

I don't agree that healthy food is more expensive. The FDA did a study and found that it would cost an average of 2 - 2.50 to get the reccomended amount of fruit and veg per day


A vegetarian diet can provide all the nutrition needed cheaply by using pulses and eggs for protien and together with rice and vegetables. People don't need to be eating steak and chicken at every meal. People don't need to drink anything but water either, I think it comes down to ignorance of what th body needs and a physical addiction to sugars and carbs in processed food. sugars and carbs increase seretonin (which gives a feeling of pleasure) but only for a short while, then more sugar / carbs are needed to feel good again. Junk food manufacturers exploit this of course. Truth is people are adicted to the convienience and the sugar rush that junk gives them. To eat healthily they would have to take time to learn about nutrition and think for themselves.

Originally posted by TiredofControlFreaks
reply to post by MichiganSwampBuck

 

Or how about the fact the BMI is a meaningless measurement. Or the fact that americans have grown about 2 inches since the 1950s. Or how about the fact that the health nuts changed the definition of obese and overwieght back in 1998?

www.cnn.com...

Millions of Americans became "fat" Wednesday -- even if they didn't gain a pound -- as the federal government adopted a controversial method for determining who is considered overweight.

of course - now that there is an "epidemic" of obesity (how can something that is not a disease be an epidemic?), the government has good reason to tax food, don't they?

Wasn't that a clever campaign?

Tired of Control Freaks

BMI is an indicator, a quick way for people (or doctors) to determine if they might have a problem. At a certain point the human body can only take so much weight before serious health problems arise, these limits are proven and well known. Even a non proffesional can see theres a probl when someone's legs start to splay out and their thighs rub together! BMI doesn't take muscle mass into consideration but that would hardly be a problem for the average person who exercises moderately or more likely not at all. Obesity is increasing in the US and Europe.

reply to post by DrHammondStoat


Do you mean $2-2.50 a day? Sorry to be picky, but I'm in Europe, and it would be interesting to compare notes on this. And I totally agree with your comment on a vegetarian diet, with minimal dairy products. But that's a whole other debate!

reply to post by DrHammondStoat


This is the truth. I purchase bags of organic brown rice, and black beans on the cheap, and cook them in big pots once a week. Store them in gallon jugs used for water in the fridge, and pour out the mix with fresh veggies I cook on the pan with some extra virgin coconut oil. It's cheap, fast, and easy to make, plus it's delish!

Food has become entertainment, it is no longer for survival. We have too many readily available resources at our fingertips, so we eat for taste.

Combine that with the addictive properties of sugar and high fats, and it is a real problem.

Frankly, I can't think of anywhere in America I saw skinny people. It's always around 3/4 or more of them, that are fat or obese.

I notice they have alot more fat/obese infants, children than before. Like, huge, chubby litters of them. So much for economic recession. I guess it doesn't take anything to make a baby, plus the government will support them way before they're even born.

Even in the GYM there were mostly fat people and they seem exhausted and sweating like crazy hardly moving at all. What is up with America?!?!?!?

Most of the additives put into the food suppress the endocrine system. This leads to weight gain. Top that off with everyone sitting at a desk and being stressed from life and you get fat people. Bromide, Fluoride, Goiterogens of all kinds in food whether you know it or not. Eat your raw broccoli and spinach and put some fat on your bones. Then the government can suppress everyone saying they are obese and steer their focus from the truth. I know that using chemistry of food to help to calm the societies is good but come on.....not so much that people are getting so sick. Everyone should investigate this themselves. It has been going on for quite a while, it is not that new. Food chemistry has always been used to control societies but not to the extent of the Western diet.

Once a person starts to store fat, the process continues. People who are obese often eat less than people who have high metabolisms and still gain weight. The different types of metabolisms need different diets to keep socially compatible. It is the FDA's fault, you cannot tell me that the people in the FDA are not aware of this difference in metabolism. Two thirds of the people in this country have the low metabolism but this chemistry is getting so much worse that it is effecting everyone.