The air is fatter in the 21st century.
Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
51–60 of 182 posts
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#52I've noticed the same thing geographically. Twice now, I've taken a "sabbatical" and moved to Quito, Ecuador for a year to be near family. Both times, I lost weight when I arrived, stabilized at a leaner equilibrium, then gained the weight back when I returned to North America.
Could be nutritional, could be bacterial, could social. Whatever it is, the effect is dramatic.
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#53I've noticed the same thing geographically. Twice now, I've taken a "sabbatical" and moved to Quito, Ecuador for a year to be near family. Both times, I lost weight when I arrived, stabilized at a leaner equilibrium, then gained the weight back when I returned to North America. Could be nutritional, could be bacterial, could social. Whatever it is, the effect is dramatic.
Noticed the same exact thing when I go to Europe, vs. America
I think the article mostly applies to America. American food is just fattening
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#54You can't eat the same foods people ate 20 years ago. The cows aren't the same. The chickens aren't same. Cows and chickens today are more obese and eat more antibiotics than they used to be.
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#55I hope that they controlled for factors like smoking cigarettes.
This might be a significant factor indeed (including passive smoking)
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#56I don't have access to the study, but I suspect it doesn't say what The Atlantic is saying it's saying. I lost weight: I went from 340 pounds to 214 pounds in exactly a year, and then bottomed out at 184 eventually (I've been purposely trying to gain muscle lately, which has been causing my weight to meander in the 190s since then). My caloric intake hasn't changed in a way that can explain such a weight loss. I went…
I absolutely agree with the assessment of "it's things that cannot be explained with calories." In China, within the span of a generation nearsightedness went from a minor condition to one spanning the majority of the cohort. That's something brought on by industrial lifestyles, but we never want to turn to food as a culprit. Food tastes good, after all. Food is life.
But if you take the idea seriously, then the problem is - which ones? For me, I've arrived at the answer, more of less, of "dairy and poultry." The first one, specifically casein(milk) protein, gives me all sorts of small issues if I treat it as a staple - joint inflammation, hayfever, trouble concentrating, elevated heart rate, etc. It may have been responsible for my scoliosis and nearsightedness too, though I'll never know for sure. The second tends to trigger migraines. I've only ever managed to become substantially overweight by consuming a lot of dairy and sugar, and as soon as I cut those out I slimmed down again.
Fortunately I don't have to put my foot down too much to make a compromise. When I have a burger it's always the plainest burger, since all the others have cheese. Nearly any snack food manufactured to taste "addictive" will contain the odious phrase "milk protein", with the exception of some potato chip flavors. The most unavoidable one is pizza, but I can take a hit there occasionally. And I'll default to lower-GI foods like oatmeal where I get the opportunity - although I tried the "avoid grains" strategem a while ago, it was never something that resulted in a _reaction_ like milk, it was more a matter of "after having milk I wanted to eat more."
Now, if I could get my mom to actually try following this plan I would be content. But despite apparently experiencing many similar issues in a more stark, life-impacting fashion, she is far, far too stubborn to give up her 4 AM coffees with milk, her various yogurts, cheeses, etc. She will, in fact, point to the microbiome as a reason to consume those things.
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, the macros look sort of the same, but the source of those calories is much different. Just the types of cooking oil we use has changed a lot. Look at what goes into cookies now. It used to be butter, now I've seen recipes with canola oil. (if anyone tells you to use canola oil in your baked goods, ignore them and use butter!) There is evidence that gut bacteria is passed down from generation to generation, w…
> There is evidence that gut bacteria is passed down from generation to generation, we could very well be seeing a delayed effect from public policy and health decisions made around the time the previous generation was growing up. oops. This is something that doesn't get mentioned enough. Your gut bacteria play a large role in your health, and we're going so far as to do fecal transplants to resolve GI tract disorder…
> one of the primary causes of America's obesity
> problems.
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#58I've noticed the same thing geographically. Twice now, I've taken a "sabbatical" and moved to Quito, Ecuador for a year to be near family. Both times, I lost weight when I arrived, stabilized at a leaner equilibrium, then gained the weight back when I returned to North America. Could be nutritional, could be bacterial, could social. Whatever it is, the effect is dramatic.
Noticed the same exact thing when I go to Europe, vs. America I think the article mostly applies to America. American food is just fattening
The study factored in the nutritional value of the food, so your comment seems counter to their findings.
"...eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher."
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#59I don't have access to the study, but I suspect it doesn't say what The Atlantic is saying it's saying. I lost weight: I went from 340 pounds to 214 pounds in exactly a year, and then bottomed out at 184 eventually (I've been purposely trying to gain muscle lately, which has been causing my weight to meander in the 190s since then). My caloric intake hasn't changed in a way that can explain such a weight loss. I went…
I absolutely agree with the assessment of "it's things that cannot be explained with calories." In China, within the span of a generation nearsightedness went from a minor condition to one spanning the majority of the cohort. That's something brought on by industrial lifestyles, but we never want to turn to food as a culprit. Food tastes good, after all. Food is life. But if you take the idea seriously, then the prob…
Is the near-sightedness being blamed on nutrition, or lack of exposure to bright sunlight in early childhood, or both? I've seen papers that proposed both causes.
Re: Study: people who eat and exercise the same as people 20 years ago are fatter
#60> A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. I think the recent obsession with macronutrients is a big part of the problem. I'm not sure if the macronutrient ratio I eat has changed much from when I was growing…
I agree, the macros look sort of the same, but the source of those calories is much different. Just the types of cooking oil we use has changed a lot. Look at what goes into cookies now. It used to be butter, now I've seen recipes with canola oil. (if anyone tells you to use canola oil in your baked goods, ignore them and use butter!) There is evidence that gut bacteria is passed down from generation to generation, w…
> The point is, there are a lot of potential culprits, and it is going to take a long time to figure out what state unbridled capitalism has left public health in.
Or the state public regulation has left public health in, such as the war on fat and the subsidies on corn.
I think what's best is to try to continue research in this area and try really hard to not declare that we've figured it all out yet again and throw the food pendulum in another random direction for the next x years.