I am certainly not suggesting it's the right answer but in threads like these rarely do I see industrial seed oils with high omega-6 polyunsaturated fat content being suggested as a culprit. The use in food correlates as well as anything else that is being suggested with the rise in obesity rates and metabolic conditions.
Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
121–130 of 271 posts
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did a small investment in a food oriented start-up and I really hope they will succeed in their dream of feeding people healthy stuff. Many companies claim to want to 'change the world for the better' when actually they are just looking to make bank. These guys are driven because of their ideals, they're super nice and have a good idea + track record. Time will tell if it works out.
Its not about eating healthy food, obesity is about the over consumption of food. You can maintain a healthy weight eating hamburgers and fries every day. The problem is portion size.
The human body is not a pneumatic system that you push food through. It has a nervous system attached to it which changes your mood in ways that affect both the intake (hunger vs. satiety) and expenditure (laziness vs. feeling energetic) sides of the energy equation.
If you listen to people who have had success with low-carb and/or keto diets, their comments almost always discuss how the way they feel about food changed. They weren't hungry and they felt more energetic. Just about 0 of them mention spending time tracking calories consumed or measuring calories expended.
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Statins
Yup. Highly effective and widely prescribed.
What do the meta-studies have to say about statins and life expectancy? Back then, before we had statins we had clofibrate. It decreased cholesterol levels just fine but overall mortality went up.
Also, why isn't dietary adjustment the first-line treatment for high cholesterol?
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#124Methinks that if 70% of you population is affected, something is effecting them. It's not just "low will power" even if that explanation makes 30% of people smug.
Public policy, lack of education, overall culture and scale and dominance of food corporations. I'm not surprised with this data. The best example to understand this is to go to your nearest US convenience store. Price of an Arizona Iced Tea 23oz can = $0.99 Price of the average bottle of water 16 oz = $1.50 Any poorly educated individual wouldn't understand the health implications of gulping 70g of liquid sugar when…
That makes me wonder... what if non-luxury water was legally fixed to a set price per liter?
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#125This is directly related to the way American cities are designed. It’s a car centric culture where big houses are far away from each other. That means driving everywhere. That means long commutes. That means TV over communal activity. That means big grocery runs with shelf stable food. Then pile on hyper sweet drinks and nutritional misinformation campaigns, and of course Americans are going to be overweight. The wor…
I'm italian and I visited united states a couple of months ago. In my opinion the biggest problem is that you don't have decent food at affordable prices. Healthy food has nonsensical high prices and if you want something at a human price you don't have much choice except fast food. What a shame.
Perhaps you're thinking only of restaurants, because healthy food is far cheaper than fast food or any restaurant food in general, but it does require going to any grocery store and then spending a few minutes cooking.
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm italian and I visited united states a couple of months ago. In my opinion the biggest problem is that you don't have decent food at affordable prices. Healthy food has nonsensical high prices and if you want something at a human price you don't have much choice except fast food. What a shame.
Healthy food isn't expensive. You can buy chicken breast for $3 to $5 a pound. You can buy a head of lettuce for $2. Oatmeal is dirt cheap. Most vegetables are less than $3 a pound.
>> Most vegetables are less than $3 a pound.
And you call that cheap.... In my country most vegetables cost below 1$ per kilogram, which is 6 times cheaper. I think this has to do with EU policy of subsidies for farmers.
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#127Anyone have statistics on what % of those overweight adults are actually healthy, or at least have an acceptable body fat %? Many athletes and weightlifters would be considered overweight by BMI due to muscle mass. And according to the "Adults" PDF, that's the metric they're using. It's probably not a large percentage but I get ticked off a bit to know that you can be in the "overweight" BMI category and have clearly…
"Healthy" is such a nebulous term it is hard to reply in a serious fashion.
Many HAES-advocates, for example, would claim they're extremely healthy despite weighing 300lbs+. Any poor effects are just coincidental, and the weight is not a cause.
The best way of discovering how healthy somebody is? Perform an autopsy. Beyond reporting on aches, pains, lumps, worn out joints, the simple fact is people can appear very healthy right until they drop dead. Blood tests, CT-scans, etc, can be used to look at very narrow metrics, but they don't tell give a useful "healthy vs. non-healthy" response.
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#128These numbers aren’t shocking. Many people are “casually” fat, meaning they carry an extra 30-40lbs around their gut. Probably accumulated slowly by 2-3lbs a year. They don’t fit the classic image of an obese person but they are obese according to BMI. I moved to SF which is a relatively fit city. Going back home in the Midwest I am shocked by the number of people who are overweight. Fat is normalized there. It wasn’…
As a non-american, I'm wondering how a fit person is considered in the midwest? Is it seen as a good trait or rather something odd?
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm italian and I visited united states a couple of months ago. In my opinion the biggest problem is that you don't have decent food at affordable prices. Healthy food has nonsensical high prices and if you want something at a human price you don't have much choice except fast food. What a shame.
I was in Bologna not too long ago and I was baffled by how fresh, high quality ingredients are available at affordable prices. I've seen similar quality ingredients in the Bay Area but they charge an arm and a leg for it. I don't know how the Italians do it or why we Americans have such a hard time doing something similar.
I remember 10+ years ago how the food at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was better than most food in the US. It was kind of sad.
Re: Obesity and Overweight Prevalence for the U.S
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be plausible to design a scientific study on how much a car centric culture is causing overweightness.
Why is it only now that obesity is reaching such epidemic proportions though? We've had a car-centric culture since Post WW2. Why haven't we seen this epidemic before?
Add in addictive computers, TV, and vidya - and that's probably your answer.