Always Hungry? Here’s Why

Is this something new for the American population? Hasn't this been known for years or decades already? That's why there are low-carb diets. Put that in combination with calorie intake and exercise and your fat will gradually disappear. It's not exactly rocket science.

Would it be going too far to say the type of person who would most benefit from the nutritional advice of this column is also unlikely to be the type of person who reads the New York Times.

And to the person who says that what people put into their mouths is, "generally out of their control" - imagine a legal setting and some crime committed, the only way to claim diminished responsibility is to be a minor or plead various forms of insanity. Are we saying that most overweight/obese people are borderline insane when we're invoking the, "it's not their fault" argument?

Calorie reduction and exercise will reduce your body fat even if you eat mostly carbs. The trouble is that it's hard to stick to a low-calorie diet if you're mostly eating carbs.

> Would it be going too far to say the type of person who would most benefit from the nutritional advice of this column is also unlikely to be the type of person who reads the New York Times.

Um, yes. I don't at all understand your point. That's the most ridiculous point I've heard in a long time.

Are you somehow insinuating that overweight people are not well-read or intelligent? The many, many overweight NYT readers I know (including myself) would beg to differ.

> And to the person who says that what people put into their mouths is, "generally out of their control"

Your attitude is a terrible example of the moralistic viewpoint which this article disparages. Being overweight is in no way equivalent to a crime.

Choice is not a binary. Of course people have some control over what they eat, but it's well established by science that different people at different times have different drives to eat. Or are you completely dismissing addiction as a phenomenon?

> Everyone wants to be told that it isn't their fault that bad things have happened.

Actually, the general cultural attitudes are to castigate overweight individuals for some sort of moral failing. In reality, it is substantially harder for different people with different genes to maintain a lower weight. Disregarding that is purely callous and is equivalent to denying the existence of phenomena like addiction.

People are 100% accountable, but that doesn't mean we should ignore that it's harder for certain people to make the "right" choice. It also doesn't mean we shouldn't give them support and assistance to make the right choice.