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Why is the American diet so deadly?

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Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#151

Post by bumby »

moojacob wrote: post #98
KPGv2 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I really don’t understand this “I don’t have a choice all fast food is bad” some are pretty healthy I agree with you, but when you factor in cost, availability, familiarity, and other psychological factors, you end up with people instinctively choosing really unhealthy options. There's an acculturation issue IMO. I grew up white trash, while my wife grew up wealthy in an Asian household. I cook lots of healthy food…

So you’re saying eating low quality food is a deeply ingrained habit because you grew up with a family that ate those foods. They are comfort foods. That’s a really good point.

Sometimes people treat the problem as just a simple “decide and act” type of discipline, but in reality it has psychological, environmental, and social components that often act under the surface to influence our behavior. Unconsciously gravitating towards unhealthy “comfort” foods is a good example.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#152

Post by bglazer »

macNchz wrote: post #114
tombert wrote: post #25

In July of 2023, I was about 254lbs. I'm a pretty tall dude (about 6'5"), so it's not quite "obese", but it's pretty heavy, and it was only growing. Amusingly, by accident, I started losing weight a month later, because I bought a kegerator, and I had up to 10 gallons at a time of Diet Coke in the kegs. Suddenly, I almost completely lost my urge to go to Taco Bell for every meal. I guess it turns out that I wasn't ad…

Soda really is something—I drank plenty as a kid, but I kind of soured on it after an interactive exercise in a college class, where we each guessed the amount of sugar in a can of soda, scooped the sugar into a glass, and then were shown the actual amount. In seeing that, I realized I would simply never put that much sugar in anything on my own, if I were sweetening a drink rather than buying something pre-sweetened…

A decade ago, I saw an image that showed the amount of table sugar in a can of Coke and I haven't willingly drank one since.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#153

Post by dietr1ch »

jibbit wrote: post #30
pfdietz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the carbs.

is this true? If everyone prepared their own food from scratch, but still had as many carbs, outcomes wouldn't improve?

I don't think it's just the carbs, but they likely don't help in today's society. We became too efficient at packing carbs in our diet and at the same time too sedentary.

Beyond macro-nutrients, what I think the true reason food in the US is bad is because of the other stuff. Many things banned in Europe (which is special because they use science for improving quality of life before profits) are not banned in the US, even though it's an advanced enough nation to be able to deal with the ban and look for better options.

The problem in the US is that profits are of utmost importance. Anything that lowers your costs is good for business as long as it's hard to point at it (does colourant X cause cancer? maybe we need more studies, or just didn't know, we'll try better next time).

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#154

Post by ramblenode »

bberrry wrote: post #17
lcfcjs6 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is an accurate point. I would also add preservatives. Companies have an incentive to increase shelf-life, so they pump these products full of them, despite their effects on health.

What evidence is there of preservatives having detrimental effects on humans (in the doses we actually receive)?

Preservatives achieve their intended function by broadly destroying and preventing the growth of microbes, which are an integral part of our digestive system. So I would flip the question: what evidence is there that preservatives don't damage a healthy human microbiome?

Here is a review of some of the research. It seems to still be an open question because of the many variables involved: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9864936/

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#155

Post by JumpCrisscross »

resource_waste wrote: post #34
CharlieDigital wrote: post #9

> Why Is the American Diet So Deadly? Too much sugar. Too carb heavy. Not enough fiber (fruits, veg). Fats demonized for a long spell. No time for preparing whole foods in daily lives. No easy access to cheap, prepared whole foods. Edit: car-focused culture and zoning laws/planning that result in more sedentary day-to-day lifestyle that magnifies the effect of the poor diet.

>Not enough fiber (fruits, veg). I'm not sure why people think fiber is great. Yes it pushes things through. Yes there are bacteria that eat it. So does other food. But it also makes you go poop more often, which is bad for your body. I mostly eat meats and relatively low fiber food. I don't track it closely, so occasionally I'll eat corn and it passes through. --- My point: "Why fiber?" Actually prove that the gener…

> it also makes you go poop more often, which is bad for your body

If you’re straining to crap because you don’t eat enough fibre, sure.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#156

Post by tombert »

macNchz wrote: post #114
tombert wrote: post #25

In July of 2023, I was about 254lbs. I'm a pretty tall dude (about 6'5"), so it's not quite "obese", but it's pretty heavy, and it was only growing. Amusingly, by accident, I started losing weight a month later, because I bought a kegerator, and I had up to 10 gallons at a time of Diet Coke in the kegs. Suddenly, I almost completely lost my urge to go to Taco Bell for every meal. I guess it turns out that I wasn't ad…

Soda really is something—I drank plenty as a kid, but I kind of soured on it after an interactive exercise in a college class, where we each guessed the amount of sugar in a can of soda, scooped the sugar into a glass, and then were shown the actual amount. In seeing that, I realized I would simply never put that much sugar in anything on my own, if I were sweetening a drink rather than buying something pre-sweetened…

I've always done the diet sodas (Coke or Pepsi, whatever's cheaper), but I'm sure there's a lot of extra sugar in all the crap I was getting at Taco Bell.

I also had a habit of doing a small splash of sugary soda, with with the remaining ~95% as diet, which in a vacuum is probably medically insignificant but I think it was enough to keep sugar cravings going.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#157

Post by Fluorescence »

tayo42 wrote: post #82
acchow wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiber keeps you feeling satiated for longer. Also, it’s bulking effect reduces your caloric intake while consuming the meal since the feeling of fullness can be reached with fewer calories.

> Fiber keeps you feeling satiated for longer. Does this actually work for anyone? I eat these high fiber foods that get suggested and i never feel full for hours.

No, not over a certain level (low/no fibre would be it's own type of bad).

Carbs give a type of satiety I can't replicate with unlimited fat/protein/fibre. IMHO it's not actually hunger/stomach related but relief from withdrawal symptoms. Carbs are CNS stimulants that trigger serotonin release and very addictive to me at least.

After fasting or eating keto for a sufficient duration this carb specific form of absence/satiety no longer exists. Hunger/appetite stops feeling like a gnawing craving desire, instead it feels like a more neutral empty/weak signal.

Anyway, if eating carbs, best bang for buck satiety is the potato.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#158

Post by tombert »

n4r9 wrote: post #106
tombert wrote: post #25

In July of 2023, I was about 254lbs. I'm a pretty tall dude (about 6'5"), so it's not quite "obese", but it's pretty heavy, and it was only growing. Amusingly, by accident, I started losing weight a month later, because I bought a kegerator, and I had up to 10 gallons at a time of Diet Coke in the kegs. Suddenly, I almost completely lost my urge to go to Taco Bell for every meal. I guess it turns out that I wasn't ad…

Thanks for sharing. Diet soft drinks get a bad rap but are imo an incredibly useful tool for health. I can probably count on my fingers how many standard soda drinks I had in 2024, compared to 1 or 2 diet soda drinks per day on average. I get the enjoyment of something sweet, fizzy and with a kick, but without the calories. And they're often just as tasty; in fact, I'm not sure I can even taste the difference today b…

I grew up with it, so I actually prefer Diet Coke over regular Coke at this point. I don't remember the last time I just had a can of regular sugary soda...it's been awhile.

That said, I will acknowledge that the relatively-consequence-free nature of Diet Coke makes it a lot more addictive to me. It's much easier for me to drink Diet Coke every day, and lots of it, because I know that the likelihood of me actually facing a short-term consequence from it is relatively small.

At least now, I've transitioned away from the caffeine, so the only thing I really need to worry about is the sweeteners, which seem to be "mostly harmless" from the research I've done, so maybe I don't need to go any further.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#159

Post by mediumsmart »

Because they switched from Thorpe's 1957 high-protein, high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet advice to Ancel Keys' (who had a BA in economics and a PhD in Fish Physiology) ration advice for the US forces declaring war on cholesterol and burying any discussions about sugar for years.

would you like some low fat diet coke with your high carbohydrate freedom fries?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uqj35nHB0g

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#160

Post by red-iron-pine »

bluedino wrote: post #68
Workaccount2 wrote: post #20

I think a big part of the problem is that even prepared foods are packed with garbage. There are a lot of Americans who can't/don't cook mainly for time reasons, and instead eat lots of prepared foods, whether that be from restaurants, shops, or grocery stores. If you are not cooking it from scratch yourself, it is almost guaranteed to be brimming with fat, salt, and sugar. This is true regardless of the source. Whet…

> There are a lot of Americans who can't/don't cook mainly for time reasons In that sense, the 10% of people who aren't that busy, should be cooking. Very few people are that busy. It's just not a priority. Americans spend an astonishing 4 hours and 37 minutes looking at our phones every day.

> Americans spend an astonishing 4 hours and 37 minutes looking at our phones every day.

I can't cook meals while on the subway, or in between meetings at work, or waiting in a doctors office / car repair / bus stop / etc.

but I can sure as hell be on my phone.

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