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Why is the American diet so deadly?

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Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#81

Post by CoastalCoder »

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…

> I'm not sure why people think fiber is great.

Fiber is good for me because it acts as a stool softener.

In my 40's, I had several bouts of diverticulitis. Hard stool may have been a contributing factor in developing the underlying issue, diverticulosis. I suspect more fiber would have made this less likely.

Later, due to the recurring diverticulitis, I had elective surgery to remove the problematic section of my colon. The surgeon cautioned me to ensure my stool stays soft, so that the place where he stitched my remaining colon back together are at lower risk of opening up. This is a long-term concern, so I'll be careful about it for the rest of my life.

Also, IIUC, straining to pass hard stool increases the risk of swollen hemorrhoids, which nobody enjoys.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#82

Post by tayo42 »

acchow wrote: post #56
resource_waste wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

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.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#84

Post by 9rx »

tonymet wrote: post #49
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…

When asked why restaurant food tasted so good, Anthony Bourdain chuckled and quipped that "everything you are served begins and finishes with a stick of butter". People would gasp if they prepared that food for themselves. When I finish a steak with 2 tbsp of butter it tastes luxurious, and any respectable steakhouse is finishing a steak with a stick of butter and garnishes it with an ice cream scoop of butter.

I am not all that bothered by the stick of butter as the meal is actually satiating and the calories consumed will remain within the calories I need to be consuming. Besides, most of it gets drained off anyway. The 1,000 calorie fast food meals that leave you still hungry afterward are troubling, though.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#85

Post by lithocarpus »

gonzo41 wrote: post #29
pfdietz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the carbs.

it's not carbs. It is inactivity and the volume of cheap easy calories eaten.

There's truth here, and, as I understand it, carbs with high glycemic index do have the effect of blood glucose and then insulin spikes which cause metabolic disease and lead to diabetes which is the primary thing that's deadly here.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#86

Post by jayd16 »

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…

Short of a kegeraror, one can develop a taste for tea or black coffee. As long as you don't put anything in it, it's basically zero calorie and trivial to prepare.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#87

Post by tonymet »

I'm a formerly obese person who has kept the weight off for 20 years. It is a mindset, though not in the way they claim.

It's not about shaming yourself or having tremendous restraint. Dieting is like "not thinking about elephants" in that you'll obsess over it if you try not to.

What has helped is understanding true hunger and the sensation nutrients have. Sugar can feel as strong as a narcotic in certain conditions. If you are eating 20g of sugar you should have a strong sensation. if you aren't, the calibration is off.

Junk food (including restaurant cuisine) plays a part in disrupting that calibration. It's like listening to a deafening rock concert every day and then trying to distinguish a whisper. But junk food isn't poisonous. I eat "junky" food daily like chocolate truffles, marshmallows, butter, ice cream, bacon fat, donuts, brownies, chocolate cake, McDonalds. The difference is that a mouthful has an immediate sensation.

Would you be able to catch a baseball by calculating the vectors? no, you just look at it and raise your hand.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#88

Post by abeppu »

Not at all the point, but I love that 3/4 through the article, the author meets with a nutritionist/molecular biologist with the last name Nestle, buys a chocolate cookie to eat in front of them "as a provocation", and Nestle says “Actually, I think it’s probably O.K.”

Yes, "Nestle" != "Nestlé", but reading that she defended the chocolate chip cookie seemed so on the nose.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#89

Post by geenat »

Sugar does not satiate effectively for the calories.

It's too easy to over eat sugar and carbs yet still be hungry, nutritionally deficient.

It's why Ozempic is effective- one feels satiated even if deficient.

Re: Why is the American diet so deadly?

#90

Post by johnkpaul »

verteu wrote: post #53

For me, the biggest mystery is this: If obesity is caused by poor diet, why doesn't dieting work long-term? https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/when-dieting-doesnt-work... > 121 eligible trials with 21 942 patients were included and reported on 14 named diets and three control diets ... At 12 months the effects on weight reduction and improvements in cardiovascular risk factors largely disappear.

You might find this NYT piece on the winners of the Biggest Loser TV show interesting. Basically, "dieting" as a reduction in calories is a lose-lose game because your basal metabolic rate goes down so you have to keep eating less and less to keep it up.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weig...

Keeping up the basal metabolic rate is part of the rationale behind intermittent/extended fasting instead of pure calories-in-calories-out weightloss advice.

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