Obesity: It's officially a disease (smoothie, protein, purchase, programs)
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He's 74 and the weight is hard on him. He has diabetes. This was brought on by lifestyle. He told me yesterday that he now has stage 3 renal disease. Again, another condition that can be controlled by diet. He admits that he's been slipping lately with his diet. Today I'm telling him he has to get an appointment with a dietician or nutritionist so he can plan his menus. He tells me, instead, that he's been consuming a lot of water. That's what he needs, a lot more water when I know that his portion sizes are too big, that he consumes too much meat and extra calories.
He's on blood pressure meds. He takes insulin. Next up if he doesn't watch himself is dialysis? It p*sses me off to no end. He is where obese people are headed and he didn't get there due to depression eating or the need of a psychologist. He loves food.
One shouldn't overly focus on the individual, individuals are being manipulated by another sort of psychology on a daily basis....namely marketing. Just think of all the $$ your farther is generating for the medical establishment, the food industry, etc....if he switched to a healthful lifestyle all these industries would suffer.
When the grocery stores are filled with 90% junk, when all the restaurants are serving junk, when even the supposedly healthy foods are often junk.....individuals don't stand a chance. The average person really has no idea what healthy eating is like, most think its salads and such.....
Even when the government tries to educate people on health, the food industry responds by turning on its spin machine to create misunderstanding and doubt.
One shouldn't overly focus on the individual, individuals are being manipulated by another sort of psychology on a daily basis....namely marketing. Just think of all the $$ your farther is generating for the medical establishment, the food industry, etc....if he switched to a healthful lifestyle all these industries would suffer.
When the grocery stores are filled with 90% junk, when all the restaurants are serving junk, when even the supposedly healthy foods are often junk.....individuals don't stand a chance. The average person really has no idea what healthy eating is like, most think its salads and such.....
Even when the government tries to educate people on health, the food industry responds by turning on its spin machine to create misunderstanding and doubt.
I wonder if people even want to know. At least I don't think my father does. I'm no nutritionist, but sticking with whole foods and generally avoiding processed foods is a message to be seen just about every where and it's a whole lot better than what he, and others I know, have been doing.
At least I don't think my father does. I'm no nutritionist, but sticking with whole foods and generally avoiding processed foods is a message to be seen just about every where and it's a whole lot better than what he, and others I know, have been doing.
Obviously I don't now anything about your father, I just don't think so much emphasis should be put on the individual when so much money is being spent to influence individuals. From my experience, most people are skeptical of the link between diet and their health and that skepticism has been manufactured (similar to the skepticism about global warming). Though I suppose some may just not want to know.
As for "sticking with whole foods", I'm not sure how that is helpful to most people. After all, fatty steaks, eggs, butter, etc are all whole foods. Most people would consider sauteed vegetables "whole foods", yet most of the calories in them would be derived from the processed oil they were sauteed in. So not only do people misunderstand what is meant by "whole food", but one also needs to do a lot more to eat healthy than merely eat "whole foods".
Almost everything the average person thinks about nutrition is rooted in industry marketing....not nutritional science.
Obviously I don't now anything about your father, I just don't think so much emphasis should be put on the individual when so much money is being spent to influence individuals. From my experience, most people are skeptical of the link between diet and their health and that skepticism has been manufactured (similar to the skepticism about global warming). Though I suppose some may just not want to know.
As for "sticking with whole foods", I'm not sure how that is helpful to most people. After all, fatty steaks, eggs, butter, etc are all whole foods. Most people would consider sauteed vegetables "whole foods", yet most of the calories in them would be derived from the processed oil they were sauteed in. So not only do people misunderstand what is meant by "whole food", but one also needs to do a lot more to eat healthy than merely eat "whole foods".
Almost everything the average person thinks about nutrition is rooted in industry marketing....not nutritional science.
Well, butter is processed. Sauteing requires oil, which is also a processed product. So, using those things is not sticking with whole foods, but relying on processed foods. That's really the point, although clearly people have to stop and think about what they're doing.
I have mixed feelings on people not knowing what a healthy meal plan of daily eating is. When someone overeats lets say nuts thinking it is healthy but also comes with so many calories I can understand. When someone lives off fast food I have to believe they know they are not eating healthy but it tastes good to them and is convenient.
Today America is more overweight then back in the day. We have more information, constant new diet fads, new diet products yet people are growing larger. Back in the day there was less artificial and diet products yet people were thinner. The portion sizes were less in restaurants such as I read when Mcdonalds was first open the small hamburger and small fries was the only size. Now we have supersize portions that the average person does not need. Also this was a once an awhile treat not an every day event. People back in the day did cook with butter but portions were controlled and there was less snack type foods.
Well, butter is processed. Sauteing requires oil, which is also a processed product. So, using those things is not sticking with whole foods, but relying on processed foods. That's really the point, although clearly people have to stop and think about what they're doing.
Butter is no more processed than, say, cooked brown rice. What does it mean to be a whole food? Something edible that has not been altered from its natural package? If that is notion, then we're talking about some sort of raw food diet. No major organization is recommending raw food diets, nor are they recommending people avoid "processed foods". But this is just my point, "whole foods" is vague and everyone seems to have a different idea of what that means. Furthermore, as I mentioned, there are plenty of whole foods that are known to negatively impact health. There are also processed foods that are just fine, for example whole grain breads, pastas, etc. How is "eat whole foods" a meaningful health message? "Eat whole foods" is more a marketing theme....to get you into Whole Foods.
When someone overeats lets say nuts thinking it is healthy but also comes with so many calories I can understand. When someone lives off fast food I have to believe they know they are not eating healthy but it tastes good to them and is convenient.
Actually, nut consumption is a bit paradoxical. Those that consume the most nuts have lower BMIs and over-eating nuts seems to produce much less weight gain than the excess calories would predict:
Most people recognize that fast food is bad for them, but they usually have no idea what it means to eat healthfully. As for portion sizes, I really haven't seen good information on this...its usually just the same story about what McDonalds use to serve. People usually ate at home back then, so looking at restaurant food doesn't tell you much. But its not like Americans 40~50 years ago were beaming with health, many of today's big diseases (heart disease, etc) were big diseases back then as well. Yet these same diseases are rare in other societies. So there is something fundamentally wrong, something that goes back before today's obesity problems, with the modern western diet. Today's obesity problem just seem like the culmination of decades of poor dietary practices......
One shouldn't overly focus on the individual, individuals are being manipulated by another sort of psychology on a daily basis....namely marketing. Just think of all the $$ your farther is generating for the medical establishment, the food industry, etc....if he switched to a healthful lifestyle all these industries would suffer.
When the grocery stores are filled with 90% junk, when all the restaurants are serving junk, when even the supposedly healthy foods are often junk.....individuals don't stand a chance. The average person really has no idea what healthy eating is like, most think its salads and such.....
Even when the government tries to educate people on health, the food industry responds by turning on its spin machine to create misunderstanding and doubt.
While I'm against the marketers greedily pushing their junk food onto everyone, people DO have the ability to think for themselves and make their own decisions. No one is forcing them to go to these junk food places.
Yes, I agree, the grocery stores aisles are filled with frozen pizzas and frozen waffles and you ask, "where is the food?" But there are other stores that do have real food so there is a choice.
These people have to wake up and stop killing themselves with food. Not only for their own sake and the sake of their families, but who is paying their high medical bills for what they do to themselves? We are. We, the ones who buy actual food and cook it. Our health insurance premiums go higher to pay for the people who are obese and develop diseases due to obesity. It's about time they take control over their lives like other people do. If the eat because they're depressed, get therapy and do something about it. If they eat junk because tv tells them so, then grow up and think for yourself. You don't have to be obese and it usually is from eating too much and the wrong kind of "food."
While I'm against the marketers greedily pushing their junk food onto everyone, people DO have the ability to think for themselves and make their own decisions. No one is forcing them to go to these junk food places.
You're speaking as if most people understand how to eat healthy and are simply eating junk food because they lack some sort of personal drive to do better for themselves, but I don't see that at all. Instead I see people that want to be healthier, want to lose weight, etc....but are systematically misinformed and don't know how to achieve it.
If lack of drive was the real issue here, the weight-loss industry wouldn't be a $20 billion dollar industry. People really want to lose weight......they just don't know how and no industry really has an incentive to help them. The government should be doing it, but instead we feed kids disease promoting foods the minute they enter the school system.
Industry marketing goes far beyond the TV, the food industry has hijacked US nutritional policy, school nutritional standards, etc. I mean, c'mon,, in the US nutritional policy is set by an organization that represents the interests of the food industry (USDA) not....a scientific body of independent scientists.
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