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You're so right, same here. I rememeber one graph that demonstrated the rise of obesity in America EXACTLY followed the introduction of HFCS into American food and drinks.
That's one thing..the others? Lack of exercise for another...we ran around as kids, rode our bikes everywhere...no video games.
Our portion sizes for meals were much, much smaller. There was no super size. Coke bottles were tiny. NO Big Gulps.
Foods were not filled with so many weird additives and preservatives. Our Moms, for the most part, cooked from scratch. Until TV dinners came along. But they were a rare treat for the nights Mom didn't feel like cooking.
I think that a lot of activity as a young person can keep off the weight. But I also think that parents should be doing their best to instill in their offspring proper eating habits that involve very nutritious food. Problem is the current recommendations for diet are, IMHO, not that healthy......and many parents are confused as to what is healthy.
When you get older, your diet should get better and better so you can maintain an ideal weight.........relying on excessive activity/exercise usually does not end well.
I do a LOT of my shopping at Walmart and have NO problem finding nutritious and healthy foods.
And good for you. As I said before, YMMV (your mileage may vary) depending on one's location. It's all about demographics/consumer demand, and not every area is alike, obviously.
Oh, to add onto what I said earlier about pushing obesity as normal, what about the young woman who was denied membership to a popular gym because she was 'too' physically fit?
All of the things listed are certainly not healthy, but none of them will cause one to gain weight if there is no overconsumption in general going on. Not even junk food. And since when do antibiotics and pesticides cause weight gain?? Believe me the obese did NOT get that way by eating pesticide-laden veggies and salads
-- Sugar substitutes - are known to cause hunger. Diet and gain weight at the same time? Yes, that's one reason it's so hard to lose weight and keep it off.
-- We don't know (other than being carcinogenic) if pesticides promote weight gain.
-- HF corn syrup also makes us hungry.
So the poster was going off a bit but hit some key obesity creators. I'm not confusing a thing. To that list, though, I'll add the government and our culture where fast food reigns supreme. That's why Bloomberg, as NYC mayor, wanted ingredients (including calorie, fat content, etc.) to be posted in various restaurants. It made me lay off Nathan's fries, unfortunately.
People are fat because they eat too much (excluding medical issues of course).
Whether it is hamburgers, sugar loaded cereal, veggies, fruits, water, cola, juice, etc; the point is not what is being eaten more so than how much. There are plenty of fat vegetarians...
People are fat because they eat too much (excluding medical issues of course).
Whether it is hamburgers, sugar loaded cereal, veggies, fruits, water, cola, juice, etc; the point is not what is being eaten more so than how much. There are plenty of fat vegetarians...
And fat vegans and fat people who say they are following Paleo or whatever else is out there. If you over consume calories no matter where they come from you are going to get fat.
You can also eat a diet of nothing but fast food (I would never recommend this) and keep your caloric intake low and lose weight.
Blaming obesity on corn syrup, pesticides, GMO's, processed food, fast food is just another excuse.
People need to stop cramming too much food into their bodies and exercise.
If they are smart they will eat as healthy as possible. But who said the average American is smart?
and fat vegans and fat people who say they are following paleo or whatever else is out there. If you over consume calories no matter where they come from you are going to get fat.
You can also eat a diet of nothing but fast food (i would never recommend this) and keep your caloric intake low and lose weight.
Blaming obesity on corn syrup, pesticides, gmo's, processed food, fast food is just another excuse.
People need to stop cramming too much food into their bodies and exercise.
If they are smart they will eat as healthy as possible. But who said the average american is smart?
I can go on about this subject for days but to spare you all, I will condense to a few thoughts.
1) Genetics depending, some people are very carbohydrate sensitive. (My Native American and northern latitude European genetics predisposed me to improper carbohydrate metabolism even as an active youth and young adult. I have diabetics on every branch of my family tree for example. Being the outlier in my family at the most sensitive end, I was the first to have problems but all members, even the most thin and fit ones eventually have succumbed to our genetic weakness.) There are many, many people with this sensitivity and most are ignorant that they have it and if they know, how to deal with it. Following a "balanced" diet as recommended by many official medical organizations, will exacerbate the problem eventually causing obesity and poor health. I can write a book on this topic alone.
2) The food industry is about profit. Money isn't made by having people eating at home, from their gardens. Fresh food is considered a commodity and not much profit is made from those items so high profit items are invented and as someone so aptly termed "normalized" into the American diet. Aside from the convenience foods that comprise the vast majority of the center aisles of the grocery stores, the list also includes "health"and "diet" items which are non-food constructs. And those things found in the cereal isle which I don't even recognize anymore? We are actually feeding our children these non-food things? Scandalous. The chemicals, the HFCS, the additives all create craving situations for sensitive individuals. Unlike other addictions, it's not possible to just quit eating. Most people have no idea how to deal with the situation.
3) The medical profession as a whole is fairly ignorant about nutrition. When it was determined that I was pre-diabetic, I was handed a couple of sheets with diabetic exchanges, blah, blah, blah. So I faithfully tried this thing for a time and got fatter and my blood sugars worsened. I did a lot of research and discovered low carb and the glycemic index. I applied what I learned and even though I was eating more calories than before, my weight went down, my blood sugars stabilized, I was less hungry and I was able to stave off the need for medication for over decade when I was on the fast track to insulin before.
I watched a morning show around the time that the Zone Diet was coming out and they were interviewing Dr. Sears. He was discussing the issues of carbohydrate metabolism and one of the dietitians became irate when Dr. Sears compared her recommended breakfast of a toasted bagel with jelly to a candy bar and then said the candy bar was probably better because it had more fat to slow down the carbohydrate metabolism. For me, what Dr. Sears said was completely true. For that dietician, her food beliefs were sacred cows. She refused to learn something new, fighting every step of the way. Her recommendation of a bagel with jelly for breakfast would be catastrophic to a fair number of her clients.
4) No one wants to be fat. A fair number of factors go into creating obesity in such a large section of our population. Sedentary lifestyles, environmental sensitivities, poor food choices, long hours, little or poor sleep. I spent a month in Europe and walked everywhere. We ate plenty of food and I lost 8 pounds. There was lots of eating going on there and very few fat people but also there was plenty of walking and stair climbing.
Shaming will do no good. I have no objection to a good discussion about the food industry and our poor American lifestyle but I draw the line at shaming. Yes it is a shame that a woman of a relatively young age had to ride around in a cart due to obesity but I feel sorry for her rather than look down on her. She is ignorant to the cause of her condition and if not, she lacks the information and resources to deal with it.
"Shaming will do no good. I have no objection to a good discussion about the food industry and our poor American lifestyle but I draw the line at shaming. Yes it is a shame that a woman of a relatively young age had to ride around in a cart due to obesity but I feel sorry for her rather than look down on her. She is ignorant to the cause of her condition and if not, she lacks the information and resources to deal with it."
I agree that shaming has no place. However to say people are ignorant of how they got so obese is just nonsense. Eating healthy is front page news these days. Calories are posted everywhere. EVERYONE understands that if you eat more calories than your body can burn you will gain weight. I am not buying the helpless fat person bit at all.
Losing weight is hard, hard work. People KNOW how to lose weight but they chose not too because it is so hard to do. There are a lot of psychological factors that go into why people are fat and why they will not make the effort to lose weight.
Blaming everyone else for a persons obesity problem solves nothing. Very few people have genuine medical reasons that make them obese. Maybe overweight, but to get to obesity there is a lot more happening besides food intolerance.
Foods made in kitchens with ingredients that would have been found in Grandma's pantry are good. Food made in factories out of chemicals is not.
Ignore the "Nutrition Facts" and read only the ingredient labels. Stop counting calories, carbs, and fat grams.
Eat only "whole" foods or those with natural ingredients.
Sleep 8 hours a night.
I'll just repeat what I've said on these threads before. Every single thing in the entire galaxy is made out of chemicals, including human beings. I don't know why people don't understand this simple fact. (maybe a lot of Americans need a refresher in chemistry). Thus, any food or drink you consume will consist of, that's right, chemicals: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, iron, oxygen, etc, etc. . . Oh, and God's role in this is irrelevant.
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Believe me the obese did NOT get that way by eating pesticide-laden veggies and salads 
