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I know your not asking me but I think refined sugar in non-excessive amounts is okay. The problem is they are used in excess is processed foods, along with sodium... a can of soda pop can have as much as 22 tablespoons of sugar! Compare that to using one teaspoon of sugar when you make yourself a cup of tea or coffee
Salt is not inherently bad, but if taken in excess, it is. Same with refind sugar.
I think the bigger problem is all the hidden sugar. Everyone knows that a can of Coke or chocolate cake has sugar in it. But there are so many foods labeled to look healthy that are loaded with sugar. Foods can still be organic and "All Natural" but loaded with refined sugar. And the word sugar won't actually be on the label anywhere. So people THINK they are being healthy and avoiding junk when they're not.
I think the bigger problem is all the hidden sugar. Everyone knows that a can of Coke or chocolate cake has sugar in it. But there are so many foods labeled to look healthy that are loaded with sugar. Foods can still be organic and "All Natural" but loaded with refined sugar. And the word sugar won't actually be on the label anywhere. So people THINK they are being healthy and avoiding junk when they're not.
That is true. Even flavored yogurts are loaded with sugar. Just buy plain yogurt then add your own sugar/fruits. It really is important to pay some attention to the nutritional labels. It's not everything but it certainly does help
should the extremely morbidly obese (persons over 600 pounds) be hospitalized into a weight care unit under the Baker Act as they are a threat to themselves?
As their numbers are swelling--no pun intended--it is putting a strain on EMS, public transit, and hospitals. These taxpayer funded services are being forced to spend more and more on equipment that carries heavier loads and are experiencing more wear and tear on equipment. A wheelchair ramp for a transit bus which can hold 1000 or more pounds costs more than double what one which holds 600 pounds does. An ambulance equipped to carry an extra wide heavy duty stretcher with ramps and a winch to get that stretcher into the ambulance is an extra $20K or more. Additionally workers comp claims from injuries sustained with trying to move these excessively large persons are rising sharply. To top it all off, obesity related illness is climbing and could surpass cancer rates down the line.
While some people have health problems which can cause them to weigh 300-400 pounds, only mental health issues cause a person to weigh 600 pounds or more. These peop,e are often enabled by the people who surround them, and without taking them out of that environment, they will only become more ill.
Should these people be hospitalized in order to recieve the medical treatment they need to lose the weight and keep it off? At what point should they be considered a threat to themselves? Or does death by cheeseburger not count?
It is completely pointless to talk about this. I agree with you, but it is pointless to talk about it be cause they aren't going to do any thing about the obese people. Drunk Drivers are an even greater of a threat. But they will do nothing about them.
should the extremely morbidly obese (persons over 600 pounds) be hospitalized into a weight care unit under the Baker Act as they are a threat to themselves?
As their numbers are swelling--no pun intended--it is putting a strain on EMS, public transit, and hospitals. These taxpayer funded services are being forced to spend more and more on equipment that carries heavier loads and are experiencing more wear and tear on equipment. A wheelchair ramp for a transit bus which can hold 1000 or more pounds costs more than double what one which holds 600 pounds does. An ambulance equipped to carry an extra wide heavy duty stretcher with ramps and a winch to get that stretcher into the ambulance is an extra $20K or more. Additionally workers comp claims from injuries sustained with trying to move these excessively large persons are rising sharply. To top it all off, obesity related illness is climbing and could surpass cancer rates down the line.
While some people have health problems which can cause them to weigh 300-400 pounds, only mental health issues cause a person to weigh 600 pounds or more. These peop,e are often enabled by the people who surround them, and without taking them out of that environment, they will only become more ill.
Should these people be hospitalized in order to recieve the medical treatment they need to lose the weight and keep it off? At what point should they be considered a threat to themselves? Or does death by cheeseburger not count?
What about:
1) Drug addicts (illegal drugs)
2) Drug addicts (prescription drugs)
3) Alcoholics
4) People who consistently eat unhealthy foods but are not overweight
One thing that I think has slipped by some people is the "serving size". The cup of noodles things were you add the boiling water are actually 2 servings so you double the calories and, seriously, at work, who do you want eating out of the same container? Also, notice on your cookie package that the serving is 1 or 2 cookies. And, the most interesting thing about this is in the olden days when the kids were little, we ate the whole package and never became obese BUT the ingredients have changed.
My mom baked, really good, in the 1960s and we had cake, pies, cookies, etc. all the time. We were never even overweight. I ate a bologna sandwich, a double Twinkie and a thermos of whole milk everyday for lunch and was never overweight and healthy and survived all the components of MMR and all the flu that went around and a couple were sort of wicked.
Hot dogs and lunch meat have corn syrup in them not to mention the bread and buns that you put them on. We buy soda rarely but we buy the one with sugar, good old fashioned sugar and not corn syrup which you will find in every bottle of the popular brands. Look at the breakfast cereal and you'll find the same thing, laden with sugar and corn syrup even some of those you think are "healthy".
I do think that people on food stamps need to be limited to what is available on the WIC coupons. If they don't like that, well, I never complain about free.
I don't think locking away people is the solution. I still think education and counseling are the way to go along with cleaning up the food supply. It is easy to think that everyone would just know and understand how it all works but that is not the reality. They don't sit down an do the math, read and digest the articles. I always think, gee if I know shouldn't they? It just doesn't work like that.
Also, healthy foods can be just as cheap or cheaper than junk food and that argument has been rehashed and rehashed here at C-D. I was economically challenged for awhile and I know how it is done as do many others, just go to the Frugal area of the forum and it is detailed. Think "clean eating", cook it from scratch and don't tell me you don't have time as I have been there and done that while balancing much more than most people. You can make excuses or you can fix the problem.
If you wake up tomorrow morning and weigh 500 lbs, where do you start from there? Just like with any other addiction, the individual must willingly make the decision to conquer that addiction. There are programs out there to help. The decision must be that of the addicted.
Also, just for the record, the attack on the obese, morbidly obese and black people gets really old here at C-D. They always seem to be the target.
what are your thoughts on refined sugar and other processed foods and the realted health repurcussions?
It screws with the brain. Once people are eating clean for three weeks, they suddenly hate the taste of soda, junk food, etc.
I write this as I am eating my oatmeal with fresh berries and whey protein powder--all organic. Unlike a previous poster thinks, the body needs carbs. Whole grains in moderation are not a bad things.
I know your not asking me but I think refined sugar in non-excessive amounts is okay. The problem is they are used in excess is processed foods, along with sodium... a can of soda pop can have as much as 22 tablespoons of sugar! Compare that to using one teaspoon of sugar when you make yourself a cup of tea or coffee
Salt is not inherently bad, but if taken in excess, it is. Same with refind sugar.
I don't put sugar in coffee or tea. In fact tea is a non-guilty pleasure. I use black tea with a few drops of fat free milk. All organic.
This would be the same for those that refuse to get other addictions under control, right? They are offered an expensive route to rid themselves of addictions which cost the taxpayers lots of money since they cannot work.
All addictions would have to handled this way and who will pay for it. Most people with addictions don't give them up despite the funds invested in trying to get them to.
We need to be educating children in school about nutrition from kindergarten. Parents of obese children need to be required by social services to receive training in nutrition.
I am always surprised when people say they don't eat that much because quantity isn't the problem but the fat and sugar are along with not getting the proper nutrition in the first place.
The government needs to quit lying to the people and allowing the food supply to be laden with all this crap just because the crops are grown here and they need to be unloaded by agriculture. Let the growers grow something healthy which is almost impossible to find or high priced because it is rare.
No, no one in my family is or has ever been morbidly obese or even obese but I see them all around them. I feel so bad for the young people looking at diet products since if they understood what was putting on the weight and made healthy changes, it would make all the difference in the world but then again the diet pill industry is big and probably powerful too.
Education, not locking someone up and it needs to start early so we can get the government to take our side rather than that of the lobbyists.
I don't disagree with any of this. I also think that in addition to classes in nutrition, daily PE should be brought back to apschools from K-12.
I think this because most processed foods are just empty carbs. Carbs is a good source of energy, in moderate amounts. But most processed and refined products are just carbs... low protein and low fiber in addition to the high amount of sodium and other preservatives.
Basically, carbs is the easiest to digest. So if one's diet is mostly empty carbs, they are likely to overeat...which then causes a lot if metabolic disease in the long run
Factor in the reduced calorie expenditure due to all the high tech stuff we use nowadays and almost exclusively driving around.
Instead of junky processed carbs, people need to eat whole grains.
I love plain fat free Greek Yogurt and mix in my own fruit (all organic)!. It's a healthy snack that offers sweetness and yumminess as well as things that are good for the body.
We use very little sugar in this house--a pound lasts about a year. When we need to sweeten something, we typically reach for a locally produced organic honey.
Education can only go as far. Most people know that chips and soda are not good for constant consumption yet many people indulge in it despite knowing its negative effects in their health.
There has to be, at some point, intervention...just like in the case of tobacco. I for one, am not objecting to removing processed foods from the food stamps(i think it should be limited to whole foods and produce) and not against junk food tax.
I am an immigrant from another country and where I lived junk food are much more expensive than produce. In the US, it is the opposite.
And obese people should stop deluding themselves that they are "curvy"
I firmly believe that SNAP should be more like WIC and only used for nutritious foods and that junk food should be taxed. Heavily.
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It Won't Happen:
are an even greater of a threat. But they will do nothing about them.
