Obesity is only a "problem" because...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

The simplest way not to is to simply not have any. Eating some means your body starts to crave it, and it's a vicious cycle. Once you cut it out, you no longer crave it. Amazing how that works. Sugar truly is an addiction and it's not good for you in any way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

[Anonymous]

In planning for the zombie apocalypse, there would be pros and cons to obesity.

The obvious pro is that you could go longer on a reduced calorie diet.

The obvious con is that you would be significantly less mobile in avoiding the zombie hordes.

This is a choose your own adventure kind of thing. How would you like to live your life in a zombie apocalypse?

I’d rather be a fast running survivor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

I don’t want to live in a nanny state, no. So what is it - do obese know the advice and chose differently? Or is it that people are fooled by advertising? Seems like diametrically opposed claims are being made on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

I don’t want to live in a nanny state, no. So what is it - do obese know the advice and chose differently? Or is it that people are fooled by advertising? Seems like diametrically opposed claims are being made on this thread.

That's because you're not very bright.

[Anonymous]

We're obese because of our jobs. We don't have time to live healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

I don’t want to live in a nanny state, no. So what is it - do obese know the advice and chose differently? Or is it that people are fooled by advertising? Seems like diametrically opposed claims are being made on this thread.

That's because you're not very bright.

Well I never thought it was a good idea to eat low fat Oreos or Snackwells. So unclear what that makes you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

How about the revolutionary concept of don’t eat the Oreos?

This was nearly 40 years ago. Do you have a more contemporary excuse?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand thin people trolling these threads. Only reason is to feel superior. I've never had a smoking/drinking issue and I don't even go on these threads. it's a problem I am ignorant about and feel very lucky not to have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

There was a period when the government said fat was bad for you, and low-fat (high sugar) magically appeared. It was also cheaper because HFCS is subsidized indirectly by the government.

It's easy to overeat sugary foods.

Are you that gullible? That sounds like people who thought eating Snackwells were virtuous.

What I'm gathering is that you would rather berate people than support more regulation of the food marketing. How does it make sense to sell "low fat" oreos that are higher in carbs than regular oreos. GMAFB.

In the late 1980s, there were two major reports that came out, identifying dietary fat as the single most important change that needed to be made in order to improve diet and health. And the reasons for that message were that some of the fat was saturated. The idea was to reduce saturated fat, but the assumption was that it was too complicated to explain all that, and that if people just reduced their fat content, the fat content of their diet, they would be improving it.

What nobody realized -- or at least I certainly could never have guessed -- was that the food industry would substitute vegetable fats for animal fats in such a profound way, and would also substitute sugars for fats, and keep the calorie content of the products exactly the same. The best example is the Snackwell phenomenon. Snackwell cookies were advertised as no-fat cookies, but they had almost the same number of calories. And in fact if you go to the store today and look at Oreo cookies, they have a reduced-fat Oreo cookie that has, I think, six calories less than the regular Oreo cookie. It's lower in fat but it's higher in carbohydrates.

...
This campaign to reduce fat in the diet has had some pretty disastrous consequences. ... One of the most unfortunate unintended consequences of the fat-free crusade was the idea that if it wasn't fat, it wouldn't make you fat. I even had colleagues who were telling the public that you can't get fat eating carbohydrates. Actually, farmers have known for thousands of years that you can make animals fat by feeding them grains, as long as you don't let them run around too much, and it turns out that applies to humans. We can very easily get fat from eating too many carbohydrates, and the public was really directed to only focus on fat calories, when we really have to keep an eye on calories no matter where they're coming from.

With more fat-free products than ever, Americans got fatter.

Right. The reality is that during this campaign for fat-free and reduced-fat products, actual fat consumption did go down, but Americans got much fatter during this period of time. Now of course lots of things were going on at the same period in time, but I think it's highly likely this focus only on fat calories to the neglect of carbohydrate calories has contributed to this epidemic of obesity. …

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/themes/lowfat.html

I don’t want to live in a nanny state, no. So what is it - do obese know the advice and chose differently? Or is it that people are fooled by advertising? Seems like diametrically opposed claims are being made on this thread.

That's because you're not very bright.

Well I never thought it was a good idea to eat low fat Oreos or Snackwells. So unclear what that makes you.

I've never eaten diet foods apart from a short bout with Coke zero. But many people I know do buy these products. Since we are concerned about the financial impacts of obesity on society, I'd rather corporations not be able to profit off of deceptive marketing that clearly contributes to obesity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

I feel that way about smoking and vaping. And unlike consumption of food, it’s not necessary. But if we cared about health care costs we’d ban all this and extreme processed foods. It’s easier to blame individuals than take meaningful action so there is no need for “discipline” (which is bullshit as we are not all equal when it comes to addiction)

And salt, sugar, and meat. We need to put together a master list of things which the government should ban to improve the health of all Americans! We could have a utopia

Meat and salt can be very healthy. Lots of people have reversed multiple health conditions on an animal based diet.

The current food pyramid is what is unhealthy and it tracks with an explosion in obesity and insulin becoming a huge money maker.

+1

The food pyramid is wrong. We don't need grains, it lead to this obesity epidemic. Cut them out and see what it does to your body. You won't know until you give it a try

First, no, the food pyramid recommendations (which no one has ever followed anyway) did not lead to the obesity epidemic. Second, the word you are looking for in this context is “led” - I assume you also don’t understand the difference between “loose” and “lose”.

Exactly - the idea that the 40% of Americans that are obese are that way because they meticulously followed some food pyramid guidelines is so intellectually dishonest its impossible to know where to start.

The sad part is the rush to blame externalities in all this ends up neutering the ability of people from taking control of their own health. Any time you speak any form of actual truth its too mean and its shaming. The opposite of the empowerment.

Imagine being arrogant enough to think you, and only you, know "the actual truth" about the complexities of a stranger's physical health. What an AH.

Imagine being so dishonest that you decide obesity on a population level is all about elaborate exceptions and narrow medical conditions. Its impossible to even have this discussion because people always wade in here with some elaborate tale that is not at all a reflection of what is actually happening on a population level.

So, according to you, a DCUM shitposter/self-proclaimed expert, the whole problem is "fat people eat too much"?

You're a simple-minded fool, and a judgmental ass.

Unfortunately for you, the scientific consensus is exactly that. The obesity epidemic on a population level is people wildly over-consuming according to their energy needs and storing that energy as fat. Go ahead and read the literature if you have the honesty to do so. There are various reasons why that is happening, and unfortunately for you, the vast majority are not reasons where human agency and free will are entirely absent from the equation.

Or write some elaborate rant about cow feces on fruits and vegetables and how it’s impossible to be a functioning adult. A functioning adult that doesn’t eat piles of garbage, doesn’t have the need to count anything because they are eating real food, and occasionally does some exercise to emulate what the human body was designed for in the first place.

+1

If you do that, you almost certainly will loose weight. But keep in mind, if you are 50lbs overweight, it will take time. You might not be able to get 15K steps in initially, so start with 5-8K and cutting crap out of your diet. And know that yes, you might "feel hungry" because you have been overeating and feeding your body crap for years. But if you power thru the first 2 weeks, your cravings will diminish, and you will start to feel better. You didnt' put on those 50lbs in 1-2 months, so you will take longer than that to remove them and change your lifestyle. Only you can decide if you want to do this.

Then why the hell are so many people on this thread acting like it's their business? And the only actual argument they have to justify it is "fat people make my insurance costs go up" but these same people aren't protesting, you know, the insurance companies themselves, the deny/delay/depose/defend of it all, etc.

Hating fat people is acceptable, and some people are hateful. You either hate strangers or you don't, and it's about you either way.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It's a problem because inevitably non obese shell out billions of dollars to compensate for the incredible drain obese people are on our society.

Yeah that’s what I was going to say. Obesity is a huge factor of most chronic health issues. WE as a society pay for that when their care drives up healthcare costs for all.

This is your complaint about healthcare costs? You think the outrageous premiums and ridiculous co-pays and inflated charges are... because fat people use healthcare? What a simple-minded fool.

Nowhere did I say this was the only issue with healthcare. But I did say it is a major issue with OBESITY and I am not wrong about that. Obese people all want to believe they’re just some victim of unique circumstances but mostly they’re not - and we all end up paying for their weight related health issues. That’s a problem.

Where did people get the idea that fat people don’t know why they’re fat and like to play the victim? I’ve never met a fat person who does this. I’m fat, and I know full well why I’m fat, and it’s none of your business. I also have normal blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc. so spare me the song and dance that all fat people are a drain on the medical system. It’s categorically not true and also not how it works. The truth is that you don’t like fat people because you find them unattractive. If you’re going to scream at fat people to “be honest” then you need to start doing the same.

People trying to say we were deceived by the government and food industry a few pages earlier.

Likely well-meaning non-fat people. Or people a few pounds overweight who think they’re obese. Truly fat people have no disillusions as to the cause of their fatness.

There are many posts in here of disillusions. The mere suggestion that obesity isn’t like being hit by a bus is met with a violent reaction and long screeds about feces laden vegetables. It’s like that every time.

Again, if I had to put money on it my guess is that the people responding that way aren’t actually fat. While they might mean well, they are just as bad as the people who claim to hate obesity because of “health concerns”. The people talking about feces-laden vegetables think they are helping, but they are just reducing fat people to children who can’t take accountability. They then cause people like you to hate fat people even more because you think we are the ones saying these inane things.

What in the nonsensical victimese is this mess?! Anti-fat trolls are the real victims because they bully strangers? And if the strangers counter that bullying, at all, even with lived experience, it "causes haters to hate"?

That's some extreme psychological flexibility ya got there. Hateful people will do anything to justify their hatred so they don't have to learn how to let others simply live. But go off about how fat people are the ones who need to "be honest".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand thin people trolling these threads. Only reason is to feel superior. I've never had a smoking/drinking issue and I don't even go on these threads. it's a problem I am ignorant about and feel very lucky not to have.

A lot of people who post here are just here to shitpost and start mess. Fat people are an easy/obvious target.

The truth is: people who fatshame are telling on themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're obese because of our jobs. We don't have time to live healthy.

Anyone can choose to eat healthy. I cook healthy meals with less than 40 mins of prepping and cooking. So if you have access to a grocery store and a stove you can do it. I get some live in a food desert and that is an issue. But anyone posting on here is likely capable of cooking healthy meals, they just don't want to spend their time doing that