Chewin’ the Fat (Why Americans are so fat)

MSNBC ^ | September 18, 2003 | Gersh Kuntzman

[Nachum]

Sept. 15 — You may have heard that America is fat. You may have heard that nearly two-thirds of us are overweight and 31 percent of us are obese. You may have even heard last week that the Department of Agriculture will soon decrease the number of calories a person should eat every day, an admission that there’s no point in designing diets for the healthy average American when the healthy average American no longer exists.

WE MUST BE fat. After all, Katie Couric did a two-hour special on it on Friday night. And even Dr. Phil, who previously spent his time shrinking heads, has moved on to shrinking bodies.
That’s why I was so happy to see that my favorite academic publication, the American Journal of Public Health, had devoted its entire September issue to why Americans are so freakin’ fat.
If you guessed, “Because we eat so freakin’ much,” guess again: The supersized portions are only the half of it.
You may not be a regular reader of the august AJPH (and when I say “august,” of course I mean, “widely unread”). That’s understandable. There’s not a hot celebrity on the cover or articles that offer new details of why Ben dumped Jen. Second of all, the writing isn’t too stylish. For instance, they keep using academic terms like “the built environment” when they really just mean houses, roads and neighborhoods.
But this issue is chock full of reasons why we’re a flabby nation:

1. We’re the only animals on the planet that live in communities that make us more obese. We’ve built suburbs (“the built environment”) so spread out that people must rely on cars because walking or biking simply isn’t an option. Many developers today don’t even bother to install sidewalks and some communities intentionally build new schools on the edge of town, hindering children’s ability to safely walk or bike to school (whatever happened to President Bush’s “Run No Child Over” education reforms?).

[tubebender]

What's funny is watching them go for the diet sodas while they do that, as if it is part of a diet.

Hey...I represent that. I use diet grapfruit drink in my Vodka Collins, no cherry thanks. Oh, I'm also on the low Carb diet but I was only 15% over weight.

[meyer]

Huh must be local.... it is frequent to see 'no smokers' in employment ads here... With national insurance companies.... if their rates are local, that would tick me off a bit!

We're right next door to North Carolina - tobacco country. They wouldn't dare ask.

[Rodney King]

How do you make your Collins mix? I just use blends bought in the store. I have never tried to make one myself. I actually use diet tonic in my gin and tonics.

[eleni121]

The great Columbian artist Botero really had a handle on the fat issue. So did Rubens.

[Rodney King]

In September of 2001 I was part of a start-up business with about 35 employees. When we did the health insurance smoking was not an issue at all. It probably has to do with the costs of the insurance company monitoring the small businesses being too expensive to make the tobacco free policies worthwhile, or something like that.

[tubebender]

It's just a diet grapefruit "cola" by Shasta cola and I add a slice of lime. It may not be available in a store near you. Just think of all the carbs I'm saving...

[Rodney King]

Oh, thanks. A great drink I invented was Pineapple Fanta with dark rum (preferably Goslings). It's a quick and easy planters punch.

[rightisright]

Is that Hillary? Sure look like her cankles :-)

[HairOfTheDog]

I am beginning to wonder if employers are just blowin smoke about smokers.... and it has nothing to do with rates....

[Rodney King]

Well, perhaps it is the big ones that self-insure who ask about it. That would make sense.

[RJayneJ]

[John Robertson]

thanks for the yuk. had never seen that cartoon.

[handk]

Americans are fat because they are not feeding their bodies, they are feeding their stomachs. Even though their stomachs are "full", their cells are starving.

[ampat]

You're right. I laugh everytime I see Subway commercials, and all they talk abou is fat. No mention of all the carbs in the bread they bake. Now Wendy's is doing the same thing: Eat a big plain baked potato and you won't get fat. What a bunch of BS.

[Pietro]

How about the fact that the gov. has set "normal" weight standards so low that only the anorexic are not considered over weight.

This is one of those invented crises designed to provide income to a group of social engineers w/ no viable method of employment. It is bolstered by the do-gooder class who seek impowerment over other peoples lives and love nothing better than telling people that they are too ignorant to make their own decisions.

Has anybody ever seen old videos of people on the street back at the turn of the century. Lots of fat people back then, somehow though it wasn't a crisis.

[Sam Cree]

What do you think about the food pyramid that one sees everywhere these days, Najida?

[boris]

What's for lunch?

CHON. It's always CHON, with subtle adulterants.

Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen: CHON.

Today's chemistry quiz:

The chemical formula for table sugar is C₆H₂₂O₁₁: six atoms of carbon; eleven molecules of water. Is carbon fattening? You could eat a coal mine and have zero calories. Is water fattening?...Then why is sugar fattening?

--Boris

[najida]

Honestly,
I don't see the problem with the pyramid as much as with what people see as 'grains' and portions sizes. And the major, MAJOR fact that we don't move/exercise enough.

Daily, for years (and years and years and years) I talked to people about what they eat. It got to where I could tell their diet history before they opened their mouths (especially on oncology.....the gut cancer folks were ALL heavy meat, high fat, low fiber folks....same with most of the breast cancer women).

Some things stand out....

Folks eat WAY too much, period. And most of what they over eat is over-refined. We have an aversion to texture. We ADORE simpy sugars and starches. And fat....(yes, we need it, but here in the deep south, it is considered a beverage).

I have actually been in homes and seen folks pile a 'serving' on their plates, and it is 2 to 4 times a serving. So, most folks who 'think' they are following the pyramid are eating about 3 times above what they need. Nutrition density goes over their heads...

Like dried beans and peas, corn, lentils, brown rice, high-fiber pastas, breads and cereals are all nutrient dense compared to plain rice, bread etc.... There are so many nutrients that are in these foods that are lacking in other sources (like lignin which has protective qualities against certain cancers).

But the average Joe doesn't focus on these foods when they think of grains. The average McDonald's meal with biggie fries and a burger is five 'grain' servings right there and almost no fiber.

And most people don't get near enough fiber, not near enough fruits and veges, they are deficient in calcium and most are dehydrated. And there are strong studies showing that fiber, calcium and fluids play a strong role, not only health issues, but weight reduction (ie, the link between 1500 mg Ca and higher body fat loss).

People are always looking for the diet messiah....the magic bullet, the one 'true' diet...Often ignoring the "These foods are bad for you, but, er ah...
Ahem...you need to take these suppliments to make up for the nutrients that these foods have that your are missing."

Erm, ah...and I see the stock in Alcoa go up....

Plus ignoring basic human biology....glucose being the fuel for the brain. Gluconeogenisis is like running a race on prosthetic legs...you have to circumvent favored biological method of getting glucose for brain function (via the Krebs cycle) and use the emergency method to get brain fuel.

Even now, with highly specialized tube feedings, the CHO for insulin dependent diabetic is still approximately 40%, with 40% fat and 20% Pro. The lower CHO and Higher fat making up for the fact that the fiber (that slows glucose uptake) can't be as high as it needs to be (and the liquid still flow through a tube).

The protein is low because the byproducts of protein met is N, and it does put added work on renal function that may already be stressed as part of the disease.

I have insulin dependent juvie diabetics, on pumps who ski, play sports, kayak, rock climb. The get 50% of their kcal from carbs...their needs are so high and they are burning so much. And they fit in things like donuts or cookies (not daily, but their have excellent post-prandials, so it is cool with me).

Anyhow,
that is my view from the bleachers. Eat a wide variety of foods because there are a whole friggin' buncha things that will kill ya, drink enough water and exercise more.

[Sam Cree]

Well, I have never had a serious weight problem, at 5'9", I weigh about 155-158, though I could probably lose 5.

I did the lo fat thing for a while, maybe I was overdoing it, because when I put fat back in my diet, I felt 7 years younger. Cutting out sugar and starch has made me calmer. Also, while on the low fat regime, I ran 3 miles every morning before breakfast. I think that was necessary to counteract the excessive starch I was likely eating.

I notice that cutting back on sweets has given me a tremendous enjoyment of fruit.

However, I suppose some starch is good, likely avoiding the refined varieties and the obvious things, like sodas and sweets that contain the refined starch, would help, along with exercise, as you say.

I do feel sometimes, however, that starches are appetite stimulators.

[najida]

Pure sugar is an appetite stimulator....There was a study showing those who drank sweetened beverages consumed MORE calories in a day than those who drank sugar free drinks(beyond the additional calories of the drinks) ....

I think the 'stimulation' of the starch may be the lack of fiber and fat present. So satiety doesn't kick in.

IOW, saltine crackers,
vs
Triscuts and Cheese.

More fiber, with some fat and protein.