this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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There is no incentive to stop obesity. The rich charge enough for health insurance to make profit on these taxpayers who then die before collecting any social security. Perfect citizens.
But once you pay farmers to grow corn, they have to sell it somewhere. Hence HFCS, and corn oil, and corn gas, and ofc corn corn, and... The then-head of NIH Francis Collins was once asked what single thing Americans could do to be healthier - he said to eat better, especially less sugar, and Congress could remove the farming subsidies, or at least expand them from beyond corn & soybean to include fruits & vegetables. They laughed in his face. Ain't nobody got time for 'dat!
The single worst part of it all is that those subsidies were put into place when a huge fraction of aspiring volunteer soldiers were turned away in WWII due to "malnutrition". Thus the campaign was born to literally fatten up America. It worked!!! And it will continue to work... forever, bc once you create a voting block, ending it or even redirecting (towards a healthier end for us all, but lower profits for Monsanto in the short term) seems next to impossible. It actually is a good argument against socialism, at least in the USA where the government is so enormously susceptible to special interest groups (although there are even better arguments against capitalism so I don't mean to say that it PROVES that socialism is bad, just that it is one example of its misuse, when the government is in charge of something and also the government is stupid; and before anyone says it, yes this situation is an argument against both at the same time:-P).
An excellent documentary about it, most of what I'm saying here is from part 4: https://www.hbo.com/the-weight-of-the-nation/season-1. I know, filmmakers can be... uninformed some(MANY MANY)times, but this was done as a joint venture between the FDA and NIH, so this is highly credentialed. Also trigger warning; it will make you very very sad watching this, bc facts in this era of end-stage capitalism tend to do that, so if you do not want to see things like mothers feeding their 300 pound 10-year old an enormous meal of pasta - literally killing them right before your eyes, slowly and painfully - then... well, I did warn you at least.
Sounds like an argument for market socialism, to me. You get a free market and employee owned and operated companies like co-ops instead of corporations run by psychopaths.
Whole grains are pretty good for you, nowhere near as bad as something like white bread. That’s like corn on the cob vs HFCS.
Flat out false, and I wish people would stop saying that. Including the part about grains.
Do you know what the fittest, lowest body fat, endurance athletes consume in mega doses? Sugar and carbs.
Is it an ideal diet? Not at all. But it's fuel, and it works when you need it to.
People are fat because they aren't justifying their caloric intake. They just shovel it in, even when they've exceeded the 1800 calories needed to just sit on their ass all day.
There is no obesity if you're active (excluding actual medical reasons like thyroid dysfunction or perscribed steroids).
Blaming "the industry" is as lazy as not wanting to be active.
Grain consumption, in case you weren't aware, is a keystone trait among the healthiest people in the world ("Blue Zones"). Grain consumption is also high in vegans, who happen to also have low (healthy) BMI.
You're missing the point. We live in an environment that reinforces obesity, see also car-centric lifestyle which is an infrastructure problem. It's not like humans "wanted" to be active before, it's just that their activity was easily covered by work and travel without needing extra time and effort PLUS they may have already been at/near a caloric deficit just eating what was available to them.
Also I am not fully weened off sugar, but honestly I find a lot of things unpalatable due to the sugar content (like milk chocolate). I would be perfectly fine if sweet on its own wasn't a primary flavor anymore. That and it's at the point where you need to assume that there's a significant amount of sugar in basically everything. For example, Ireland classifies Subway's bread as cake due to the sugar content.
Sugar is cheap (and can be put in higher concentrations than in the past), and it makes sense to make unhealthy food cheap. I also wouldn't look at the opioid epidemic or similar problems and say "only personal problems here".
I work a physical job 8 hours a day. Doing even more exercise on top of that would be a good way to get injured.
Still fat though, because I habitually over eat high calorie food and drink lol
Hardest exercises are the fork put downs and table push aways
I had a hard time arguing against Sam's Club muffins for breakfast.
For less than $6, I can have nine 710 calorie muffins. But the cost to my health to eat that much pure sugar with extremely little nutrition and like zero protein?
But that'd breakfast for 9 days for less than $7 (including tax.)
People who say eating healthy is cheaper if you're willing to spend the time have never been to Sam's Club.
How about two eggs, a tortilla, some hot sauce, and a banana?
I'm the wrong person to answer this. I react badly to eggs (just know it's gastrointestinal and unpleasant) and I have oral allergy syndrome (specifically bananas).
Love hot sauce though!
Jesus Christ a 710 calorie muffin?!?
I'm in Canada. I get a muffin from Loblaw's it's around 450 calories which is still excessive but where the hell are they hiding another 250 calories?!
I have no idea. It's monstrously large so that might be why.
I was buying them and eating half of one for breakfast but with like no protein and no redeeming qualities beyond "not hungry" and "taste good" I knew it wasn't a real option. But my point here wasn't "this is what I do," my point was, "people are being disingenuous when they pretend it's not a real option many people are taking."
I work 12 hour shifts. I do meal prep of curries or stews and that makes a good, cheap meal, but the storage required to freeze 3 meals worth of meal prep for 4 days of work... plus the time it consumes in making and properly cooling and storing those meals... it's not a luxury many people have. Convenience options are very appealing for many reasons and there's this place where "I have to spend at least a day a week planning for work, preparing and putting away food in order for it to be healthy" yoyos around to, "I don't make enough to buy healthy convenience food." If I had kids I'd never be able to prep like I do. Hell, it's difficult as it is!
I eat two packets of quaker oatmeal for breakfast. That's 300 calories a morning. The box i buy from costco floats around $15 or so for 52 packets. Thats an entire months worth of breakfast and with less calories than your muffins, which means im able to achieve my daily calorie deficit easier (trying to hit 1600 every day - been doing a good job of it for the last 3 months).
I do a yogurt Smoothie (130 cals) and a cup of black coffee for first breakfast, then a carnation breakfast essentials or a muscle milk protein shake for second breakfast.
It hits my protein goals (super important- I have a very physically demanding job) but it costs more than eating garbage (or pure carbs which I can't afford to do for my health).
Just at a guess, people who say that surely must be factoring in medical healthcare costs, to deal with the consequences of obesity and such.
It's not impossible, it just requires incentive. I've dropped 30 pounds this year by eating better (and much less) despite having a basket full of Hostess products sitting on the shelf and 2 liter bottles of sodas in the fridge. We just need to WANT to stop pigging out at every meal. For me, it was my cholesterol going through the roof of the skyscraper at my check-up this year (I was over 800! I think 150 is supposed to be the highest you go without being in danger) and generally being uncomfortable after every meal. Groceries get a lot cheaper when you're only eating half as much, and allows me to afford buying better quality foods.
ah, yes, more ketobro science. Fat is good, despite having twice the calories of sugar!
You'd think being able to easily get up off the sofa would be enough of an incentive