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Obesity /Diet related illnesses will be the new smoking. You see foods being pushed as healthy, now, which clearly aren't. Some things are demonized when they shouldn't be.
IMO we are only at the start of the problem. Most old people now didn't grow up with an abundance of (bad) food in the same way there is now. So when the current youngsters start to reach middle age and retirement things will get much worse.
Education is the key, and understanding. Someone above nailed it. Most people can cope and understand that moderation is the key. Some people choose to ignore it, some people know it but can't help themselves. I'd suggest the latter is rare though - most people just need a bit of an incentive, carrot or stick (but not cake).
True I think we will have big health/timebomb in the next decade or so
Anyone want to go into business with me supplying enlarged wheelchair/obesity aid products?
being in a country with a taxpayer-funded health service means the financial cost of reduced productivity and medical care is shared across the whole population, rather than being proportionally borne by the least fit
Not if they die earlier, saving money on taxpayer-funded pensions.
I can't help but think how did she somehow manage to afford £6k on red-bull, but still expect the NHS to pay for her boot-camp?
Being unhealthy remains a disincentive in itself.
For me and you it is... but clearly not enough for the masses...
NHS figures:
Obesity levels in the UK have more than trebled in the last 30 years and, on current estimates, more than half the population could be obese by 2050.
Europe's obesity league:
UK: 24.9%
Ireland: 24.5%
Spain: 24.1%
Portugal: 21.6%
Germany: 21.3%
Belgium: 19.1%
Austria: 18.3%
Italy: 17.2%
Sweden: 16.6%
France: 15.6%
Part of the issue I think is our tendency to focus on the short term. We don't want to withhold pleasure now in return for long term gain. By the time the damage is done to the individual it's pretty much too late to undo it. Only a minority are disciplined enough and aware enough of their own psychology to override this. I include myself in the group that struggles to avoid sweet things even though I know it does me no good... luckily I enjoy hard exercise!
There isn't a special organ that sorts out nice sugar from fruit juice and nasty sugar from Red Bull
Aren't glucose, fructose and sucrose slightly different things that the body eats differently?
Aren't glucose, fructose and sucrose slightly different things that the body eats differently?
Yup, but he's still technically correct that it's not one organ (liver, pancreas, muscles etc).
Jesus that's a lot of red bull, I'm amazed her body has coped with the amount for so long. In my younger days I had a binge on the stuff one night, ended up shitting the bed the next morning.
Never touched the stuff since 😳
I was teaching in a school that let the kids out at lunchtime and there was a period where the yr8s became virtually unteachable, hyper and constantly needing the loo in the afternoons. We went through the usual thoughts about drugs etc then we worked out that the local tesco metro store up the road was doing its own brand redbull 1lt bottles on a bogof for about 99p and the fashionable dare of the week was to chug both bottles in a sitting. A 13yr old with 2 litres of redbull inside them is batshit crazy.
Yep, I despair at watching our local schoolkids walloping down monster by the pint can, which has just washed down either a chinese or something from the kebab shop. Then they throw all the packaging on the ground.
I'd keep the buggers in school at lunchtime.
[i]How can you let yourself get to 26 stone? I really don't understand what is going on in these peoples minds. Surely you look at yourself and think "hmm, I used to have feet down there somewhere, perhaps I should do something about this".Are people really this stupid?[/i]
Without being drawn into an argument, ^ that does quite a good job of demonstrating the general lack of understanding by the public.
By the time someone gets to 26 stone, the way their body is metabolising food, has failed, that person's entire system has gone "hay wire". In this case, likely hyperinsulinemia. So is it really any wonder, that when someone's "system" has gone out of control. That we see an abnormal result.
So where as someone might not understand the physiological reasons of how or why she got that way, having a cheap-shot is a bit, cheap.
Pointing and laughing at her, while really not understanding yourself, the physiology is, well, you decide.
[i] I'm amazed her body has coped with the amount for so long. [/i]
But her body didn't cope, hence the colossal weight gain.
from what i see when i drop the mrs off at her school - a can of monster* is a normal breakfast for a large number.
i asked her what the kids were like in the morning..... she said hyper - and it only gets worse after lunch when they get more monster*
*energy drinks
Solo has it. ^^^
Maybe these would help:
[url= http://www.springwise.com/multi-sport-wearable-coach-offers-motivation/ ]Wearable coach talks to the user during their workout[/url]
... if it can detect repeated movement of hand to mouth over a period of time maybe it can point out to you that you're overeating?
I know that's tongue in cheek but some kind of device which can intervene at the appropriate moment is going to help surely. As pointed out above, telling people they're fat tends to cause offence so maybe getting some kind of wearable tech to do it might provide a solution
the gut is the largest hormone producing organ in the body, and hormones are incredibly powerful behaviour modifiers , at that size she will be stuck in all kinds of feedback loops
gastric band surgery while not cheap and potentially dangerous, more so the bigger people are, will save the NHS money in the long run, many of her problems will disapear almost overnight, including diabetes thanks to the reduction in hormones. A daily vitamin pill as she can no longer absorb enough nutrients is very much worth it
of course educating people that its stupid to neck so much sugary stuff is key and its obvious that we are failing , especially in the home, schools etc can do so much but parents really determine eating habits
as with smoking, legislation as well as education is needed (does anyone think itd be good to lift the smoking ban in pubs?!!)
sadly the government rolled over under industry pressure ... on traffic light labelling, sugar tax, minimum alcohol pricing even exempting academies from junk food vending machine bans
It's very easy for you guys (with the exception of Solo) to criticise this woman. You have not had the experience of discussing weight with a doctor and watching their eyes glaze over then some contempt is thrown in for good measure. Quick to make assumptions these hard of thinking folk. 😐
cinnamon_girl - MemberIt's very easy for you guys (with the exception of Solo)
Oi!
Come on c_g - [b]IF[/b] the article is to be believed* then this lady was [i]"unaware of the damage she was doing"[/i] by drinking 28 cans of Red Bull and only having one (fast-food) meal a day.
And she remained "unaware" despite suffering five years of migraines and significant weight gain.
I don't think it is unreasonable to ask how she could have possibly been unaware?
.
* (I note the article quotes from the Daily Mail so it may well all be nonsense).
Human beings aren't totally rational, and more so if you're unwell, stressed, sleep deprived, probably suffering from malnutrition and who knows what else. It is sad sometimes but, there you go. Never underestimate people's capacity to deceive or harm themselves. All you can really do, is try not to be a **** about it.
Oi!
Quite Northwind, you're on the naughty step!
Come on c_g - IF the article is to be believed* then this lady was "unaware of the damage she was doing" by drinking 28 cans of Red Bull and only having one (fast-food) meal a day.
GrahamS - replace Red Bull with, say, alcohol, cocaine? Addiction?
There isn't a special organ that sorts out nice sugar from fruit juice and nasty sugar from Red Bull
Both pretty bad IMO. Fructose is only broken down in the liver
GrahamS - replace Red Bull with, say, alcohol, cocaine?
Happily.
If someone was snorting cocaine 28 times a day, only eating one crap meal, and was suffering migraines and huge weight changes then I would be just as surprised to hear that they were "unaware" that this was bad for them.
Wouldn't you?
Addiction?
Indeed. But being unaware of harm and being unable to shake an addiction are two very different things.
The way the article reads (and I've stated my reservations there) the lady doesn't say she was addicted, she says she simply didn't know that was bad.
Having found out it was bad she has given up the Red Bull: [i]"she has entirely cut Red Bull from her diet and lost two stone."[/i]
Quick, someone tell that women that crack and heroin are bad for you as well.
[i] she says she simply didn't know that was bad[/i]
Claiming disbelief only indicates your personal perspective on the subject. So yeah, [b]you know[/b] RB, 28 cans, 5 cans, whatever per day, may not be good for you. But how does your knowledge translate to being what everyone "should" know, esp in a marketing environment such as we "enjoy" today.
I'd of hoped you'd accept that current nutritional advise, via the NHS, the web, wherever, is boring for most people, at best and down right incomprehensible to others, at worst.
However, after reading 95% of the posts on this thread it should be clear to the meanest "intelligence" that most folk haven't the first clue about how the endocrine system influences dietary choices and metabolism.
Especially in the current environment of unchecked "health" advise and cheap, widely accessible refined and easily digestible carbohydrates.
As per my previous post. On an internet forum, anyone may find it easy to scoff, laugh and generally mock those who might show as little interest in nutrition as an equal number of the population show no interest in politics or current affairs. Quite how this translates into some kind of "sport" I will leave others to decide.
In the meanwhile, on the basis of what I've read here. Most should probably refrain from judging.
Just, my, informed, opinion.
A mother from Newtownabbey has claimed she is going blind after drinking up to 28 cans of Red Bull a day.
Blimey, I bet she didn't see that coming. 😉
I'll get my coat.........
hora - MemberTrue I think we will have big health/timebomb in the next decade or soAnyone want to go into business with me supplying enlarged wheelchair/obesity aid products?
Belly Wheels? A La 2000AD style?
Claiming disbelief only indicates your personal perspective on the subject. So yeah, you know RB, 28 cans, 5 cans, whatever per day, may not be good for you. But how does your knowledge translate to being what everyone "should" know...
Because I was under the impression that it was fairly common sense. I don't think it requires an in-depth knowledge of nutrition and endocrinology.
i.e. if you took a poll of 1000 people and asked them "is a diet solely consisting of 28 cans of Red Bull and a take-away every day likely to be harmful?" then I would [i]expect[/i] that almost all of them would say yes.
If you took the few "no" answers and gave them a follow on question saying "you have been following that diet for some time and in that time you have also been suffering frequent migraines and weight gain. Is this just a coincidence or do you now suspect your diet may be harmful?" then I'd be surprised if there were still people who genuinely thought the diet was fine.
If you are saying that we [i]should[/i] expect people not to realise it is harmful because nutrition is hard and marketing is easy then isn't that basically an answer to what I asked:
"I don't think it is unreasonable to ask how she could have possibly been unaware?"
Why is that an unreasonable question? Seems like one worth considering to me.
As per my previous post. On an internet forum, anyone may find it easy to scoff, laugh and generally mock..
I hope that my posts show I haven't done any of that.
i.e. if you took a poll of 1000 people and asked them "is a diet solely consisting of 28 cans of Red Bull and a take-away every day likely to be harmful?" then I would expect that almost all of them would say yes.If you took the few "no" answers and gave them a follow on question saying "you have been following that diet for some time and in that time you have also been suffering frequent migraines and weight gain. Is this just a coincidence or do you now suspect your diet may be harmful?" then I'd be surprised if there were still people who genuinely thought the diet was fine.
I think anyone so monumentally unaware of even the most basic facts of nutrition would probably not be in a position to make this connection. Which of course points to the lack of education - how can someone make it to adulthood (and have kids, presumably with some kind of interaction with a doctor) and think that this kind of diet is anything but dangerous?
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) which they said was a result of her being overweight
Am I the only pedant that finds this surprising, or has the medical definition of idiopathic been changed recently?
Dreadful drink - learn to take espressos with nice sugar instead.