[Closed] Why our food is making us fat

Cashews are good in moderation I think. Low GI and a good source of protein. For me at least a simplistic calorie in/out mindset is unhelpful, and there is clear research supporting this.

I just Googled Michael Pollan. He's older than my mam, so maybe I should be eating what my great grandparents would have recognised as food, rather than my grandparents.

Been saying this for years!!

Just in case anyone is interested...

I'm off now to have my lunch what I cooked yesterday. Mmmm, sausages.

The American College for Sports Medicine:

[i]Exercise may be associated with better long-term weight control than dieting alone, but the influence of regular physical activity on weight regulation is complex. Although numerous experimental studies have documented the positive effect of exercise training on body weight and fat stores, [b]far less is known about how regular exercise affects attained weight and the risk of weight gain in the general population.[/b] [u]What few[/u] longitudinal data there are [b]suggest that regular physical activity [u]may[/u] be useful in minimizing age-related weight gain[/b] or reducing the risk of substantial weight gain, [b][u]rather than in actually promoting weight loss.[/b][/u] Nonetheless, primary prevention of substantial weight gain with age may be a more efficacious public health strategy for reducing the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related morbidity and mortality in the United States.[/i]

Fruit sugar is fructose, which is the 'worst' kind of sugar.

I thought fructose was a slower release type of sugar, and therefore less "unhealthy" (ignoring exercise nutrition here) than glucose type sugar?

Fruit sugar is fructose, which is the 'worst' kind of sugar.

I thought fructose was a slower release type of sugar

It is, fructose in fruit is low GI, possibly the best type of sugar you can have.

I'm off now to have my lunch what I cooked yesterday. Mmmm, sausages.

I had this for dinner last night and lunch today:

[img] [/img]

[url= http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3949/toulouse-sausage-and-butter-bean-casserole ]BBC recipe here.[/url]

Fructose isn't metabolized the same way as other sugars are.
It would seem that Humans aren't best set-up for that and it has been linked to liver insulin resistance.

In small quantities, as it use to naturally occur, in wild fruit that hasn't been bred over may years to be sweeter.
It was ok.

But its now added to stuff and fruit has been bred to be sweeter.
So now theres more fructose available than before.

If you want to know a bit more about Fructose, you might want to watch the video on Youtube "sugar, the bitter truth".

I did have some fruit today, some blueberries.
First fruit for me in about 6 months.
It is summer though. Allegedly.

Vegan Moussaka, spuds and some chocolate cake.
[img] [/img]

I like STW, no one is responding to solo [ apt name 😉 ] yet they are posting away on his soapbox FFS even TJ required an adversary to do this.
.

Solo, I'm surprised The American College for Sports Medicine should focus on weight like that.
I know that quote is probably a dumbed down summary of a longer article, but it's always worth pointing out that weight, fat and health are not always directly linked.

said the healthy, fit, fat bastard 😉

[i]Solo, I'm surprised The American College for Sports Medicine should focus on weight like that.
I know that quote is probably a dumbed down summary of a longer article, but it's always worth pointing out that weight, fat and health are not always directly linked. [/i]

I was recently flammed for stating a belief I held on this subject.

Since then I have been researching.

I have found Mr Banting's letter and accompanying remarks, fascinating and also, somewhat [i]familiar[/i].

EDIT
BTW, thanks for the recipe OurManintheNorth.

I'm near enough the same height & weight as Chris Hoy. 😛

That bit in the article where it talked about foods being marketed as "low-fat" and therefore healthy struck a cord with me. I used to eat 4-6 M&S Low Fat yoghurts every work day as snacks until someone pointed out how much sugar was in there in place of the fat. 150 calories each, I'd have been no worse off eating Kit Kats all day.

I'd consider myself pretty well informed and I try and be as healthy as possible and yet I still get caught out by Marks and Spencers underhand marketing.

I was recently flammed for stating a belief I held on this subject.

pretty sure you are still owning him on endomondo 😆

Since then I have been researching

Since then I have been researching.

Solo, I'm under the impression you do a lot of reading on the subject. Have you read anything by [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Sears ]Dr Sears[/url]?

ourmaninthenorth, I followed that recipe too last night!
And tonight, and the night after, and the nigh after that 🙂

Coke's fine though as all calories are the same
[url] http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-06-07/coke-q-and-a-coca-cola-mayor-bloomberg/55453016/1 [/url]

I'm gonna make that casserole tonight, cheers.

Phil.W

Thanks for the link, I will give it a look.

[i]nobody likes a cheat[/i]

Actually you are right.
My Bads, I've been attempting to learn more on the subject for quite sometime.

I suppose there could be worse pre-occupations.

Just in case anyone is interested...

I struggle with long sentences, have you got the Cliff Notes?

[url= http://www.clifbar.com/food/philosophy/ ]Clif Notes?[/url]

Cougar.

I don't know what you mean.
I recently discovered Banting and his letter.
I was amazed to see that this subject has been hanging around since the Mid 19th Century.
I find that letter very insightful, personally.

Michael Pollan also said "Eat real food, mainly Plants"
I try to follow this rule every day. I have blips of course, but if you cook from scratch every day for dinner, salads for lunch, whole grains for breakfast, like porridge, you're pretty much there...

[url= http://www.cliffrichardsongs.com/devilwoman/ ]Cliff Notes?[/url]

Fruit sugar is fructose, which is the 'worst' kind of sugar.

fructose in fruit is low GI, possibly the best type of sugar you can have.

anybody got a my head just exploded smiley?

[img] [/img]

cheers jamie

mmm toulouse casserole looks nice, might have a crack at that.

What I've found interesting is people not understanding why I'm eating differently - "But why are you on a diet, you don't need to lose weight..."

I'm [i]not[/i] on diet.

I'm thinking about what I'm eating and I'm eating "differently" to "normal", but I'm not on a diet and I'm not trying to lose weight.

In a similar vein the bariatric women at work sees that I eat a lot and thinks I'm "lucky that I can eat what I like" whereas she has bad genes.

How do you polietly point out that it's more [i]what[/i] not [i]how much[/i] to someone with a donut in their hand?

[i]How do you polietly point out that it's more what not how much to someone with a donut in their hand? [/i]

If this place has ever provided an indication of how such an attempt might turn out.

I'd suggest that you'd not bother.
And perhaps thus has it ever been.
Remarks by Banting indicate this was a [i]hot[/i] topic, ~150 years ago.
😯

I've read the links for that Zone Diet.
Theres a few things I'd point out.

And I've worked my way through the OP's post to the original news article.
Which I found very interesting, thanks OP.

Interesting also is how people such as Lustig, through trying to find solutions to related problems.
Are gradually lifting the lid on the working of the last 40 years and finding that the low fat, added sugar era is likely to be reflected upon in the future as how lots of people got really fat and suffered the related diseases of being over weight.

In a similar vein the bariatric women at work sees that I eat a lot and thinks I'm "lucky that I can eat what I like" whereas she has bad genes.

I get that a lot.

To be fair, I can eat pretty much what I want without getting particularly fat - I once managed to get my BMI into the top third of the normal range. However, I [i]choose[/i] not to eat what I want which is why I'm a stone lighter than that.

Loving the advert for "drop 3 dress sizes and discover the shocking truth about Britains hottest diet" on the right.

My lunch today ..... but with deference to the popular fad diet around these parts, I forewent the fruit

Still losing around 1 - 2 lbs/week on my exercise everyday programme

[img] [/img]

My day:
[list][*][b]Breakfast:[/b] scrambled eggs, slice of ham, baked beans[/*]
[*][b]Dinner:[/b] three sausages with roast veg (carrots, courgettes and onions), chorizo and a handful of rocket[/*]
[*][b]Tea:[/b] chicken with brocolli, leeks, onions and baby sweetcorn[/*][/list]

Usual 15 minute bike ride to work and 15 minute bike ride home.

Weight still dead on 69kg. As it's been for the last 6 weeks, despite little slip ups like eating 17 chocolate digestives last Friday 🙂

No carbs then mike?
I had fruit and fibre and a protein shake for brekkie
Lunch was a grilled chicken breast salad with cottage cheese and coleslaw.
Normally have a coupe of egg whites as a snack
Creatine before and another Protein shake after gym
having beef stew for tea (made in slow cooker)

It's unadventurous but very low calorie, low fat, low carb and very high protein. I don't know if I'm doing it right though.

No carbs then mike?

Except the ones in the baked beans.

And the veg.

I've tried logging today's food on MyFitnessPal, and it's reminded me why I stopped.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/miketually?date=2012-06-12

As usual, it's telling me I'd weigh 65kg if I continue eating like this. It's told me this for the last 6 weeks and I've not lost any weight at all.

I previously used it for a few fairly typical, consecutive days, to try to get an idea of what I'm eating. The only day I got close to my calorie target for the day was the day I went out for tapas and five pints 🙂

Normally have a coupe of egg whites as a snack

Dear god man!

in answer to the OP. Food makes us fat for several reasons

1. there is a lot of processed food readily available
2. people believe that they are too busy to cook
3. people believe that they are to busy to exercise
4. lack of understanding about what is in food
5. lack of skills available to prepare food
6. humans are not evolved to eat what is made readily available/easy for us in ready meals
7. instinct drives us to do the easiest thing possible
8. people with no scruples are happy to exploit all of the above for money

I'm making Ton's beans right now, ready for breakfast in the rest of the week.

Basic recipe: fry a chopped onion. Add 3 tins harocot beans and one carton of passata.

Tonight's variation had a chopped pepper and some chorizo added to the onions. Plus a splash of balsamic and a glug of wine. And some chilli flakes and lots of black pepper. Am experimenting with 100g of red lentils too. The pre-beans-and-toms lentil/onion/pepper/chilli/chorizo mix is lovely.

For balanced I go for (this week ish)
Breakfast
Cereal or Toast Depending on how much I'm doing
Bacon and Eggs sometimes on a weekend

Lunch
Sandwiches

Evening Meal (one from)
Lasagne
Thai Curry (Fish or Chicken)
Chicken and Veg Pasta
Chilli and rice
Steak Pie with roast and steamed veg

Plenty of fresh veg with the exception of the Thai curry things are made fresh from ingredients

Plenty of fresh fruit
No Crisps or crap like that

balanced

Cereal or Toast

Sandwiches

Pasta

Pie

fruit

Controversial 🙂

alex222 speaks sense. Some people think I'm crazy for the amount of time I spend cooking each evening (15-40 mins during week, an hour or two at weekends). Priorities I suppose.
90% of my main lunch and evening meals are healthy. Breakfast is variable but not to bad, avoiding most highly processed cereals BUT I turn to sweets, chocolate and savoury processed crap for snacks.

Controversial

always

Couple it with exercise and everything is fine

Steady weight plenty of energy

Exercise more eat more

No real need to worry about hidden sugar

BUT I turn to sweets, chocolate and savoury processed crap for snacks

Many years ago I realised I was doing this out of boredom so got rid of crisps and chocolate from my diet. Lasted about 4 years. Only back in moderation now - helps not being bored at work

oh ok I will join in

Breakfast - nowt
Dinner- 3 humous pitta breads with salad
Snack: crisps and some biscuits
Tea: Flapjack, chocolate cake and a peach
3 hour bike ride
A few minutes ago: Pasta with raw veg and some cherries

Chocolate cake looks nice but might have it for breakfast

All home made except the pittas

What do I win?

Today

Breakfast - 2 bits of brown toast and a mango yoghurt
Lunch - 2 poached eggs on brown toast with marmite
Snack - 2 sticks of celery with hummus
Tea - that sausage casserole above with a little bit of quinoa

All very tasty and I'm not hungry now. According to myfitnesspal I'm about 800 calories under for the day though!

What I don´t understand is why the hell don´t kids learn how to cook as part of their education at school. And I don´t mean an optional 1 hour a week home economics class.

I´m looking into teaching kids still at school(I´m a chef). Since even here, in Spain, the fact that both parents have to work and are too tired/too lazy to cook decent food, coupled with the rise in popularity of industrial processed junk has lead to an obesity epidemic. This was once one of the healtiest places in europe, lots of fresh veg. and fish.

My solution:
Teach the kids about healthy balanced eating and how to source food and cook for themselves.
Super-tax anything with hfcg in it and use the money to subsidise organic food.
Eat healthy home cooked food and have a blowout (takeaway/eat what you want) day once every week or two, until it´s no longer necessary.

Got to shoot off to work, so can't read all this. Regardless of what science throws up every now and then, there is simply too much food. And not an obsession as such, but almost like an underhand mind **** campaign to keep us thinking and talking about food.
We've turned food into some sort of art culture, but we can't draw.

I did skim over and noticed some good points. Like how we turn something we pull out of the ground and bung in boiling water to eat, into God knows what coated rubbish.

Too the 'oldgit' bit. When I was growing up everyone was a bit hungry before they ate. And though parents worked long and hard and had virtually no gizmos to help in the kitchen, just oven and hob. Good food was prepared daily. The same food you can buy cheaply to this day.
I also recall that the average house didn't have things like crisps, sweets or fizzy drink in it, I don't think supermarkets even sold that sort of stuff. Even biscuits were a weekend treat. Though strangely fat and sugar were embraced with relish, but were only available in small measures - mmmm dripping and salt sandwiches.
Portions have also changed. The sizes of chocolate bars you buy with your petrol are massive, the combined Christmas chocolate booty of a 60/70s kid was nothing compared the one king size two for one bar the punters pick up today.
Like someone said up there, it isn't rocket surgery.
It had one downside, the one single slightly overweight kid in town had his/her like made hell.

If convenience food went overnight would we therefore all starve to death before we found time to boil a spud.

in answer to the OP. Food makes us fat for several reasons

1. there is a lot of processed food readily available
2. people believe that they are too busy to cook
3. people believe that they are to busy to exercise
4. lack of understanding about what is in food
5. lack of skills available to prepare food
6. humans are not evolved to eat what is made readily available/easy for us in ready meals
7. instinct drives us to do the easiest thing possible
8. people with no scruples are happy to exploit all of the above for money

These are not reasons they are excuses
1) Just because it's there doesn't mean you need to buy it.
2) Being too [s]lazy[/s] busy to cook means you are lazy - not the fault of the food. Good simple food can be cooked in minutes
3) Too busy to exercise!! Well best eat less then (again not fault of any food)
4) Possibly poor education and confusing labels don't help but taking no interest in food - one of the most basic of all needs is asking for trouble.
5) Time to get out and learn how to cook.
6) Not being evolved to eat crap ready meals - well don't eat them.
7) Instinct drives some people to do the easiest thing - the rest of us might live longer (Darwin time)
8) People are happy to be exploited??

Time to wake up and work it out. All credit to Jamie Oliver for the stuff he has done in the past. I can see why he hasn't done any more as it must be demoralising to see how people are not doing anything about it. If you tick 3/4 of the 1st list or more time to take a look at yourself and whats important to you. The only person in charge of what food you eat is you.

A lack of personal responsibility is the biggest threat to life rather than anything else.

[i]Too busy to exercise!! Well best eat less then [/i]

Eating less ?.
[i]•At the moment, the government efforts to curb obesity and diabetes avoid the all-too-apparent fact, as Hilde Bruch pointed out more than half a century ago, that exhorting obese people to eat less and exercise more doesn’t work, and that this shouldn’t be an indictment of their character but of the value of the advice.
[/i]

mikewsmith - I wasn't reflecting on my own eating habits. I always make dinner even though there is a canteen. I always make my tea and I don't eat cereal from a box. I was reflecting on what I have heard people say seen people do and also from visiting supermarkets.

However What you have said was kind of implied in what I was saying.

However What you have said was kind of implied in what I was saying

Yeah, it was mostly my rant in there. Just sick of people looking for excuses to absolve them of responsibility. Time to retire the State Nannies and get people to look after themselves.

[img] [/img]

[i]Yeah, it was mostly my rant in there. Just sick of people looking for excuses to absolve them of responsibility. [b]Time to retire the State Nannies and get people to look after themselves.[/b][/i]

I'm glad you two worked that out.

I would just add to Mike's comments, in bold, that we might also try to omitt the bad info generated by those who seek to gain by distorting certain facts.
To serve big business, share holders, etc.
In the worst context of the obesity epidemic.
People have met an early and unecessary demise, for having the wrong information given to them.
Which imo, is truely pityful.

The article in the OP effectively, for me, tracked how we have arrived at where we are now, wrt to being in the middle of a full blown epidemic.
It hasn't happened by accident.

Grum;

Dear god man!

mikewsmith; how old are you if you don't mind me asking?

What I don´t understand is why the hell don´t kids learn how to cook as part of their education at school. And I don´t mean an optional 1 hour a week home economics class.

They did when I was at school, well the girls did, along with learning how to wash and iron etc.
The boys did woodwork and metalwork instead

You see, it's all this modern equality nonsense that's causing the problem 😀

Oh, and for dinner tonight, my good lady is making mince and dumplings and veg with Eve's pudding and custard for afters
I believe that will satisfy the 'would grandparents recognise it as food' criteria, as well as tasting damn fine

Wrecker I'm 33.

Think having grown up on a farm and worked out how food works fairly early on in life.

Think having grown up on a farm and worked out how food works fairly early on in life.

The food industry exists for the profits that can be made from processing SHIPLOADS (not just truckloads) of industrial commodities like sugar, fat, flour, water and salt into edible food. If people knew the unit cost of those commodities in their food and the profits being made by food manufacturers they would be shocked. The profits are inflated even further if you go and eat that food in a pub or restaurant.

You're probably better off eating Indian food - at least that is mostly cooked from proper ingredients. The biggest problem is the high amount of ghee used.

A lack of personal responsibility is the biggest threat to life rather than anything else.

Out of interest, and this is a genuine question, do you think there has been a fundamental change in human character over the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st century?
If so, what do you think has caused it?
If not, why do you think people are getting fatter?

Learing to cook.
In my case, I didn't find it difficult to follow written instruction, such as I found it in a cook book.

I haven't looked back since.

From a time long before the web and all the vids that are out there now.
Not to mention recipes such as the one OurManintheNorth posted yesterday.

But its taken a very long time for the meassage about sugar and insulin, to reach me.

That only happened a few years ago.
So before then, I feel that I was just as misinformed as a lot of other people appear to be.
I was focused on low fat and didn't pay any attention to the refined carbs within some foods.

In my case though, better late than never, is fine by me.
🙂

MikewSmith has a good point, I don't think theres really too many good excuses for people not to prepare their own food, starting with basic ingredients.
If anything, it makes going to a restaurant or buying a takeaway, even more enjoyable as its not a regular thing and just once in a while, someone else gets to cook and wash-up.

Life expectancy is soaring, if we convince everyone to eat reasonably, we'll never cope or afford their pensions, so just back off everyone 😆

where are all these fatties..?

I'm just not seeing them...
I'm seeing a lot of middle aged financially comfortable men whingeing about being fat (shock horror).. and I'm seeing the sensationalist press talking about it.. but out there in the real world..?

Where are all these obese people..?

Where are all these obese people..?

Probably watching Jeremy kyle and munching Doritos

Where are all these obese people..?

there you go..........

.......to the land where batter counts as a vegetable 😆

[img] [/img]

[i]Out of interest, and this is a genuine question, do you think there has been a fundamental change in human character over the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st century?
If so, what do you think has caused it?
If not, why do you think people are getting fatter? [/i]

As for change in character, I'd offer for consideration, not so much a change in charactder, but more a change in lifestyle.
Things that were suppose to aid us, give us more time, make life easier.
Seem to have just enabled us to work longer and harder to the point where people no longer think they might have the time to prepare food for themselves.

People are getting fatter for a combination of reasons.
Related to the advise they are given.
They're lifestyle.
Imo.

[i]..to the land where batter counts as a vegetable[/i]
😆

I shouldn't laugh, but that is funny.

wrecker - Member
Think having grown up on a farm and worked out how food works fairly early on in life.

No offence, but your diet doesn't look that healthy to me. I reckon it'll catch up with you.

Glad you think so. Doing Ok so far and happy that I know what is in my food. More than can be said for most.

If things catch up with me I will modify it as I go. It is currently winter here hence more of the warm food than the salads.

I will also not try and blame anyone but myself if I pile on a few more pounds

Where are all these obese people..?

I was in the public swimming pool in Stockton last weekend. Based on the sights I saw there, the percentage of people in this country who are obese is massively [u]under[/u]-reported.

Scarily, these are people who [i]are[/i] doing some exercise.

[i]where are all these fatties..?[/i]

Are you kidding? Go and sit in any town centre midweek, and watch them!!

every doctors is full of them, every shop is full of them.

In america there have been reported cases of bears and racoons with diabetes due to them eating junk food out of dustbins , so its not just human nature to go for the easiest sugar rusj !!!!

where are all these fatties..?

Ever been in an Asda?

[i]In america there have been reported cases of bears and racoons with diabetes due to them eating junk food out of dustbins , so its not just human nature to go for the easiest sugar rusj !!!! [/i]

I assume thats T2D, as they were unlikely to be born Diabetic.

wrecker - mikewsmiths diet looks pretty similar to mine. When do you reckon it will "catch up" with me?

Tomorrow? I don't know do I?
It's very similar to my old diet. I'm far leaner now I've changed it.
Don't try to tell me that curry in a packet is a healthy option.

where are all these fatties..?

everywhere, seems to me like most people i see could do with shifting a few kg. lots of people being a bit overweight makes those who are a 'mildly obese' look a bit overweight and those who are morbidly obese appear mildly obese.

our perception of overweight is changing.