Why our food is making us fat

Interesting article from the Guardian about the food industry, processed food, and the Fat v Sugar debate TV prog thurs 9pm on BBC2 too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/11/why-our-food-is-making-us-fat

Good read, thanks.

It’s something that Mrs North’s boss – a leading expert in public health who specializes in obesity – has been going on about for years.

The way we are encouraged to eat is different from how it used to be – and we’ve happily joined in with that, with too few people understanding the consequences of our convenience culture.

The idea that poor = bad diet = fat has now gone. We’re all fat.

And I’m sick of being fat, so I’m on *that* diet.

The idea that poor = bad diet = fat has now gone.

but many still use it as an excuse…
“I must eat breaded chicken gizzards and frozen curly fries because they’re cheaper than chicken meat and potatoes.”

well stop havin the pizza dude around then.. 🙄
soon be telling us that salads are fattening too.. 😉

but many still use it as an excuse…

Indeed, but I believe it’s an individual response to a system crisis they seem unable to grasp.

But what’s interesting is the middle class fatness. OK, so their diet doesn’t major on fried chicken’s innards, but there’s still way too much convenience food “I’m too busy to cook,” they cry, before slumping in front of Masterchef for an hour.

Very interesting article.

I always used to blame the baby boomers making me finish my plate of food, but that puts another spin on things.

I can’t make head nor tail of what makes us fat.
Some say it’s calories (so eat less than you use), some say it’s the fat in our food, some say it’s carbs and some say its sugar.
I just try to have a balanced diet to stay trim but as I get older, a better understanding would be great.
Should I now not eat fat (no meats?), sugar (no fruit?), carbs (no pasta or potatoes?) AND have low calorie intake?
I don’t want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly can I eat?

We’re all fat.

Speak for yourself
I am not fat and I am not on that diet

Interesting article I dont eat much processed food and generally make all my own food from ingredients.

Have sugar in my tea but I only have t-23 cups a day as I drink water generally

…some say it’s carbs and some say its sugar.

Sugar is carbohydrate.
To summarise the article, sugar, or more precisely, corn syrup, is added to everything processed.
If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK.

Good article. I’ve always thought fat free foods were worse, just full of sugar to make them taste palatable.

What exactly can I eat?

Normal food. Cooked from scratch. Not too much of any one thing.

It’s the past future..!

the inability of wrecker above to understand that sugar is carbohydrate is pretty damming

especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a month for years.

To summarise the article, sugar, or more precisely, corn syrup, is added to everything processed.
If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK.

As the article points out, HFCS is added to some “raw” ingredients too, like meat. Home cooking is fine, but I really don’t have the time to run my own cattle farm and slaughterhouse. 😀

More seriously, I’m all for home cooking, but even with the very best intentions all but the most flagellating puritans are still going to use some “processed” food.

How many “home cooks” can honestly say they only ever eat their own homemade/homegrown ketchup/HP, pasta, pastry, biscuits, salad, crisps, beer, wine, butter, olive oil etc etc etc

Sugar is carbohydrate.

So when the label says “Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)“ then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

soobalias – Member
especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a month day for years.

FTFY

Religeously monitored my weight for the past 18+ years through boxing (Have to be weighed at the gym at least three times a week etc and never much deviated from 81kg). Seems I can eat pretty much what I want without effect. In fact.. seems weird but sugary items such as biscuits etc appear to increase my motabalism and make me LOSE weight 😕

Only time ever went above 82kg was when I ate a full English every day for a week.

23 cups a day

23 cups a day? 😯 😆

I tend to eat a pretty healthy diet, junk food now and again, but not too much of it, it tends to be pretty expensive compared with fresh fruit and veg from the greengrocers. That said, I seem to be able to eat pretty much whatever and when ever I want and not put on any weight.

wrecker – Member
I don’t want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly can I eat?

Eat whatever you want – I do. Just don’t eat too much and make sure you get regular exercise.

Sorted.

Only time ever went above 82kg was when I ate a full English every day for a week.

Blimey. Don’t think I’ve been near that weight since I was about 14. 😆

Even in uni when I was basically surviving on beans on toast, studying, doing two jobs, climbing, cycling and generally looking unhealthily gaunt, I was still 14 stone+ (88kg+).

I’m big boned 😉

One factor along with many others most obviously portion sizes – remember when a glass of orange juice/slice of melon was considered a starter?

We’re all fat.

Speak for yourself
I am not fat and I am not on that diet
Interesting article I dont eat much processed food and generally make all my own food from ingredients.

Have sugar in my tea but I only have t-23 cups a day as I drink water generally

You’re only thin because there is literally nothing nice that you can eat. 😉

wrecker – Member
I don’t want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly can I eat?
Eat whatever you want – I do. Just don’t eat too much and make sure you get regular exercise.
Sorted.

We’ve been through this. The latest and most comprehensive research has shown pretty clearly that the nature of what you eat is key. Maybe not for you but for most people.

I’ve been eating low GI recently as opposed to full on i**** and I feel a lot better/less hungry and the weight is falling off.

Footflaps:

Good article. I’ve always thought fat free foods were worse, just full of sugar to make them taste palatable

Couldn’t agree more, I think that the ‘low fat message is better for you’ that has gone on for years is a principle (but not limited to) culprit as to why the population is getting fatter.

I steer away from low fat products as much as possible.

So when the label says “Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)” then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

Sugar is a carbohydrate, carbohydrates aren’t sugar.

So when the label says “Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)” then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

OK, bad grammar on my part.
Sugar is a carbohydrate.

Cav’s given up sugar for the Olympics. road.cc

the inability of wrecker above to understand that sugar is carbohydrate is pretty damming

Where did you get that from?
Complex carbohydrate is sugar is it?

especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a month for years.

As I have said, I’m not a fatty (I exercise a lot) so pay little heed to the “can I eat plain crisps” threads.

So when the label says “Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)” then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

i said sugar is carb, not carb is sugar. sorry i dont have the time to play venn diagrams with you today, but…

While the diet people might be looking, two useful posts from my new favourite food blog:

[list][*]The two biggest myths about home-made lunches[/url][/*]
[*]Three uber-simple lunches you can make at work in less time than it takes to go out and buy something[/url][/*][/list]

Just don’t eat anything that’s pre made is a good basis to start from.

Now and again is ok but make things from scratch it’s cheaper and not always time consuming.

OK, bad grammar on my part.
Sugar is a carbohydrate.

Ah fair enough. (Was a genuine question by the way, not trying to pick pedantic grammar holes).
We tend to pay very close attention to the “of which sugars” part in our house, due to the missus’ diabetes.

So when the label says “Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)” then what is the other 2.2g?

starch usually….

Just don’t eat anything that’s pre made is a good basis to start from.

Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients listed on the packet seems to be a good rule of thumb. Once you hit six ingredients, the crap seems to start sneaking in.

poor = bad diet = fat

more like lazy/uneducated = bad diet = fat

‘lazy’ as in can’t be bothered looking for & cooking with fresh ingredients, so resort to convenient processed foods (there is also the misconception that ‘proper’ cooking takes ages)

‘uneducated’ as in were never taught by parents how to cook, or what a healthy balanced diet is

i.e. :

If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK

It’s not rocket surgery.

Although the addiction/dependency/craving element is interesting – it would be very easy to say ‘stop eating z, y & z’, but I guess it’s not that simple if it’s technically an addiction … which is perhaps why so many people fail with dieting

Just out of interest, my wife comes from a country where (generally) a lot of vegetable oil is used in cooking and dairy products feature quite heavily in the average diet. A lot of rice, pasta & potatoes are consumed. You might imagine people would therefore be generally overweight.

However, in general pretty much 100% fresh/natural ingredients are used, and meat consumption is probably half of the UK average (from what I’ve seen).

I don’t remember seeing many overweight/obese people last time I was visiting.

If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK.

We tend to cook at home a fair bit, but both need to loose a little weight.

The Closed “How to Loose a Belly” thread last month was very interesting, despite the flaming.

I took away a copy of myfitnesspal from that thread, and started using it. Using alongside my regular exercise I have dropped from 15st to 14.5st in that time

Using myfitnesspal I have been absolutely flabergasted how many calories (essentially fat and sugar) is stuiffed in to bought food. I have had a few overnight stays at Premier Inn during that time, and they helpfully publish their nutritional info (on the menu and website). very difficult to have a sub-1000 to 1500 calorie evening meal. The same meal cooked at home would be roughly half of that

Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients listed on the packet seems to be a good rule of thumb.

There goes my mixed nuts 😀

I took away a copy of myfitnesspal from that thread, and started using it.

A good indicator that you’re cooking proper food from scratch is if you find MyFitnessPal a time-consuming pain in the arse to use 🙂

excuse me chaps, i know yeti is banned, molly is on holiday and solo hasn’t turned up yet, but can you all please start arguing as this is a diet thread and all this agreement is making my brain hurt.

don’t worry phil, soobalias is doing his best to be a dick. It’ll soon erupt I’m sure.

A good indicator that you’re cooking proper food from scratch is if you find MyFitnessPal a time-consuming pain in the arse to use

Not at all. The “Recipes” function is very useful, especially with the bar code scanner. Have set up a number of regularly cooked recipes like spag bol, chile con carne, several homemade breads. Once set up they are stored for re-use. Easy.

…but can you all please start arguing…

I could start getting smug about being vegan if that would help. 😉