It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
Community
General discussionWhy is we fat(101 posts) (101 posts) 
(101 posts) 
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
This is my favourite topic
Posted January 18, 2015
avatar
tinyE: Man It's been one brain fart after another for me today.
Stop blowing candles !
Posted January 18, 2015
avatar
jefequeso: So... in another thread, someone made a comment about Americans being fat. Which is... you know... a huge revelation -_-

But it got me wondering... what is it that's different about our diet/lifestyle that makes us heavier than people in, say, Europe. Do we really eat/act that differently than our Eastern brethren? Britain doesn't have fast food chains or pizzarias? Germans run/walk more? Or is it something else?

I suppose I could Google this, but it's more fun (read: easier) to just ask all you GOGers from across the ocean.
The good old capital sin of excess. What would a mostly christian nation be without it? ;)
Many Americans think that bigger/more is always better. Just look at the size of food packages in stores or restaurants. Nobody seems to care that it looks like industrial waste and probably is exactly this.
When I was in New York long ago, I ordered a small coke at McToxic and what I got was exactly the same size as the BIG coke in Germany.

There seem to be two fronts now in the USA though, on the one hand people who do not care about what they are eating at all or where it came from. Let's just call those "Emiles". On the other hand there are the health fanatics that give vegans all over the world a bad name because of their fanatism which is just a natural reaction to the exact opposite they are seeing all the time around them.
In Europe, something in between seems to become the norm now, tending in any direction.
Post edited January 18, 2015 by Klumpen0815
Posted January 18, 2015
GMO foods and High fructose corn syrup are large causes of large people. Our bodies can't handle the chemicals and stores parts of it away. Not only is this causing weight issues, but it causes poisons to be released into your body once you start working to remove the fat.

Having been overseas, I was shocked and upset that McDonald's in France was called "Quality American Cuisine." No wonder people hate us. I'd hate us too if I thought McDonald's represented American food . But then, these days, maybe it does. A large drink there was the same size as a small here. People will put down 64 ounces of high fructose corn syrup in 20 minutes at one of these restaurants in the USA. It's scary.

Never mind the food, if you can call it that. It tastes bad, looks bad and is horrible for you. I've eaten it a few times out of convenience. Nothing beats home-cooked food, with meat that's never been frozen.
Post edited January 19, 2015 by paladin181
Posted January 19, 2015
I have to add sloth to the most present sins over there too:
http://www.sixtblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/usa_vs_europe.jpg

You probably already know this one:
http://www.funatico.com/media/pics/Difference%20between%20Europe%20and%20USA.jpg
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
Klumpen0815: I have to add sloth to the most present sins over there too:
http://www.sixtblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/usa_vs_europe.jpg

You probably already know this one:
http://www.funatico.com/media/pics/Difference%20between%20Europe%20and%20USA.jpg
I don't think most people are that lazy. :P. and we have some STUNNING beauties here too.
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
paladin181: GMO foods and High fructose corn syrup are large causes of large people. Our bodies can't handle the chemicals and stores parts of it away. Not only is this causing weight issues, but it causes poisons to be released into your body once you start working to remove the fat.

Having been overseas, I was shocked and upset that McDonald's in France was called "Quality American Cuisine." No wonder people hate us. I'd hate us too if I thought McDonald's represented American food . But then, these days, maybe it does. A large drink there was the same size as a small here. People will put down 64 ounces of high fructose corn syrup in 20 minutes at one of these restaurants in the USA. It's scary.

Never mind the food, if you can call it that. It tastes bad, looks bad and is horrible for you. I've eaten it a few times out of convenience. Nothing beats home-cooked food, with meat that's never been frozen.
It's funny how 10 years ago GMO was a conspiracy theory, now it's on the lips of every housewife and suburban commando on planet Earth. Who knows, 10 years from now and people might be laughing at you for saying that we landed on the moon. Strange times.
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
paladin181: GMO foods and High fructose corn syrup are large causes of large people. Our bodies can't handle the chemicals and stores parts of it away. Not only is this causing weight issues, but it causes poisons to be released into your body once you start working to remove the fat.

Having been overseas, I was shocked and upset that McDonald's in France was called "Quality American Cuisine." No wonder people hate us. I'd hate us too if I thought McDonald's represented American food . But then, these days, maybe it does. A large drink there was the same size as a small here. People will put down 64 ounces of high fructose corn syrup in 20 minutes at one of these restaurants in the USA. It's scary.

Never mind the food, if you can call it that. It tastes bad, looks bad and is horrible for you. I've eaten it a few times out of convenience. Nothing beats home-cooked food, with meat that's never been frozen.
avatar
Emob78: It's funny how 10 years ago GMO was a conspiracy theory, now it's on the lips of every housewife and suburban commando on planet Earth. Who knows, 10 years from now and people might be laughing at you for saying that we landed on the moon. Strange times.
Oh god, don't tell us your one of these "Man never went to the moon." folks. :O
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
Emob78: It's funny how 10 years ago GMO was a conspiracy theory, now it's on the lips of every housewife and suburban commando on planet Earth. Who knows, 10 years from now and people might be laughing at you for saying that we landed on the moon. Strange times.
Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
paladin181: GMO foods and High fructose corn syrup are large causes of large people. Our bodies can't handle the chemicals and stores parts of it away. Not only is this causing weight issues, but it causes poisons to be released into your body once you start working to remove the fat.

Having been overseas, I was shocked and upset that McDonald's in France was called "Quality American Cuisine." No wonder people hate us. I'd hate us too if I thought McDonald's represented American food . But then, these days, maybe it does. A large drink there was the same size as a small here. People will put down 64 ounces of high fructose corn syrup in 20 minutes at one of these restaurants in the USA. It's scary.

Never mind the food, if you can call it that. It tastes bad, looks bad and is horrible for you. I've eaten it a few times out of convenience. Nothing beats home-cooked food, with meat that's never been frozen.
Exactly. All that toxic shit, once it enters your body, your body immediately turns it into fat to protect itself. So a lot of Americans are obese because most American food is toxic. I've known many Europeans who instantly started gaining fat the second they moved to the USA and started eating American food. I've also heard stories of people losing too much fat too quickly and dying from all the toxins being released into their blood.
Post edited January 19, 2015 by monkeydelarge
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
the.kuribo: If you look at American home sizes, they have also been getting much more grandiose and luxurious... and there seems to be a race towards getting all of middle-class America to live in a McMansion of their own. This, again, is in stark contrast to the average Japanese sense of home, which is much smaller and much more focused on efficiency and practical living than it is on projecting an heir of luxuriousness and grandiosity.
avatar
AlKim: There's a cultural factor here, too. The Japanese are ethnically unusually homogeneous, for one thing, and their culture is more communal than the highly individualistic American one: since the Shogunate was ousted from power (the post-WWII restoration is another focal point if you need one), Japanese individuals and businesses were encouraged to aspire towards the common good rather than climb their way to the top. The concept of face is strong in Japanese culture, too, so broadly generalized, it would be humiliating to admit that you are having trouble getting by with your salary; and on the other hand, it would be very rude and ostentatious towards those same neighbours if you were making piles of cash and overtly showed it.
Yep, this is pretty much what I'm getting at: the need for Americans to always long for something bigger and better is somewhat built into the cultural concept. The "American Dream" of being self-made and outcompeting and being better than everyone else does inspire some fantastic innovations, but at the same time if unchecked and followed without reflection it can cause a terrible sense of emptiness. Unfortunately, it seems that corporations are also cashing in on this philosophy and putting many Americans deep into debt by allowing them to live larger than they can actually afford.

I would also mention though that the increase in house and waist size is not something that has always been the case in American history... house and body sizes from the 1950's - 1970's were pretty reasonable. It wasn't until the 1980's or so that average home sizes and obesity rates started to escalate to ridiculous proportions. This idea of bigger house = better house also appears to be spreading globally (as are waistlines): The rise and rise of the "McMansion".

And of course, while this is all speaking in averages, it does not apply to all Americans. There is actually a Tiny House movement which has been gaining some steam, and which is sort of the other extreme end of a lifestyle that foregoes all the excess.
Post edited January 19, 2015 by the.kuribo
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
paladin181: Not all conspiracy theories are wrong.
All conspiracy theories are created and surreptitiously spread by government agents who hope to identify the exceptionally watchful among the vast herd of zombie-citizens.
Posted January 19, 2015
The reason for such obesity rates has to do more with the lack of physical activity in many people's lives. I know this because, statistically speaking, people ate more fatty foods and consumed more calories during late American colonial and early post-colonial days than the average American today but the average American during the Revolutionary War was (in terms of averages and statistics/number games) considered to have been in better physical condition (taller, less body fat) than the average modern American. The main reason has to do with the type of work that was done back then which contrasts sharply with the type of work people do today. Back then, most work was in a field and it was all done by hand with the exception of some work done with mules and horses. These days most work is in factories or office spaces.

Also, I tend to eat foods of higher fats and calories (meats and grains) but I am considered decent in terms of physical condition and have a modest athletic build especially because of my exercise routines which consists of running for speed and distance and weight lifting.

If it was up to me, physical education would be mandatory in schools and it would be like military training and include kickboxing and medieval-style combat.
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
Emob78: And don't forget having the honor of having the highest suicide rate amongst developed nations. Sacrificing for the greater good can sometimes end up with an open stomach... seppuku style. Be careful what you wish for.
No society is perfect, and though I find life in Japan to overall be quite comfortable and congruous with my personal preferences, there are certainly things that could be improved. This is pretty much true about anywhere in the world.

Suicide in Japan these days is not really about sacrifice for the greater good. It's more about depression and an inability to connect with others or receive adequate treatment for their mental state due to the poorly developed mental healthcare field.

Feudal Japan is a far cry from what Japan is today. There aren't people committing seppuku out of some sense of loyalty or honor -- rather, people jump in front of trains because they feel out of place in society... and in fact suicide these days is sort of like the ultimate loss of face. People in Japan commit suicide for much the same reasons people commit suicide in the USA, only the rates are probably lower in the USA because there are many more mental health and suicide prevention services in place to help individuals with disorders like depression.
Posted January 19, 2015
I'd guess way too much sugar and empty calories, also portions might play a bigger role than the food itself. Not really sure in the grand scheme of things.
Posted January 19, 2015
avatar
paulrainer: search youtube for
gary taubes - why we get fat
and robert lustig - sugar the bitter truth
all answered by those 2 guys- basically , its all about the insulin
By now all the real reasons - and the usual unkind stereotypes - are already posted on this thread.

My contribution is basically to second a recommendation for these vids - Taubes' book - and the following books.

Also Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism which is closer to Taubes' ideas than you'd think, given how they quarrel in public, except that Jillian believes in adding exercise to that improved diet, and I am sure she is right about that. Wheat Belly is another good book about some of the issues. The Omnivores Dilemma is decent overview of food supply issues. Add The Hundred Year Lie and you'll have a decent overview of what is sickening so many of us.

Taubes book was only one of several that I've read that completely changed my understanding of how our body uses foods and micro-nutrients. I've been losing weight steadily since following Michaels', Lustig's, & Taubes' advice.

TL:DR of all those books & vids = Yes, we could stand to walk more than most of us do, but the worst problems are caused by pesticides/chemicals in a food supply woefully deficient in proteins and many important nutrients/micro-nutrients. GMOs don't help either, though exactly how much it contributes to the problem ...? IThis impacts our bodies use of insulin specifically and creates thyroid & other hormonal imbalances. Unbalanced hormones + deficiencies ensures our bodies tend toward weight gain, no matter what else we do. This means you seriously have to change your diet and address deficiency issues before the exercise will help. Smoothies = awesome, but only as a supplement to a regularly healthy diet. Avoid processed foods. Buy organic when you can.

Way, way too many bad sweeteners in even the plainest prepared foods in the US, especiall6y HFCS which is banned in Europe already. I wish it was banned here! But no, instead they get to hide it under other names like fructose and modified corn starch :P
Post edited January 19, 2015 by SalarShushan
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionWhy is we fat(101 posts) (101 posts) 
(101 posts)