To have come back from Lanzarote feeling geuinely shocked at how fat the British tourists were?

[Illgetmycoat]

I'm not talking slightly plump, I mean seriously, morbidly obese. A whole different race to the German, French and Spanish tourists.

What is going on? When did our country become like this? Whenever you heard a british accent, it would be accompanied by a 3ft wide backside. And whole families, too, all swollen to gargantuan size, with the poor kids unable to put their feet together because of the rolls of fat on their legs.

How has this happened? What the heck are the Brits feeding their children to get them so large? How can you feed an eight year old you love so much food that they become morbidly obese?

It can't just be blamed on poverty, because it's not cheap going to Lanzarote.

I was shocked.

I disagree that metabolism is more nurture than nature I do think some people gain fat a lot easier than others

Watching Sunday Brunch. They have that tv doctor on saying that fat isn't the enemy. Its sugar. And you brain responds to sugar in the same way as heroin.

So all those diet products that replace fat with sugar could be the worse thing possible!

red that is true about sugar and fat. Since the low cal, low fat advice was given out, people have got bigger. Before this advise was given as standard and people ate like in the fiftys etc obesity wasn't an issue. It is all down to insulin. Sugar spikes it and fat deosn't. It's nice to see that advise finally breaking into the media/mainstream.

So, are artificial sweeteners the equivalent of methadone?

Does anyone else get fed up with being give out of date information by medical professionals, though?

At my last health check I sat in the car listening to a science programme explaining that it was wrong to think that cups of tea and coffee didn't count towards the daily liquids target. Obviously a mug of not-too-strong coffee with milk (ie, not espressos) is going to put more fluid into your body than the diuretic element will remove.

Ten minutes later I am in my healthcheck and the nurse is telling me not to include my tea and coffee in my daily liquids total as they 'make you lose water'. This is after she has praised my hydration levels (I drink tea and coffee through the day but didn't tell her this).

Ditto, she is pushing vegetable oils rather than butter but the newer evidence doesn't seem to agree that this produces any net benefit to cholesterol levels.

I just nod and smile and do my own research and listen to Radio 4 science and medical programmes.

Sponge. This thread has made me think as well. I often eat very light meals and snack inbetween. I've realised I've got it the wrong was around! I need to eat larger more filling meals with more protein.

Just got to break the snack habit which is going to be a nightmare!

Abra1d - this is why IO have no faith in nurses, they just don't keep up with recent research. My GP is up to date on latest HRT research and fine with me being on it, the practice nurse gave me a load of out of date garbage at my last appointment when I only needed my BP checked.

bunbaker - - in answer to your question, high fructose corn syrup as a man made sugar has the same affect on the liver as methadone. Youtube has a rather lengthy video called sugar the bitter truth which explains about why and how HFCS was produced, why it is very popular - due to politics in the 70's keeping the price of sugar regulated and getting a president back into power, and why when you eat foods with HFCS inside you feel hungry again 20 minutes later.

I warn you though the video is over an hour long by an endocrinologist and he does know his stuff unlike a few so called dieticians who set themselves up yet don't have any qualification (I do not mean dieticians who have studied and do have qualifications to know what they are taking about - but even then they often have to stick to government guide lines which can be out of date)

Thank you ivykaty44. I have always been suspicious of artificial sweeteners and avoid them as much as I can. I find it is getting increasingly difficult to find fruit squashes or drink mixers like tonic water without any.

can I clarify that HFCS is not the same as articicial sweetners that you would for example put in your tea/coffee. HFCS is found in a whole wealth of food stuff - jams, marmalade,bread, jelly, ready made puddings, tinned rice pudding, ready made custard, tinned soup and just about every single ice cream on the shelf of the freezer section, coca cola, lemonade, squash drinks

I wouldn't touch artifical sweetners either

@ivykaty it has the same effect on the liver as alcohol (due to metabolic pathways) not methadone. You could arge it has the same effect on receptor pathways in teh brain as methadone, if you were going for a fairly stretchy definition of 'same impact onteh brain as methadone'.

Plus what do you means by 'man made sugar'. The fructose is from fruit/corn/veg.

higgle, yes it is annoying, isn't it!

Thunder. You can get dairy free chocolate. It is of course still highly processed but might make you less ill or whatever.

Well done sponge. Do it for Britain!

I was a size 8-10 when i was a teenager but now weigh 1.5 stone heavier and still wear the same size!

It really helps me to kid myself!

I am the same weight I was at 14. I was a size 14 then. I am now a size 10/12.

Shit, I've just come back from Lanzarote last night...! Thankfully we weren't staying in an all inclusive otherwise I'd feel my ears burning!

Ethel, haven't you got any taller since you were 14?

Not questioning 'vanity sizing'. Just puzzled by your logic.

@garlic no I haven't. I was a v early developer and stopped growing taller at 13.

Id stopped growing at that age too, that's pretty normal for a girl, its boys who grow for several more years.

Crikey, don't tell me I'm not even female

I reached full height at 21! I thought that was normal [repeat as above]!

Oh, well. Thanks :)

my bust size has stayed more or less the same (in fact it has decreased slightly but thats because I had Mae West 'pertness' and they have dropped to normal levels). My hips may have broadened slightly but not much.

I'm also quite short (5'2''). I didn't have as far to grow!

Wow you grew until you were 21?

Im short too, are you tall garlic?

If you look in the red book it shows when the average girl stops growing.