To think most people don't believe their diet will have an impact on their health

[Notcontent]

This is just something I have been thinking about recently. There has been so much in the news about the damage sugar is doing to us, the number of people with type 2 diabetes is rising at a huge rate, more and more kids are becoming fat and having their teeth pulled out, etc.

And yet - I get the feeling most people think it's "nanny state rubbish". On mumsnet threads people always say "children need treats". I was talking to a work colleague about sugary drinks and her view was that water is too boring so she was quite happy for her kids to have juice and cordial with every meal and snack.

I am not sure what the solution is - maybe proper food and health education at schools.

I was very slim when I was younger because, like pp I hardly ate, rather than being healthy.
I still have no interest in food/cooking but make an effort for DD's sake.
It is hard though when you are in tesco and they have the multipack of jaffacakes for £1.25. And you can hear them calling to you. I walked away with silent tears as I know if I open the pack I will eat them all.

I was very slim till I was 27 and met DH, a size 2 to 6 max. I was on a cycle of binging and purging and over exercising. I would force myself to exercise for 2 or 3 hours a day but couldn't climb a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. I was miserable, depressed and sick all the time. I'm 35 now and a good 20 lbs overweight. I eat regular, healthy meals with a treat or two once a week, I enjoy a couple of drinks in the weekend, I exercise for max an hour 5 times a week, I'm a size 12 and I've been ill twice in 4 years. Seriously fuck the idea the being overweight or eating too much makes you feel sick. Starving yourself, hating yourself and punishing yourself makes you feel sick.

I'm following SW atm but no longer stay for group afterwards because things like avocados get seen as unhealthy and make you gain weight yet their ready meals are seen as ideal.

Snow thats how ive lost all my weight on SW but i dont take any notice of the low syn mantra cos the so called low syn stuff is full of sugar. i find a little fat actually helps me lose weight or maintain.

My theory is they want you to eat low syn high sugar is because they know that once you have finnished losing and try to maintain you will gain because of the sugar in the low syn reccomendations ergo.......repeat custom. But the way i do it is a lifestyle change to proper healthy eating.

That's what I'm going to do, Helena. When I first joined SW, there were others who had joined before and regained the weight and also family members who had too. I am also trying to cut out sugar for good.

I believe thats why i was able to have cake on my mums 80th and my nieces 21st and still lose weight because im NOT eating their low syn high sugar stuff as well.

Sorry Garlic I wasn't really aiming at you - but you were defending the overused "we're programmed to overeat" mantra. I just wish people would stop finding excuses for overeating and enabling the normalisation of obesity.

Malnutrition is also common in obese subjects, due to a diet of ultra processed, refined high carb foods. Outlined here how lack of micronutrients which are normally present in fresh, unrefined foods can have an effect on pancreatic function and insulin production, thus compounding the problems of an already appalling diet.

Therefore a lot of ppl having to use food banks will be missing those micronutrients.

That was to expand on the malnutrition point someone brought up in a previous post.

My DD's ex best friend became ill with a severe iron deficiency despite being overweight as she lived primarily off Nutella on white bread and pizza flavour crisps.

By the way, nutella has only 16% of hazelnuts in it, it is mainly palm oil and sugar which is why I refuse to buy it. We buy another brand with 45% nuts and no extra fats added other than the oil from the nuts.

We do need to read labels properly, if anything has sugar as the first ingredient, or even more than one type of sugar in the ingredients list it goes back on the shelf. Ditto anything with hydrogenated fats in it. I'm used to reading ingredients as being a veggie I need to check for stealth meat derivatives, but really we should all be doing it.

Therefore a lot of ppl having to use food banks will be missing those micronutrients.

Yes, but also a lot of people who are not that strapped for cash but let their kids live of Pringles and fruit shoots and don't see the point of feeding them veg.

Ive never had Nutella. But i should imagine it tastes similar to the inside of a Ferrero Rocher.

No, honestly, Argy, I don't believe we're programmed to overeat. I'd be astonished if I've ever even implied it. We're programmed to eat what we need. We make ourselves ill (or, at best, bad-tempered and less intelligent) when we choose hunger.

I'm far from alone in believing that diets impair our ability to know what we need to eat & when - this process starts so very young, for so many of us, that regaining and respecting one's natural appetite is something of an achievement.

High-fat, high-carb foods do make us feel satisfied, safer and happier. It's simple biology. So is the social bonding associated with providing & sharing food.

None of this means "programmed to overeat"!

Ive never had Nutella. But i should imagine it tastes similar to the inside of a Ferrero Rocher.

That's pretty much it.

My dc are growing up in a different country. Adult smoking rates are high, there are cafes and pubs with smoking rooms.
To be fair the children get lots of outdoor time, not a lot of junk food.
But I agree op about head in the sand. I want to live for a long time with good health. I want grandchildren. I want to see them grow up. I must give up smoking soon.

I agree that it's hard to believe that "we are programmed to overeat"

In fact I believe we are finely tuned into eating exactly the right amount.

The problem is that lots of people override their natural signals of fullness or hunger by eating when not hungry (snacking) and not eating when they are hungry (dieting).

From what I see around me, dieting makes people fat (as it teaches tgem to stop listening to their body) and snacking is a fattening habit too.

the diet industry is a self perpetuating monster....

Sorry again, Garlic - I think I misunderstood your post "High-fat, high-carb foods trigger oxytocin and several other comforting hormones. Eating & feeding as primary bonding activities aren't social constructs, they're basic animal behaviours."

Result of skimming through the pages too quickly

I am not sure about 'programmed' to overeat but I think some things make us more likely to overeat - sometimes called the obesogenic environment. I remember reading a study when I was at university where rats where given unlimited access to food. The rats fed relatively boring, nutritionally balanced rat food gained no excess weight - they ate as their appetite dictated. The rats fed high sugar/ fat human junk food became obese. Of course things are more complicated for humans as things like emotional eating also come into play.

I watch my 19th month old and she just seems to naturally self regulate - some days she eats lots, others not much. When she is full not another bite will pass her lips. My DH is a bit overweight. There are a lot of factors but one is he never leaves food on his plate and can't start say a bar of chocolate and stop when he's full. He had a strong message in his childhood to never leave/waste any food and it is hard to break away from that.

Heh, no worries Argy :)

Yes, emotional (over-)eating is a massive pitfall for a number of reasons. It can be tricky to navigate. These days, I allow my binges because I'm aware of what's happening and will have tried other tools first. And, importantly, because I know one or two binges don't instantly turn me into a worthless lump of lard

I dunno whether anyone here might find this helpful? www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/basic-mammal-maintenance-or-how-to-be-nice-to-yourself/