The Men Who Made Us Fat

[teaandthorazine]

Anyone? Should be interesting...

it's just like smoking! back in the 40's/60's smoking was advertised as good for you and everyone was in on it. now it's banned etc

we'll all have to wean ourselves off processed crap with a nicorette-like glucose/corn syrup substitute like thing which inevitably will have heavy investment in it just as the nicoteine (sp?) replacements have from tobacco companies

'Eat less, move more' is nonsense.

And '5 a day' is a marketing campaign, promoted globally and supported by the trade bodies that represent fruit and vegetable growers. There is no nutritional basis for this. Which is why, in some countries, the number is 7 a day, or 9 or 10.

Why is it nonsense? It may be a marketing campaign, but there is evidence to suggest that those people who eat less processed food and more leafy fruit and veg have lower cholesterol and lower incidences of cancer. And surely whether people eat 3 or 4 or 7 or 8 pieces of fruit and veg, it's better than nothing at all?

Just reading in the paper today that obese people think that they are 'normal' because they see so many other obese people. and that on average they do less than 10 minutes strenuous exercise a week. The doctor in the article argues that we should start calling people 'fat' and 'obese' because there should be a stigma attached to being so overweight. I can't say that I agree with him, but surely we have to start acting to help people be less unhealthy.

There is an epidemic in this country which is significantly damaging people's health -and which means that our children have a lower life expectancy than their parents. How is that right?

We are overeating too much of the wrong things, and so even encouraging people to THINK before they stuff another donut/bag of crisps/packet of biscuits into themselves, but instead go for a walk, ride a bike, do a bit of moving about and snack on a carrot stick or an apple can't be a bad thing can it?!

Haven't watched the men who made us fat, but sounds very similar to the documentary "fat-head" which I suggest everyone watches.

Eating properly is absolutely important. But it shouldn't be based on what politicians or media folk tell us - unless their recommendations are based on sound, scientifically-proven evidence, as opposed to recommendations based on inaccurate interpretations of the data and vested interests.

And not all obese people are obese because of the way they behave. Do you really think it's a kind thing to make being overweight a stigma? Do you think people who are overweight don't already feel bad about it? Yes, some people just eat rubbish all the time - but there are a lot of overweight people who try very hard to eat 'properly' - but they aren't losing weight. Because they are being told to eat the wrong things. All that fruit, which is good for you? Piles on the weight because of the insulin spike it creates.

The real issue is that people are not educated enough re what we should be eating. And that is not low fat food stuffed full of sugar. We are eating far too many carbohydrates - which contributes massively (no pun intended) towards the ever-quickening march towards obesity.

Eating less and moving more guarantees only one thing - unhappy and hungry people, who do not lose the weight.

Really interesting program, especially the bit about kids and exercise, and how kids are no less active than they were 30 years ago. That it's so easy to blame the parents or the individual, rather than the food industry or government.

very interesting about the snacks too - it started me off thinking about the sort of diet I ate as a child, compared to what DS eats. We never had snack foods - if we were hungry we had a slice of bread and butter or an apple. We had chocolate rarely, sweets once a week as a treat. It's definitely woken me up a bit to how DS should be eating and I've already made small changes to his diet (he's 4 so hasn't really noticed yet ).

...and completely agree with BIWI. So many people I know insist that fruit is essential and I'm a freak for not really eating it (I'll have an apple most days, but eat loads of different veg instead - just as many vitamins but no much fewer calories/sugars)

My dad mentioned this, I might give it a watch.

Just as aside, but someone upthread wrote 'Makes perfect sense to me that it's highly processed foods rather than fat that make you put on weight - look at the french who eat plenty of cheese, butter, cream etc but probably not so much processed stuff and mostly manage to stay slimmish'

There is actually evidence that the French don't have the same obesity/heart problem rates as the rest of the world partly due to the red wine they consume. See here (not a particularly scientific link but am knackered, sorry). There is something in green tea/red wine which seems to have a really beneficial effect on cholesterol/obesity levels. And as a huge generalization the French eat high fat food, but much smaller quantities of it than us. They have a much less fucked up approach to food (and I guess most importantly they are much less influenced by rubbish American food so they can all tell when they get full still!)

Good, unsaturated fats are the ones that are ok to eat, imo. I would still be very wary of too much saturated fat, although not on the same levels as all this fructose crap and corn syrup that the programme is talking about. Evil stuff. I know lots of low carbers will disagree with me though.

People need to get back to proper eating, I buy rice, pasta, fruit, veg etc and make meals out of them, fast food is a rare treat eaten maybe a couple of times a month (but then I think I'm seriously rebelling against the amount of crap BF shovs in his face I fully expect him to die before he hits 50 living off biscuits, crisps, pizza, fried chicken, chips etc he never eats rice, pasta or fruit and veg he's fucked up in the head).

Theres no such thing as bad food it's all in moderation, the problem is people are endlessly eating a stream of snacks that are high in fat and sugar without noticing instead of just having a sandwich.

For example in the first program I was surprised to hear that the baps used in the US for burgers contained corn syrup and that the chips contained sugar.

Then people are eating foods which are not filling for dinner but full of hidden extras, chicken in batter is never going to fill you up like chicken soup for example, people need to open their eyes and get back in the kitchen.

Ultimately it is up to the people to decide they want change, the food industry has jumped on every opportunity they can get to shovel more into our mouths but it is us the people who must be responsible for ourselves and excess self control, knowledge is power and the facts are out there for those willing to look.

BIWI - if you actually read what I said, I think I covered the eating of the 'wrong' sort of food:
We are overeating too much of the wrong things, and so even encouraging people to THINK before they stuff another donut/bag of crisps/packet of biscuits into themselves, but instead go for a walk, ride a bike, do a bit of moving about and snack on a carrot stick or an apple can't be a bad thing can it?!

I'm not suggesting that all overweight people should be stigmatised - of course not - I said that the doctor who is at the forefront of the fight against obesity thinks that we need to start getting tougher with people and make it less acceptable to be overweight.

Of COURSE there is a tiny minority for whom losing weight is connected to illness or genes, but if you have seen any of the C4 programme "Secret Eaters" - the people who thought that they were eating healthily were actually kidding themselves about what they were snacking on, or were adding gallons of mayo or salad dressing to their salads.....

Well, that's the thing Panic - BIWI and I wouldn't consider that adding loads of mayo or dressing to a salad was a bad thing at all - and would consider Ryoko's rice, pasta and fruit to be pretty poor choices for weightloss

But yes, I absolutely agree that whatever you choose to eat, you should do it mindfully and try to consider whether there isn't a better alternative (within whatever 'healthy eating' paradigm you have chosen).

Panic, I did read your post.

I don't think snacking is a good thing at all really.. I've never been one to have snacks and I think eating a proper meal 3 times a day is the way forward. It's what works for me, anyway.

No way in hell would I start snacking on carrots - I hate the bloody things

I agree, Jareth. If you're eating properly, you won't be hungry between meals - we assume, these days, that we need snacks. All that that does, is to increase the amount we're eating.

There is snacking and snacking though.I just can't get through the day without grazing(have never been overweight,I'm not a skinny minny,just a 12/14 stocky pear who has never really changed even after having 3 dc)I get faint,shaky and irritable.My GP says a lot of people are like this and actually we were always grazers.

My snacking however is a couple of oatcakes,handful of nuts,fruit or a piece of cheese.I know I eat more at meals when ravenous.I find I naturally stop with crappy food as I just can't eat masses of it I think because my stomach never gets really over stretched with huge meals iykwim.I naturally pick little red meat,fried food at meals and cook more veggie stuff although we have roast chicken,chilli etc for the dc which we eat too.We eat a lot of trout,olive oil pasta stuff etc

I think the food industry have turned snacking into a dirty word and into something really unhealthy.I never buy crisps,choc etc to snack on(except for the odd Fri night G&Bs with wine).A snack for me is real food but it's hard to find what I snack on cheaply and on the go.In shops it's all crisps,choc etc or a big £4 bag of nuts.M&S is ok ,you can get small bags of nuts by the fast tills now.I can see why people grab a choc bar on the go.

Having said all that I'm now 43 and although not overweight my shape is changing.

What I found scary was that scan thing.That bloke didn't look overweight and he had all those litres of fat swimming around his organs.Kind of worried what my insides must look like.

The thing is, Rockpool, if your blood sugar levels are stable you won't be hungry between meals, you won't get shaky and irritable, and you won't need to snack.

Snacking and the perceived need to do it, was invented by the crisp, biscuit and confectionery manufacturers - another opportunity during the day to sell us chocolate/crisps/sweets/biscuits. When I was a child, growing up in the 60s and 70s, snacking just didn't happen in the way it does now, where people expect to snack, and build it into their day.

Snacking is unhealthy. No need for those extra calories that spike your blood sugar and release yet more insulin. Even if you're eating 'better' snacks, the same thing will be happening.

It was a huge lightbulb moment for me that snacking is A Bad Thing.. .I don't do it anymore and I'm steadily losing 1lb a week (I am v heavy at the moment though)

I find I need to graze if I eat 'healthy foods' like cereal or some other shite for breakfast. I end up feeling all wobbly and dizzy and that ends up sparking off migraines. Scambled eggs on toast and I'm fine until lunch.

If I'm hungry before lunchtime, I just have lunch earlier and make sure it's enough to keep me going until dinner. I've been tracking calories on MFP and it's amazing how much food 2000 cals is if you stop eating shitty carbs.

See I grew up in the 70s and we did have snacks,they weren't sugary or crisps though.Usually a couple of cream crackers.

I've been told by 2 GPs that we were always grazers. Really not sure anybody knows the correct way to eat but what I do know is that if you snack on crap you get fat.If you have a big meals that are full of crap you'll get fat.

I've fainted before through going too long between meals.I'm absolutely dreadful and I do have non sugary breakfasts eg eggs,w/m toast.So do nuts release insulin?

Any more good breakfast ideas-oh and lunch too.

Huevos rancheros is my favourite at the mo, bloody gorgeous, very filling and healthy.

I suppose I never really got used to snacking then, 3 meals suits me but I know it doesn't suit everybody. If I snack then its usually just crap food, so better for me just to cut it out all together. :)

Ah yes - the days when cream crackers were a treat!

It was really different in the 60s and 70s. Carbonated soft drinks were a very special treat. We only used to get them when the Corona van came round - and that wasn't very often.

You are right about the type of snacks; we definitely eat more sugar now, which I think is the main culprit.

Re insulin, yes, nuts will release insulin. They are a protein and they also contain carbohydrates - and some nuts are much more carby than others. Cashew nuts are 18.8g carbs per 100g.

Have you ever been tested for diabetes? It does sound very extreme if you've fainted. But a definite argument for low carb eating - to keep your blood sugar level more stable.

And absolutely agree that you can eat crappy meals as well as snacks.

I think it was looked into but was told it was low blood sugar levels,def not diabetes.The dc are the same.

Anyhow today I had 1 piece of w/m toast with 2 eggs as opposed to 2 pieces of toast and 1 egg,4 oatcakes too. Just going to see if I can get through until lunch,will be interesting to try.Oh and of course my double espresso latte.

Someone said that there were no "bad" foods & that it should just be everything in moderation.

I disagree, I cannot see how skittles, randoms, percy pigs, dibdaps, haribo, cola, lemonade etc could be described as anything other than a bad food. These foods are basically pure sugar & have no nutrients in them at all. I would be interested to hear how they can be considered anything other than bad.

I also struggle to see how doughnuts & biscuits can be considered anything other than bad too? Highly refined, cheap ingredients laced with sugar - again with no nutrients whatsoever. What's not bad about them?

The taste!!