OT - fat headed politicians!

NickD25 wrote:There's also a little substance called high fructose/corn syrup that is use literally in every food you buy in the US. It's been banned in Canada and other countries in Europe and Australia. The main effect of high fructose/corn syrup is disruption of the satiety sensation, therefore making your brain think you aren't full when, in fact, you are way over your limit. Also, it will raise your insulin tolerance leading to type II diabetes.

There's a lot of finger pointing that it's laziness that's the primary cause and sometimes I fully agree but let's not forget the famous "We are what we eat". With such a poor quality in food, it's no wonder that a lot of people are overweight and have cancer.

Why have the government and university nutritionists not been screaming "bloody murder" over the last 30 years? A major part of the caloric intake shifted to these deadly corn sweeteners in the US. I would support a "tobacco-labeling" type of approach for corn sweeteners.

Thinking about the foodstuffs at the top of the list (pareto analysis) for contributing to obesity, corn sweeteners is number one and processed flours and french fries must be number two and three. As a population, would it not be easy to gravitate away from these three items.

Quit that bs about red meats and hormones. They are a relatively healthy part of the diet compared to the three aforementioned deadly foods. It ain't the meat in the Big Mac, it is the corn sweetener in the dressing and the white flour in the bun and the super-sized fries and super-sized corn-sweetened soda.

rooster wrote:
Quit that bs about red meats and hormones. They are a relatively healthy part of the diet compared to the three aforementioned deadly foods. It ain't the meat in the Big Mac, it is the corn sweetener in the dressing and the white flour in the bun and the super-sized fries and super-sized corn-sweetened soda.

The media is also to blame for these misconceptions --lazy reporters, lack of their own research, etc. Last week a study was released out of Sweden that was set up much like the Spurlock movie that I can't remember the name of right now.

The lead researcher was quoted in one news article on Yahoo as saying that it was the carbohydrates (sugar specifically) that caused liver problems, and not the meat in the hamburger. However, many other news agencies quoted their in-house experts who of course blamed the fat in the hamburger.

Regina Wilshire expresses the story better at
http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com ... e-who.html

People have to get over their irrational fear of dietary fat.

This was just emailed to me:

"Tufts researchers recently reported that while the leading source of calories in the average American diet used to be from white bread, that may have changed. Now, according to preliminary research conducted by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Americans are drinking these calories instead. Odilia Bermudez, PhD, MPH, studied the reported diets of a large nationwide sample of American adults. Among respondents to the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), more than two thirds reported drinking enough soda and/or sweet drinks to provide them with a greater proportion of daily calories than any other food. In addition, obesity rates were higher among these sweet drink consumers. Consumers of 100% orange juice and low fat milk, on the other hand, tended to be less overweight, on average."

It ain't the beef, it ain't the hormones.

rooster wrote:It ain't the beef, it ain't the hormones.

It's the chicken?

ColinP wrote:

rooster wrote:It ain't the beef, it ain't the hormones.

It's the chicken?

Eat more beef.
-Rooster

I eat beef ... but only grass-fed and only in moderation. I prefer to take my chances with the chickens and fishes (less chance of eating a mad cow) ... plus less impact on the environment which indirectly translates into better health for everyone.

BTW - I agree that sugar and refined carbs are much less healthy than saturated fats, but that doesn't mean a high saturated fat diet is actually good for me (for someone else, maybe maybe not). As we age, our hormone levels decline resulting in lower metobolic rate but unfortunately the 1st law of thermodynamics does not change to accomodate our metabolism.