October 15, 2024
Chewing the Fat
Jerry S Rainforth
Poor diet is one of the biggest drivers of America’s chronic disease epidemic, says Dr. Malhotra, with 60% of calorie intake in the U.S. and 57% in the U.K. coming from ultra-processed foods. More than 60% of America’s adult population is overweight or obese, with 88% having abnormal metabolic health markers. "You can't fix healthcare until you fix food,” Dr. Malhotra told our colleague, Jan Jekielek in an interview on American Thought Leaders.
Dr. Malhotra recently released a documentary, "First! Do No Pharm,” which examines the commercialization of modern medicine and how that is affecting our physical, mental, and social well-being. "There is a false perception out there that medicine is an exact science, like, say, physics or chemistry, when in fact, it is a social science—the science of human beings,” says Dr. Malhotra.
Epoch Times
Tim adds:
People were slim until the late '70's then they ballooned up after that. Why? I would point out the USDA came up with the food pyramid, which was devised to take into account the "Population Bomb" and "Limits to growth" thinking of that era and included cereal grans as the base of the pyramid. We eschewed meats, which had always been a staple of the American diet. (The pyramid was introduced in Sweden in 1974 and although not formally adopted by the U.S. until 1992 it was most definitely used as a guide by most doctors and nutritionists. ) According to the PEW research center " Americans consume 29% more grains, mostly in the form of breads, pastries and other baked goods, than they did in 1970" Carbohydrates all turn into sugars in the blood stream and when there are too many are stored as fat in the body. Eating more processed food undoubtedly makes it far worse.
Obesity was created by our ruling class, whether consciously or unconsciously. (One could argue that it was intentional; fat people are less combative and energetic and thus more likely to simply let them have their way.)
Poor diet is one of the biggest drivers of America’s chronic disease epidemic, says Dr. Malhotra, with 60% of calorie intake in the U.S. and 57% in the U.K. coming from ultra-processed foods. More than 60% of America’s adult population is overweight or obese, with 88% having abnormal metabolic health markers. "You can't fix healthcare until you fix food,” Dr. Malhotra told our colleague, Jan Jekielek in an interview on American Thought Leaders.
Dr. Malhotra recently released a documentary, "First! Do No Pharm,” which examines the commercialization of modern medicine and how that is affecting our physical, mental, and social well-being. "There is a false perception out there that medicine is an exact science, like, say, physics or chemistry, when in fact, it is a social science—the science of human beings,” says Dr. Malhotra.
Epoch Times
Tim adds:
People were slim until the late '70's then they ballooned up after that. Why? I would point out the USDA came up with the food pyramid, which was devised to take into account the "Population Bomb" and "Limits to growth" thinking of that era and included cereal grans as the base of the pyramid. We eschewed meats, which had always been a staple of the American diet. (The pyramid was introduced in Sweden in 1974 and although not formally adopted by the U.S. until 1992 it was most definitely used as a guide by most doctors and nutritionists. ) According to the PEW research center " Americans consume 29% more grains, mostly in the form of breads, pastries and other baked goods, than they did in 1970" Carbohydrates all turn into sugars in the blood stream and when there are too many are stored as fat in the body. Eating more processed food undoubtedly makes it far worse.
Obesity was created by our ruling class, whether consciously or unconsciously. (One could argue that it was intentional; fat people are less combative and energetic and thus more likely to simply let them have their way.)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:59 AM
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1
I was watching a news item about people who were too poor to buy food, and every one of the people interviewed was grossly obese. I don't mean slightly heavy, I mean people with wobbling rolls of fat. Struck me as odd. If you can't afford to buy food, how did you get like that? Turns out the only food they can afford to buy is the kind of food that turns to fat when you eat it. They buy it because it makes them feel full. I suspect the growing epidemic of obesity has less to do with the medical profession than it has to do with the cost of food and ongoing pay scales.
Posted by: Bill H at October 16, 2024 08:44 AM (Q7br2)
2
Bill, I always found those "hunger in America" stories amusing because of just what you mentioned. So many of the people who were described as hungry were obese.
I think the reason is they eat a lot of processed foods - like potato chips or Hostess products or the like. Often they do that because they don't have a decent grocer around so buy food at the gas station (and they don't have a decent grocer because their neighborhoods rob the places that do try to service the ghetto blind).
But certainly the average suburbanite has access to nutritious food yet so many are obese. That, I believe, is a function of dietary changes made in no small part as a response to the emphasis on eating grain over meat. And not just grain but processed grains.
You may remember the crusade against fat in foods; it only made America fatter. Now peopple are starting to realize the fat content isn't the primary determinant. (Just as now they are starting to realize cholesterol in food does not necessarily mean you are going to clog your arteries and in fact you can now eat as many eggs as you please according to a government which told us to limit eggs to two per week tops in times past.)
And remember how they said meat was bad until Dr. Atkins? Now we know you can actually lose weight eating lots of meat.
We are slowly coming full circle and will wind up praising the 19th and 20th century diets before we became so much smarter than the old timers.
Of course there are other factors; kids are woefully sedentary these days, as indeed is everyone. I would point out that is more true of suburban kids than the ghetto kids, yet the ghetto kids are as fat or fatter. But we already discussed the reason for that.
Honestly, I think if the government would get its nose out of things like nutrition much of this would solve itself. But the endless regulations imposed on food manufacturers force them to do things that are bad for us. Less fat, for instance, made them ramp up the sodium and sugar contents of foods, for example. But the government told them to reduce fat so...
I think the reason is they eat a lot of processed foods - like potato chips or Hostess products or the like. Often they do that because they don't have a decent grocer around so buy food at the gas station (and they don't have a decent grocer because their neighborhoods rob the places that do try to service the ghetto blind).
But certainly the average suburbanite has access to nutritious food yet so many are obese. That, I believe, is a function of dietary changes made in no small part as a response to the emphasis on eating grain over meat. And not just grain but processed grains.
You may remember the crusade against fat in foods; it only made America fatter. Now peopple are starting to realize the fat content isn't the primary determinant. (Just as now they are starting to realize cholesterol in food does not necessarily mean you are going to clog your arteries and in fact you can now eat as many eggs as you please according to a government which told us to limit eggs to two per week tops in times past.)
And remember how they said meat was bad until Dr. Atkins? Now we know you can actually lose weight eating lots of meat.
We are slowly coming full circle and will wind up praising the 19th and 20th century diets before we became so much smarter than the old timers.
Of course there are other factors; kids are woefully sedentary these days, as indeed is everyone. I would point out that is more true of suburban kids than the ghetto kids, yet the ghetto kids are as fat or fatter. But we already discussed the reason for that.
Honestly, I think if the government would get its nose out of things like nutrition much of this would solve itself. But the endless regulations imposed on food manufacturers force them to do things that are bad for us. Less fat, for instance, made them ramp up the sodium and sugar contents of foods, for example. But the government told them to reduce fat so...
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at October 17, 2024 07:12 AM (dI0vK)
3
I forgot lack of exercise. Yes, lots of factors, none of which reflect well on the character of the American people.
Posted by: Bill H at October 17, 2024 08:52 AM (Q7br2)
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