this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023
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There is no incentive to stop obesity. The rich charge enough for health insurance to make profit on these taxpayers who then die before collecting any social security. Perfect citizens.
Flat out false, and I wish people would stop saying that. Including the part about grains.
Do you know what the fittest, lowest body fat, endurance athletes consume in mega doses? Sugar and carbs.
Is it an ideal diet? Not at all. But it's fuel, and it works when you need it to.
People are fat because they aren't justifying their caloric intake. They just shovel it in, even when they've exceeded the 1800 calories needed to just sit on their ass all day.
There is no obesity if you're active (excluding actual medical reasons like thyroid dysfunction or perscribed steroids).
Blaming "the industry" is as lazy as not wanting to be active.
Grain consumption, in case you weren't aware, is a keystone trait among the healthiest people in the world ("Blue Zones"). Grain consumption is also high in vegans, who happen to also have low (healthy) BMI.
You're missing the point. We live in an environment that reinforces obesity, see also car-centric lifestyle which is an infrastructure problem. It's not like humans "wanted" to be active before, it's just that their activity was easily covered by work and travel without needing extra time and effort PLUS they may have already been at/near a caloric deficit just eating what was available to them.
Also I am not fully weened off sugar, but honestly I find a lot of things unpalatable due to the sugar content (like milk chocolate). I would be perfectly fine if sweet on its own wasn't a primary flavor anymore. That and it's at the point where you need to assume that there's a significant amount of sugar in basically everything. For example, Ireland classifies Subway's bread as cake due to the sugar content.
Sugar is cheap (and can be put in higher concentrations than in the past), and it makes sense to make unhealthy food cheap. I also wouldn't look at the opioid epidemic or similar problems and say "only personal problems here".