We all agree w/ you on that. However, those people don't have their own health insurance. The drain that they will put on the system as they age will be born by you and I. My main frustration is that this is all preventable, and we've allowed a splash to become a tsunami. We are going to be bankrupt and it is our own faults, but our government has also permitted the food industry to lie to us. That infuriates me.

 

The food industry is taking the easy money. Highly processed foods are cheap to make, easy to store and ship, and quite frankly taste better than the healthy alternatives. I'm not sure how we fix that conundrum. Cheap, great tasting, convenient food fits into everyone's budgets. There have been many attempts at making things healthier, but very few are successful, simply because very few actually taste good.

We all agree w/ you on that. However, those people don't have their own health insurance. The drain that they will put on the system as they age will be born by you and I. My main frustration is that this is all preventable, and we've allowed a splash to become a tsunami. We are going to be bankrupt and it is our own faults, but our government has also permitted the food industry to lie to us. That infuriates me.

 

I read a decent amount of the article, but it got to long for me to finish it all off.

 

What are some types of foods that people were lead to believe were healthy that aren't?

I'm not discussing the political issue that is the working poor and how nobody cares about them. If you guys want to turn this conversation into that, let's move it to a different forum.

 

I thought we were discussing the misinformation the American public has been giving about diets and/or how expensive (which I disagree with) it is to eat healthily.

 

Can you politicize this topic? Sure. But if we do, we might as well end the original conversation.

 

Someone said everyone has access to healthy choices and that the cost is negligible. I'm not politicizing when I point out that the cost and access are both obraced to some in our society.

Someone said everyone has access to healthy choices and that the cost is negligible. I'm not politicizing when I point out that the cost and access are both obraced to some in our society.

 

Others are shunned on BGP for diverting a conversation about the norm and majority of society to an extreme.

 

If you want to talk complete extremes, as you are trying to do, this discussion will go no where.

I read a decent amount of the article, but it got to long for me to finish it all off.

 

What are some types of foods that people were lead to believe were healthy that aren't?

 

Pretty much anything that's considered fat free/low fat that isn't low fat in its natural state. Cereals, breads, basically grains, all spike blood sugar whether whole grain/multi-grain or white. Food companies have hidden sugars under different names that many people don't recognize as well.

The food industry is taking the easy money. Highly processed foods are cheap to make, easy to store and ship, and quite frankly taste better than the healthy alternatives. I'm not sure how we fix that conundrum. Cheap, great tasting, convenient food fits into everyone's budgets. There have been many attempts at making things healthier, but very few are successful, simply because very few actually taste good.

 

That goes to the personal responsibility argument.

 

To me, the most fascinating area of physiology/biology is the study of the gut and now the microbes in it dictate what we eat. Those little suckers induce cravings, both good and bad. Some can be starved out. The surface is just being scratched, but this is where the fat loss break through is going to come from.

We’re All Guinea Pigs in a Failed Decades-Long Diet Experiment - Tonic

 

I will bang this drum until the day I die. The food industry and our government agencies have created and/or allowed a public health epidemic to consume our youth. Those two have been complicit in allowing childhood obesity to sky rocket. It isn't about not exercising. It isn't about lack of will power. It is all about manipulating the public. It is about purposely lying to the public by allowing sugar and Coke and McDonalds to fund studies regarding food safety and dietary guidelines. It is about allowing lobbyists to puppeteer members of congress so that studies and recommendations that would save the public health never see the light of day. It is about advertising practices that are no different than what Big Tobacco used to do. We are watching our children reach levels of poor health never before seen. HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR THEIR FUTURE MEDICAL NEEDS??? It is time to educate ourselves and stop listening to those being paid by the other side.

 

Walk through the halls of any HS. The only kids even remotely fit are the athletes. I believe sedentary life styles are even more to blame for obesity than food manufacturers.

Walk through the halls of any HS. The only kids even remotely fit are the athletes. I believe sedentary life styles are even more to blame for obesity than food manufacturers.

 

Sedentary lifestyle contributes, but what we eat impacts us so much more. Not only does it directly make us fat by overloading our glucose, but the impact on hormones leads to lack of energy and lethargy. It is a vicious cycle, but it all starts with food and nutrients.

Walk through the halls of any HS. The only kids even remotely fit are the athletes. I believe sedentary life styles are even more to blame for obesity than food manufacturers.

 

Our society as a whole is more sedentary. More and more jobs require nothing more physical than sitting down and typing. Schools have virtually done away with gym class. Mix that in with the abundance of bad, cheap, tasty, convenient food to choose from, and we have a big problem.

Others are shunned on BGP for diverting a conversation about the norm and majority of society to an extreme.

 

If you want to talk complete extremes, as you are trying to do, this discussion will go no where.

 

NM.

Since no one in this thread was born with innate knowledge of how our bodies react to various foods/additives/chemicals/etc there are only two ways to KNOW what's good for you or what's bad for you.

 

You are either a scientist who does your own experiments on a regular basis OR you learned it from somewhere else which was probably a study by scientists. To say you just know what's good for your child without acknowledging you got your info from a study - flawed as it may be - is pure ignorance.

 

The OP has validity. Watch "Food Inc" if you want to see how conglomerates influence the FDA message and rulings.

We’re All Guinea Pigs in a Failed Decades-Long Diet Experiment - Tonic

 

I will bang this drum until the day I die. The food industry and our government agencies have created and/or allowed a public health epidemic to consume our youth. Those two have been complicit in allowing childhood obesity to sky rocket. It isn't about not exercising. It isn't about lack of will power. It is all about manipulating the public. It is about purposely lying to the public by allowing sugar and Coke and McDonalds to fund studies regarding food safety and dietary guidelines. It is about allowing lobbyists to puppeteer members of congress so that studies and recommendations that would save the public health never see the light of day. It is about advertising practices that are no different than what Big Tobacco used to do. We are watching our children reach levels of poor health never before seen. HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR THEIR FUTURE MEDICAL NEEDS??? It is time to educate ourselves and stop listening to those being paid by the other side.

 

I largely agree with the info in the article. I have always felt (specifically) that foods like artificial sweeteners margarine are among the worst things one can consume. First, they aren't natural. Secondly, psychologically, I believe most people are lulled into thinking they are making a healthy choice and consume more.

 

I disagree that all grains and carbs are bad. I believe whole grain foods should be a part of one's diet, and historically, they have played a significant role in diets for centuries. If grains are inherently bad, then they've always been bad, but it's only (relatively) recent that the health issues have been touted.

 

It's definitely a complex issue. I do think that manipulation has occurred, and not only by the sugar and fast food industries. These processed foods make investors money. There's a lot less risk in investing in the manufacturing and distribution of those products. Farmers can make far more growing huge yields of corn and wheat that will be processed, than they can growing corn for fresh distribution, for instance.

The thing is, education is lacking everywhere. It really isn't that much more when you take into account the fact that you eat less of it. When you keep things in their natural state, your body needs time to break it down. I dropped grains, upped fats, and my calories were still at 2400. It was a challenge to eat that much due to satiety. when I ate that w/ oatmeal and cereal in the mix, I would still be hungry.

 

I lost over 100 lbs by just making smart choices. Information is there if you look for it. I did and it worked.

 

I agree that this is about personal responsibility.

I lost over 100 lbs by just making smart choices. Information is there if you look for it. I did and it worked.

 

I agree that this is about personal responsibility.

 

That is the point. Sensible choices. Many thought that they were and were lied to by people in authority. This should make everyone furious, but it seems like we are misdirecting the angst here. Yes, you are ultimately responsible for what you put in your mouth. The obvious garbage is on you. My issue is with passing half-truths and lies to people. Low fat will save you from the fires of Hell. Don't eat saturated fats, it'll raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease.... That's the point.

People tried to do the right thing, either in moderation or all of the time. They were given the wrong set of facts to base their decision off of. That's alarming.

I'm definitely in the "personal responsibility" camp. What bothers me most is that parents force their own personal habits on their kids or they are too lazy to actually do what is best for the child.

 

I have a family member who is 18 and is noticeably overweight. I'm not kidding when I say that he will only eat about 5 different foods: Instant mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac & cheese and bread. He doesn't eat chips, cookies, etc. As a young child, he was a "picky" eater, so his mother just kept feeding him what he took a liking to. She never thought to introduce new foods to him or make him eat healthier foods. It was easier to just feed him what he wanted. Outside of feeding him foods that are high in carbs and starches, she also created a monster who is a young adult, overweight and extremely sheltered. What is this kid going to do when he starts dating? Bring his own mashed potatoes? This young man has learned habits that will haunt him for the rest of his life and he'll probably pass it on to his kids.

 

I also resent when parents talk defensively about their kid, who is grossly overweight, saying "Oh, Sally is big-boned like me" or "Johnny is built just like his daddy", when they constantly have Big Gulps in hand and are eating out multiple times a day at fast food joints because they're too lazy to cook.

 

When I encounter people like this, I wonder how they could possibly be in that deep of denial regarding the reason their child is fat.