The world's bulging waistline

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I am sure corn plays a role in this...the fat butts I have had to walk behind , climbing Diamond Head seem inflated in a weird way-different from European fat...

How so? The molecular makeup of the fat did not change and people are born with all the fat cells they are ever going to have with the distribution on the body set at birth. The difference in sweeteners between corn and sugar are two different molecules that are held together by a single bond that your body breaks down in a matter of a few minutes - so once in your stomach the chemical makeup of sugar and the syrup sweetener is *exactly* the same.

There are reasons they could look different - The actual amount of fat, different races tend to distribute fat in different places, the amount of muscle mass can effect how fat looks.

When I was young they introduced the largest soft drink ever and called it the "Big Gulp" - it was 32 ounces and looked ginormous. This is now called a "small" at my local convenience store. People consume much more because calories of cheap.

[Jacque67 7,328]

As I said, fat Americans look "puffy"...,look at the ####### American livestock is fed. Something is screwed up in the American food chain imo. Also, as I mentioned food portions. The number of obese Americans you see jogging in the midday sun in Okinawa far out ways the slimmer Okinawans who barely do any exercise-lol.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/

This stuff is wicked. They even put it in cured meats. Anything that is processed contains this mess.

[OriZ 3,157]

Indeed. And while I wouldn't recommend drinking coke in any case, if you insist, make sure it's the Mexican one in the glass bottle as that one still has sugar in it. The American ones for a long time now have replaced that with corn syrup. In Israel, also they still make it with sugar and my wife was delighted to have coke with sugar instead of corn syrup once again. It tastes different, too.

Americans are pretty notorious worldwide for unhealthy eating habits. I used to know someone who would jokingly call the US "United Steak of America". Obviously steak isn't supposed to be unhealthy like say a burger usually, but it sounds better.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Portion size plays a factor I think. I have noticed a big increase in the size of servings in the UK over the past decade. Also education. Over here the kids get a monthly menu showing what they will be served for lunch-it is broken down into various food groups and the amount of calories per meal is indicated. Also exercise...

Speaking of portion size, McDonald's is introducing the "Giga big Mac" in Japan this month. Now with 2.8x more mystery meat.

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/04/01/mcdonalds-japan-is-unleashing-the-giga-big-mac-with-2-8-times-the-beef-of-a-regular-big-mac/

[Dakine10 5,452]

As I said, fat Americans look "puffy"...,look at the ####### American livestock is fed. Something is screwed up in the American food chain imo. Also, as I mentioned food portions. The number of obese Americans you see jogging in the midday sun in Okinawa far out ways the slimmer Okinawans who barely do any exercise-lol.

Grain and corn fed livestock lead to meat that is high in omega-6 fatty acids. I'm not sure if omega-6 imbalance leads to puffiness, but the high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 does contribute to a number of disease processes. Grass fed beef has a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Speaking of portion size, McDonald's is introducing the "Giga big Mac" in Japan this month. Now with 2.8x more mystery meat.

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/04/01/mcdonalds-japan-is-unleashing-the-giga-big-mac-with-2-8-times-the-beef-of-a-regular-big-mac/

I'll look out for it;)

Indeed. And while I wouldn't recommend drinking coke in any case, if you insist, make sure it's the Mexican one in the glass bottle as that one still has sugar in it. The American ones for a long time now have replaced that with corn syrup. In Israel, also they still make it with sugar and my wife was delighted to have coke with sugar instead of corn syrup once again. It tastes different, too.

Americans are pretty notorious worldwide for unhealthy eating habits. I used to know someone who would jokingly call the US "United Steak of America". Obviously steak isn't supposed to be unhealthy like say a burger usually, but it sounds better.

Interesting.

Grain and corn fed livestock lead to meat that is high in omega-6 fatty acids. I'm not sure if omega-6 imbalance leads to puffiness, but the high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 does contribute to a number of disease processes. Grass fed beef has a better ratio of omega-3 to omega-6.

Great info-cheers.

[Rob L 3,811]

[ExPatty 502]

Indeed. And while I wouldn't recommend drinking coke in any case, if you insist, make sure it's the Mexican one in the glass bottle as that one still has sugar in it. The American ones for a long time now have replaced that with corn syrup. In Israel, also they still make it with sugar and my wife was delighted to have coke with sugar instead of corn syrup once again. It tastes different, too.

Americans are pretty notorious worldwide for unhealthy eating habits. I used to know someone who would jokingly call the US "United Steak of America". Obviously steak isn't supposed to be unhealthy like say a burger usually, but it sounds better.

Cane sugar really is no better for you than hfcs, though. Both are going to give you the beetus.

Obesity related illnesses are killing more Americans than any other single cause, yet the government pays only lip service to it. Spends more time debating guns than heart disease. Remember all the town halls Obama has had about finally trying to solve the obesity epidemic? Me, neither.

The good news is in the past 5-10 years everyone seems to finally be catching up to the fact that sugar is singularly the worst macro-nutrient, so at least those who like eggs and nuts can finally at them without feeling guilty that gold fish are healthier.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Cane sugar really is no better for you than hfcs, though. Both are going to give you the beetus.

Obesity related illnesses are killing more Americans than any other single cause, yet the government pays only lip service to it. Spends more time debating guns than heart disease. Remember all the town halls Obama has had about finally trying to solve the obesity epidemic? Me, neither.

The good news is in the past 5-10 years everyone seems to finally be catching up to the fact that sugar is singularly the worst macro-nutrient, so at least those who like eggs and nuts can finally at them without feeling guilty that gold fish are healthier.

There's still room for improvement. The poorly labelled graph below shows sugar intake in grams per day per person. That's put's the average consumption per person in America at over 100 pounds per year.

Sugar Consumption Statistics by County

http://www.foodpyramid.com/healthy-eating/which-country-consumes-the-most-sugar-per-capita-11894/

[lostinblue 1,989]

Hardly ever see overweight people in china . They walk and bike ride a lot more than Americans and most cannot stand sweets in any but the smallest amount. It is not uncommon to buy what you need for dinner at a store and walk a half mile to your residence . Then climb 6 flights of stairs.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

As I said, fat Americans look "puffy"...,look at the ####### American livestock is fed. Something is screwed up in the American food chain imo. Also, as I mentioned food portions. The number of obese Americans you see jogging in the midday sun in Okinawa far out ways the slimmer Okinawans who barely do any exercise-lol.

A person who gained 100 pounds through eating ding dongs would have the exact same butt someone who gained 100 pounds eating too much rice or if they could manage it too much broccoli.

That's why a professor on nutrition was able to lose 27 pounds eating nothing but Twinkies and ho-hos while reducing his cholesterol by 20% and fat in the bloodstream by 39% and his body fat dropped 33 to 35%: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

Americans (well I guess Mexico is #1 now) are fatter because they consume more calories.. Processed food are only part of the problem in that they are able to make the calories cheaper, easier to prepare, and more yummy.

This only bothers me because I see fat people deluding themselves that somehow it is not their fault and they can blame the "industry" - We all know the facts: Stuff less calories in your face and exercise more and 99.5% of us will be just fine... For the *vast* majority if you are fat it is your own fault and you have the ability to fix it. I just consumed 380 calories worth of Honey Nut Cheerios and non fat milk for breakfast. I have 1640 calories left in my budget today.. Not rocket science.

This is one of those posts I'm glad there are no down votes possible

Edited April 3, 2016 by OnMyWayID

[Jacque67 7,328]

As I keep repeating, there is a puffiness to fat American s that doesn't exist with fat Europeans, Japanese etc. In American women it collects around the butt. I have seen skinny women with quite large butts compared to their European/Japanese counterparts.

Repeat,.. Food chain is screwed in the States.

If you have lived outside of N/s America you will be more aware of this phenomena....good night.

[OriZ 3,157]

A person who gained 100 pounds through eating ding dongs would have the exact same butt someone who gained 100 pounds eating too much rice or if they could manage it too much broccoli.

That's why a professor on nutrition was able to lose 27 pounds eating nothing but Twinkies and ho-hos while reducing his cholesterol by 20% and fat in the bloodstream by 39% and his body fat dropped 33 to 35%: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/

Americans (well I guess Mexico is #1 now) are fatter because they consume more calories.. Processed food are only part of the problem in that they are able to make the calories cheaper, easier to prepare, and more yummy.

This only bothers me because I see fat people deluding themselves that somehow it is not their fault and they can blame the "industry" - We all know the facts: Stuff less calories in your face and exercise more and 99.5% of us will be just fine... For the *vast* majority if you are fat it is your own fault and you have the ability to fix it. I just consumed 380 calories worth of Honey Nut Cheerios and non fat milk for breakfast. I have 1640 calories left in my budget today.. Not rocket science.

This is one of those posts I'm glad there are no down votes possible

I have to admit I don't count calories. But I do just fine without it. I was never a big believer in counting calories, I believe in eating what you feel like eating, as long as you watch what you put in your body. So for me it's not as much about the "how much"(even though like I said I rarely get to eat more than 2 meals a day anyway), but more about the "what".

I don't like non fat milk but I don't go over 1-2%. With cottage cheese for instance, has to be 4% or it tastes like nothing. But I try to refrain from moz, prov, cheddar etc.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Good to know, oriz...lol