So many of the narratives of what we've been told about why Americans, and the west in general, is getting so fat... seem to run contrary to some of what we observe elsewhere.

Here are some things that have been blamed for obesity.

1. We're fat because we're rich.
Firstly, Im not entirely sure about that. Obesity rates seem to be higher in poorer communities IN America. If that was true, the reverse would be true with wealthier people being fat and poor people being skinny.

Secondly, Japan is a very wealthy country. Yet Japanese exchange students statistically put on quite a few pounds when they come to America.

2. Its all the Junk food!

Having traveled to Asia, believe me... they have junk food too. And its dirt cheap too. In fact, in Asia, people probably eat out more often than they do in America given how there are far more cheap street food options.

3. Its a personality deficiency.

Again, then explain why a Japanese person can be skinny their entire life in Japan... and when they come to America, they get fat? Does their personality just change immediately after coming to America?

Honestly, I suspect there is something fundamentally different about our food. I feel there is far more going on than what "LOL, just make better choices bro!" types want you to believe.

There are still skinny people in America, and so those people will just point at fat people saying "Well I can stay skinny, so its your fault!"
Perhaps. But Perhaps whatever is affecting the rest of society,... just doesnt seem to affect others as much?

I knew a guy who ate Wendys almost every day, for almost every meal. The most amount of exercize he would get is occasionally playing basket ball. He didn't run. He didn't lift weights. He EXCLUSIVELY drank sodas and juices. Absolutely could not drink water to save his life. Yet somehow, he was scrawny (WTF!?). He wasn't living a super active lifestyle. Yet I've known people who led fairly active lifestyles, who still manage to be fat... and didn't come NEAR his level of eating junk food.

There is something really fucky going on in America. I just dont know what it is.
Dont know if its because we've destroyed our Gut fauna, which perhaps in the past would have left us with more of a sensation of satiety throughout the day... and also consuming more of our calories for us?
Dont know if its chemicals being pumped into our food that make us addicted to the food/leave us hungry even after eating massive amounts of calories.
Something they put in the water?

fructose corn syrup

It's almost like the average American diet is unhealthy, and people will tend to eat what is available.

Please explain what difference it makes for sugar to come from Corn Syrup vs traditional Cane?

ETA: Nevermind. Sugarcane is Glucose. Corn, Dextrose. Still, what difference does it really make?

The don't walk or ride bicycles any more, and eat huge portions of the American crap food that is served to them by their obese host families.

Our food is shit

Oversized, overpriced, portions
Lots of preservatives and and fake crap.

Trust the Science  though, it's says it's all ok for you.

All the sugar in our food.

Yup it really is.

And this.

It's the GMO's man!

I've heard it suggested that it may be Roundup affecting our gut biome that would otherwise prevent obesity.

Apparently the US is one of the few countries that allows Roundup to be widely used on food.

Our poor are rich in food. They get food stamps and aren't afraid to buy nice cuts of beef or whatever.  Many have baby mommas living with their baby daddy who is strangely absent from the kids birth certificate. That way they can have all of his income and maximize their benefits.  I know for a fact that our local housing department won't kick you out if they find out. And they don't report it either.  

Anyway, I once heard on the Joe Rogan show that consuming fat and a lot of carbs during the same meal is somehow worse than consuming either separately.  I haven't looked into it at all since hearing that a few years ago.  Might have something to do with it?  I doubt there's been much study on that.

This the food is shit. I eat American wheat I'm on the toilet all day and bloated. Wheat in Asia or Europe zero issues.

Our food is poisoned figuratively and literally

Because it is everything nowadays.

I don’t remember the exact numbers but this is close…

In the late sixties the average American supposedly consumed something like 4 pounds of sugar a year. Now it’s like 16 pounds.

And that is added sugar. Stuff we don’t control that companies put in our processed foods.

It’s crazy and the truth really is that high fructose corn syrup is the devil. Not because of what it is but just because of it being in everything now.

Social pressure in Japan.

Easier to be fat when everyone around you is fat.

Not sure about that. They have GMO food in Asian countries too, I'm sure.

I've never been to Japan but I assume we have more readily available cheaper crap food here. Combined with a geography and culture that that promotes a sedentary lifestyle.

I worked with some guys from South America 20 years ago and several them had said "I was thin Bolivia, Ecuador or whatever and now I'm fat.  I can't figure out why."

Everything beyond the first sentence in your first paragraph is so stupid and has nothing to do with the topic.

There's something really fucked up about our food here. I have friends and family from overseas and they don't understand how our "organic" bread lasts for weeks without mold growing on it. I know people that have a gluten intolerance here in the states but back home they can eat all the bread they want and are fine. If I had to guess I'd say Roundup and corn syrup are two factors but GMO crops and preservatives probably play a part as well.


For Japan specifically, they don't eat the healthiest diets there BUT they have higher quality, cheaper food and most people don't own cars and are walking a LOT. On average Japanese people walk around 7K steps a day. They also fat shame which honestly we need to do more of here.

So in a sense "Sugarflation"?

Shit like this makes me think that honestly, what solution is there? Should we really be OK with living in a society where the vast majority of food seems to be engineered to making us fat?
Here's a somewhat less intrusive way the government can fix the problem.

EBT no longer covers overly sugarfied foods. Do an indepth study to find out how much sugarflation is in our food compared to the 60s.... and force the food stuffs to match those same sugar amounts. Restrict EBT purchases to *ONLY* those sugar reduced options.
"But that will only possibly fix the issue with poor people!"
Thats not the point. The point is, I bet it would steer the direction of food manufacturers to going back to putting less sugar in our food. Also, having a sticker that says "EBT Eligible", with most Americans being made aware of the law... would know they could effectively return to a 1960s diet simply by purchasing foods that have been de-sugarflated.

The fucked up thing about Sugar, is that it really does act like a drug.
Ever notice how you can drink a really sweet beverage... and then you eat something that you know is sweet... but then it tastes bland?
I suspect that eating too much sugar, over a lifetime, desensitizes you to sugar... which means you need to eat more sugar just to get the same taste.

That being said, I doubt the FDA will do anything to fix this issue. They seem to *WANT* more people to be fat.

And he says "Yet Japanese exchange students statistically..." without citing the statistics or source.

The fattest people in the USA are the poorest.  Yes, the rant isn’t directly related but never before in human history have the poorest people in a society been the most overweight.  So what changed?

Meh... I've had bad luck with bread. I have bought bread from Walmart, of all places, and it will grow mold by the end of the week. As you can tell from my location, I live in a very very dry climate too.

Driving instead of walking
Soft drinks instead of tea
Frozen food instead of fresh food
Starch rich diet instead protein rich diet

Processed food is cheap and easily available is my guess.

Why?

McDonalds.

Way, way too much sugar.

Way, way too little fiber.

That pretty much sums it up.

Sounds like you have a yeast infection.

Source?

Corn syrup and ultra processed foods

Apparently enough to make over 50% of us fat asses.

Sugar should be in moderation, HFC should be never.

Added sugar in absolutely everything. And, you know what they do to make low fat food taste good? Add more sugar and sweetners.

Fat is good for you, it's what your body needs.

Sugar is bad. Your body has zero need for it.

It’s the processed to shit foods, over reliance on cars to go anywhere, general lazy culture (comparatively), and to some extent bad genetics for Americans.

Visiting Japan was pretty eye opening for me on just how much smaller everyone is over there and how much better their food options are than ours.

Attached File

When I started counting carbs, I was shocked to find added sugars in everything.

I watched a you tube video talking about Japanese food. In general, the fast food or prepared meals they have is simpler and more healthy. They definitely buy fast or prepared food more than Americans.

When I lived there, I had a couple japanese coworkers tell me that they're skinny because they legit cant afford much food. Japans economy never really recovered after it took a shit back in the early 90s, so stuff is still expensive there.

Culturally we expect larger portions and main dishes that the rest of the world eats as small side dishes. Italians in Italy don't eat giant plates of pasta for meals.

From my personal experience, the activity of eating is different in Japan. They have much smaller portions, and they take their time. In America, we have larger portions and stuff our food down.

The Izakaya culture is a great example:

Here in America as a teen, I would go to NJ/NY diners with friends or family. We would each scarf down a meal and chill for a little bit before moving on.

In Japan as a young adult, we would go to Izakaya's to hang out and eat family style. We would order a bunch of small stuff for the whole table and spend hours socializing and snacking.

I imagine the difference in just those two common eating styles has a role in this equation.

Our food is dogshit. Everything in the center isles of  stores is trash. Everything at fast food restaurants is trash. Almost everything is loaded with harmful additives, food coloring, excessive added sugars and God knows what other chemical concoctions that are being labeled as "natural flavors."

You have to put forth a conscious effort and go out of your way to seek out healthy options, and the healthy options that remain are generally more than double or triple the price.

Real and natural foods that were the staple of American diets 60 years ago are now much more expensive than the dogshit foods. All the unnatural bullshit that has been added to cheapen our food has artificially suppressed the inflation rate. As our dollar has been devalued our food has been devalued in tandem so the effects of inflation don't look as bad, but all those savings on lower quality unhealthy foods wind up costing more down the road in the form of medical bills and lower efficiency from being an unhealthy fat fuck

Combine that with a sedentary life and boom, you have an easily controllable nation of entitled, weak fat-bodies who bear zero resemblance to their forbearers and don't deserve to be called Americans because they have destroyed the country's brand.

Flying from abroad and then setting foot back in an American airport is embarrassing as fuck. Seeing all these fatbodies waddling around is like a giant billboard saying "Welcome to America! We're a nation of weak-minded, unhealthy, lazy, gluttons who have zero impulse control"

1. We put sugar in everything.
2. Huge portions.

I'm sure there are other things. I'd be curious to see the number of steps taken by average teenager, adult, etc. in the US compared to other countries. Also, sleep habits.

This

Japan has a very good public transportation system.

You walk to the train station or bus stop which can be many blocks away from your home or ride a bike to your destination. Driving in Japan is often a PITA not to mention parking the fucking thing wherever you go is a crap shoot and can be costly. Living in the country and driving is a lot better.

I noticed "the fattening" of Filipino's when I was in the Navy. In the PI they're thin but the ones that joined the Navy porked right up and eventually their offspring as well.

/this

If one travels that's one of the things that is so amazing.

Sitting in the airport in Atlanta and people watching compared to sitting in Perth Australia, San Pablo Brazil, or Mannheim Germany as examples.

Our politicians are just super mad at climate change but nobody notices the obesity rate change? The autism rate change? The reduction in sperm counts? The lowering of test grades?

Very strange that. Years ago those same politicians banned lead in gasoline, DDT from pesticides, and asbestos from insulation ... but nobody wants to stop the obesity epidemic.

(In before the food pyramid did this to me?)

Beer.

When I stopped drinking it (except on rare occasions) my Hemoglobin A1c dropped from 6.1 to 5.3 over about two years.  I've also lost about 20 pounds.

It wasn't just beer - I also cut back drastically on high-carbohydrate foods.

They have McD's in Japan

as well as KFC, DQ, BK, SBUX, Domino's etc..

Never saw a Benihana there.

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP

I've worked with foreign exchange students from all over the world. With few exceptions, they've gotten so fat that they had to buy new clothes. Some gave up and switched to sweat pants.

In general, it boils down to them cramming as much as they can into their 9-10 months in the US. They are taken all over and have to try every great restaurant out there. The amount of food they consume is greater than that of your average American. I see very few young people who gain weight so rapidly as a foreign exchange student. The only thing I've seen comparable was when all the kids got so fat during the China Flu.

We finish beef on corn to fatten them up, don't we?
We are feeding ourselves with corn syrup...

Mac-oh-don-nod-does!  

I remember when they opened the first one on base back in 1983 or so ... good times.