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Why are Americans so fat?
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bill D Date: 01 Jun 00 - 12:11 AM eating habits are many & varied...I have known vegetarians of all levels, from TOTAL abstention..(meaning concern over whether an egg was fertilized or not...religious grounds) to those who abstain for health reasons, to what a meat-eater friend of mine calls "BBES"...(big brown eyes syndrome)(do you eat fish, katlaughing? Or is it just 'higher' life forms that concern you...not judging, just curious) I have eaten delicious all-veggie meals. I just never felt it necessary ..just how I was raised, I guess...I suppose I could learn meatless cookery if necessary, but I'm pretty old to start now. I know that in some parts of the world, meat is a luxury simply because of availibility, and I am concerned that even vegetable protein will become scarce. We are descended from animals who did eat meat, and baboons & chimps still do on occasion, but...*shrug*...as humans, we get to debate and worry. (does anyone else remember the Gary Larson cartoon where 2 big lions are spitting in disgust after taking a bite from a weird carcass with no features & splayed legs?...the caption says..." In sudden disgust, the lionesses realize they have killed a Tofudebeast, one of the Seringhetti's ubiquitous health antelopes") |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Fadac Date: 31 May 00 - 10:16 PM Yes, please use less. Turn off your fridge, turn off your heater, don't use your vacuume cleaner, drink raw milk, in fact don't use anything. This dosn't make much sence does it? Well Americans use the most, because by and large, they make the most. One American farmer supports them selves and how many more people? How does this compare with Germany?, the UK, India? Why are we fat? Because we CAN! |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Peg Date: 31 May 00 - 04:21 PM re: diet soda, yes it is the only soda diabetics can drink (my mom, brother and niece all have Type 1) BUT Nutrasweet is VERY VERY bad for you! It causes headaches and nosebleeds for people who work in the plants that make it. It causes headaches and indigestion in many people that consume it (myself included but maybe because I am hypoglycemic). It turns into wood alcohol at high temperatures... Many people are addicted to diet soda because Nutrasweet is also slightly addictive (as is sugar). Best solution: don't drink soda. Selzter with juice is a very nice alternative, and there are many juice spritzers on the market... |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bert Date: 31 May 00 - 04:15 PM You didn't have a 'hundred' to lose kat. Take care now and don't overdo it. John Evans, one thing that I guess I should come out and say plainly, instead of just hinting at it, is that... Many people are fat, NOT because they eat too much, but because THEY ARE SICK. And for them to eat less just makes them more sick. PCOS and Lymphoma are just two reasons, there are many more. People go around accusing the obese of greed without ever considering other possibilities. I have been 'skinny' for most of my life even though I have a healthy appetite. That's because I had Graves disease. Since I've had treatment I've gradually been gaining weight even though I eat less than I did before. For most people, their body shape is caused by some medical condition or difference in metabolism, whether skinny or fat, and greed or overeating or even exercise often has nothing to do with it. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 04:09 PM Yeah...like my very first post said way back at the top, we got a few folks in pretty desparate need around here. Woody wrote "I Ain't Got No Home" about 65 years ago and things havent improved much have they? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: katlaughing Date: 31 May 00 - 03:33 PM Thanks, Bert, ya'll get a new picture when I've lost the other 50! Thank you,also, for sharing with us some more about Lou. My doctor has left it up to me what I do; I ask his advice when I feel I need it, but I usually end of finding answers on the net which I share with him! As for diet sodas, I wish people would understand that some who are diabetic drink diet soda out of necessity. Clerks often think nothing of getting it wrong and handing someone a regular when they've ordered diet and, if they don't notice it and go ahead and drink it, there can be some serious repercussions. We do have a fast-food drive-in, here, locally owned, which offers real fruit smoothies, so there are some alternatives! As for abundance in America, I guess those homeless in Seatlle haven't heard about that, yet, as well as in other places. They have pulled together, though, in a common bond and were once again packing up their commune-like tent city to move to the next vacant lot. According to this NPR report "Seattle Homeless", they've come up with a fairly decent code of living which nurtures each of them as well as can be expected for living on the street. kat |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Jed at Work Date: 31 May 00 - 03:20 PM My first thoughts on this thread were "OK, here's another one of of those hateful, 'I've got some political or social axe to grind so I'll bait the forum with a bit of my nasty perspective' sort of threads. I'll stay out of it. But in spite of the original twisted comment, I see some thoughful responses here among the great Mudcat thinkers ... so I find it hard not to jump in. When I travelled in Bolivia, Peru, El Salvador I did not eat more than the locals, likewise when I travelled in China, England, or any of the other countries where I lived and worked with the average citizens. Nor did I see any less evidence of what our thread baiter is calling 'fat' people. Walk the streets of Cochobamba, walk the streets of Lima, walk the streets of San Salvador - I promise you you will see a very similar variety of body types, and people you might call 'fat'. Does American the marketplace 'consume' significantly more than that of the developing counties? Almost ceratinly so - does that mean that Americans eat five times the food of those in the rest of the world? Bullshit! Is this discussion not one more example of some asshole trying to prove that the American's are better off then those in (some) other countries because we "stole' their piece of the pie. Most assuredly! |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Kim C Date: 31 May 00 - 03:01 PM Maybe my hero John Prine said it best:
Blow up the TV or something like that, anyway.......... |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 02:59 PM I'm not too nationalistic frankly, but it gets a bit old when someone complains that we use too much here in the US. Yep...we do. We also PRODUCE a lot. We could produce a lot more, but who's going to buy it? Capitalism may be a bitch, but that's the way it works. Geeziz, we have farmers going belly-up all the time here even with government subsidies. And even when we try to get food to a lot of other countries (as Bill mentioned, ie., Ethiopia), it doesn't work. We've tried to pass on better techniques through assorted government funded programs but gawd knows none of them work either. Additionally, the US then gets accused of trying to shove our stuff down the throats of other peoples and cultures. Its like giving my son a Milky Way candy bar and he looks at me and says, "I wanted a Butterfinger." Sorry......A lot of the world's troubles could be easily solved if EVERYONE was willing to give up on the idea of freedoms and rights and cultural/religious differences and just work toward a simple living for all. Since that ain't too likely............... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Gary T Date: 31 May 00 - 02:51 PM Hi, Fionn. While we do use a startlingly disproportionate amount of resources, and probably have the most guns, I rather doubt that there's a direct link. I see it as more a juxtoposition of opportunity, national economy, human nature, and logistics. We're blessed with a bountiful, productive land, and it's simply possible and easy to be wasteful. Sharing it with the most needy (e.g. Ethiopia) is not easy, and perhaps not possible. I read a similar news item about Europe following our unfortunate example. I believe the definition of "obese" was 20% or more above ideal body weight. Of course, there was no definition of ideal body weight. (Then one could raise the questions: Medically ideal? Culturally ideal? In whose judgment? Is geography [climate, etc.] factored in? But that's a whole other kettle of fish.) It is sometimes amazing the lengths that are gone to in apparently futile gestures to "do something" about this (fat-free foods, etc.). The typical example is the overweight person having a hamburger, french fries, ice cream--and a diet soda. Diet soda--why bother? Reminds me of the story of the millionaire who spent tens of thousands of dollars having his mansion's ballroom built, with all sorts of lavish appointments--and a closet with the interior left unpainted to save money (maybe a couple hundred dollars). Ah, human nature! |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bert Date: 31 May 00 - 02:38 PM Well done kat! We need to see a new picture now. Oh, and you'll lose another pound or two if you take that bloody cat off your head *BG*. A word of warning though to all dieters. Get a second or third opinion before starting any diet. The doctors put Lou on one drastic diet after another and she got very sick every time. It turned out that she was suffering from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. If those quacks had been treating her for that, instead of obesity, she might have survived. Bert. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: katlaughing Date: 31 May 00 - 02:22 PM Pretty deep subject isn't it, BillD? I am one of those who doesn't eat meat, not for health reasons as much as I just cannot stand the thought of the killing involved and find it repugnant. And, if everyone did grow and kill their own, as Peg suggests, I suspect we would have many more who would not eat meat. Even just a few pages of a book on factory farming etc. is enough to put a person off, imo. Each of us has a responsiblity to ourselves first. If we take an action, such as not eating meat, not reproducing, etc., we do effect some sort of change. Mostly, for Americans, esp. our children, I think we should follow the advice of one of my favourite bumper stickers and "kill your television." But, of course, I'd prefer we all adopt the "moderation in all things" philosophy. As for portions, I once attended a lecture in which the speaker, an expert, said we each of us should only eat an amount of nutritious food which equals the size of one of our fists in order to be adequately nourished. Now, I've lost almost 50 lbs in the past year being very creative at staying a vegetarian yet eating a high protein/low carb diet. That has become anathema to me, though, and ineffective, so, I've gone back to eating tons of fresh fruit and veggies and low fat non-processed food and feel much, much better. A good site which is helpful for motivation and explains calorie-density can be found here. kat |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Grab Date: 31 May 00 - 02:11 PM Bill, evolution requires reproduction. Which requires being thin enough to find the appropriate organs and connect them together... (quote from Austin Powers II)
"How _could_ you do it with Fat Bastard?" |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Peter K (Fionn) Date: 31 May 00 - 02:08 PM To answer Gary T's point, way up the thread, it must be the ones with the most guns who get to choose how much of the world's grub they scoff. Which must be why the yanks (six per cent of the world population?) get through about 50 per cent of the world's finite resources. (I think I am understating.) Just heard on the good old BBC today that one in four are fat in the USA, but we Brits are catching up fast. Not sure if I'm the one in my five. I must be a bit overweight, but what what counts as fat? No coincidence of course, but the Yanks also lead the world with junk food and fast food. Again we Brits are catching up fast. Apparently the countries that have highest proportion of "low fat" "no added sugar" processed foods have the fattest people. Certainly my experience of the States (even Alaska) is that it can be impossible to find ordinary normal wholesome food, free of artificial sweeteners etc. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bill D Date: 31 May 00 - 01:56 PM ah, McGrath...that would have to be REALLY fat!*grin*...you usually have a few years to breed before you get too fat to outrun the predators...or too big to mount |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 May 00 - 01:45 PM Evolution will solve it all. Get too fat, you die sooner, and you don't breed. It all works out in the end.
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: keltcgrasshoppper Date: 31 May 00 - 01:36 PM Spaw... here in Mass we drink Berkshire Brewing Company.. better known as BBC...Great stuff full of calories.....KGH |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bill D Date: 31 May 00 - 12:09 PM my, how things have progressed since I posted last night and went to bed..(well-fed).... Ceitagh...I, too, am wary of plans to 'contain population growth'...and I said 'third world', because growth HAS slowed a lot in the US and Europe...gradually, the ratio between the 'developed' and not-so-developed countries is changing...and the have-nots now HAVE TV & internet and can SEE what they are missing...I have no idea who is to say what the 'proper' ratio should be, either in population or calories.(Well, actually, I do...in a perfect world, EVERYONE would have enough room, food and fair access to what they needed for a fulfilling life...)but we passed the population level for that possibility about 1937. It ain't easy...there are NO simple ways to feed us all, even if catspaw mails ALL his spare spuds to poor folk, and...even if manna fell from Heaven every day...(anyone ever read Philip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld"?), there is simply a finite amount of room for malls, graves, golf courses, and condos. I sure don't want the job of **DECIDING** how to reduce the population, but at some point, the population WILL be reduced, if not by plan, then by nature. (ever follow the progress of a bunch of rats in a cage as they overbreed?...even when they are fed enough, it is not a pretty sight. And the Earth is simply a rat cage on a very large scale without an infinite food supply) Kim has a point, of sorts...better distribution of available food is a fine idea, but we cant GET food to central Ethiopia when we try!...and 'enough' food is even in doubt...have you read the articles about the overfishing of the Grand Banks?..Do you WANT to eat nothing but spiced soy and plankton?...Did you see the movie "Soylent Green"?....silly?..maybe in your lifetime, but your great-grandchildren may be asking "Why didn't they DO something back then?" ...and I'm telling you something you really need to be aware of...hungry, desperate, crowded, angry people will behave like rats in a cage in certain circumstances. If YOU have a potato, and HE has none and wants it...how far will YOU go to keep it from him? will you share it? Will he setttle for half a potato? Could I be wrong about how serious it is gonna be? Maybe...but we can't afford for me to be right, can we? Gee, I started out to throw a few jokes into this post, but it didn't seem to work that way, did it? Sorry, folks...I have several buttons. Definitions of folk music is the easy one.....this pushed the serious one... |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Peg Date: 31 May 00 - 11:15 AM I agree with Baba and Kim C, mostly and with some of what many others here have said... I do not think meat is evil; humans are more or less built to eat it; though surely not built to eat meat that is pumped full of antibiotics and hormones from animals whose lives are miserable while they are alive...I believe we should all acknolwedge the sacrifice an animal makes when it gives its life for our nourishment--this is simply part of staying connected to the living world around us: something we have all but forgotten how to do in industrialized countries. We are also built to MOVE! as in hunting for our food and planting and digging up our food. Not to sit in chairs. Lack of physical activity is the NUMBER ONE reason Americans are overweight and unhealthy. We must escape our fortresses and take to the hills and forests and meadows and sidewalks and get off our asses and enjoy the outdoors more...no need to join a gym or buy fancy exercise gear. Walking is pleasurable, health-giving and a wonderful way to get somewhere (or nowhere). We are also built to eat fruits and grasses and roots and veggies; we are NOT built to eat grains and in fact added them to our diets rather late in our evolution. They are hard for humans to digest because they combine protein and carbohydrate in the same food. This is exacerbated when grains are refined and the fiber and nutrients removed. Some ethnic groups can eat grains more successfully than others, just as some are more prone to alcohol addiction, dairy allergies, etc.. (A fascinating book on this is Native Nutrition and it also details what has happened throughout history when refined foods, especially white sugar, is introduced to various indigenous populations: southwest Indians in the US are experiencing obesity and its concomitant diseases, especially diabetes, in staggering record numbers; their counterparts in South America, genetically identical but physically active people who eat plenty of beans and corn, are among the healthiest people on earth. As are the Masai in Africa, who literally live on meat, milk and marrow from their cattle, but who also run amny miles per day as part of their nomadic herding lifestyle). I think eating real food is the answer to the emptiness many Americans feel regarding their diets; real, live food, that is grown or raised near in one's own local area and with a minimum of chemicals and cruelty. Cooking one's own food or having it cooked for you by a loving person is also believed to impart better nutrition. Eating produce which has to travel several days before it hits the shelves insures most of the nutrients are dissipated. We can and should vote with our dollar and create a demand for humane food products. Better still, we should grow and kill our own food whenever possible. One individual cannot solve the world hunger crisis. But each of us can opt to treat ourselves and our loved ones as well as we can, and since not eating is not an option, I suggest we enjoy our food as much as we can while understanding that we must eat to live, not live to eat.
love and simple pleasures to all! Single malt Scotch, Belgian chocolates, fresh bread with organic butter, locally-grown berries, free range leg of lamb roasted with rosemary and garlic, crumpets with apricot jam, farm-raised salmon baked with honey-lemon-garlic-olive oil-red pepper-cumin glaze---these are a few of my favorite things... |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bert Date: 31 May 00 - 11:01 AM Here's one reason. Fix that one first, COUSIN! |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: alison Date: 31 May 00 - 10:45 AM Damn 'spaw ..... why didn't you think of this a few weeks back when I was taking photos at the festival.. I could have got everyone....... now you'll have to wait....... slainte alison |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Kim C Date: 31 May 00 - 09:48 AM A simple philosophy to follow is, eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full. There is plenty of food available to feed everyone in the world but the real problem appears to be distribution. Don't you remember in Africa awhile back when we were sending grain down there but the warlords were taking it all to keep the people subjugated? Food is very often used as a political leveraging tool. People are overweight and unhealthy not only from a lack of exercise (I'm guilty there) but from excess sugars and preservatives and other chemicals in processed foods. Mister and I try to stay away from many processed foods but it can be expensive. Mac & cheese in a box is 4 for a dollar a lot of times, but salad greens are $6 a pound. I would rather pay the more money up front to avoid costly medical bills later.... plus, since diabetes runs in my family it's in my interest to be as healthy as I can. I do, however, enjoy a Sonic cheeseburger about twice a month. :)
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 09:21 AM I would conclude that its better to eat food than to eat your TV. TV's are probably hard to digest, plus you'd be stuck going out on walks making yourself a possible "innocent bystander" or playing football where you risk possible knee injury. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Wesley S Date: 31 May 00 - 09:20 AM John - I don't know about you but I'm a direct desendent of Santa Claus. Would you care to tell us what you are doing to ease the plight of the hungry of the world? Can I assume that you work at your local food bank? Make sandwichs at a local nightshelter? Raise funds for infant formula programs?? Feel free to contact me if you need other suggestions on how to get active. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Grab Date: 31 May 00 - 09:02 AM Last verse of the Dire Straits song "My Parties":- Now don't talk to me about the polar bear, Don't talk to me about the ozone layer. Ain't so much of anything these days, even air - They're running out of rhinos, what do I care? Let's hear it for the dolphins, let's hear it for the trees, Ain't running out of nothing in my deep freeze. It's casual entertaining, we aim to please... At my parties all right, you do what you please. As to why Americans are fat, it's the same reason lazy, ill-educated and TV-addicted people everywhere get fat - cos they're lazy, ill-educated and TV-addicted. A programme on British TV last night showed an experiment removing all the TVs from a family for 2 weeks. And guess what - they went out walking, playing football, etc instead. Anyone care to draw the obvious conclusion...? Grab.
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: kendall Date: 31 May 00 - 08:34 AM I went on one of them two week diets and lost 14 days. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 08:07 AM Not to change the subject and get back to the original.............I just watched the news which had a film clip of the US Secretary of Agriculture being attacked by an animal rights activist with a tofu cream pie....She also called him a "Meat Pimp." Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 07:40 AM Now Spidey, I wasn't pickin' on ya'..........Just get a picture of your ass sent in right away.......and while you're at it, get one of alison's too. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Spider Tom Date: 31 May 00 - 07:31 AM Spaw I wouldn't want to operate the camera (Wide angle lens?) I didn't say anyone had a fat ass, now did I? Spider Tom (in soft focus) |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 07:20 AM Listen Spidey....Since we're all here discussing our fat asses, might I suggest we all take a picture of our butts for a Mudcat fund raiser......a rollicking game of "Match the Mudcat Ass"-----Find the details in the "Good Thoughts for a Mudcat Friend" thread. AND HILARY--I added a verse to John Prine's "Dear Abby" already to qualify as song content......sorta'......... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Spider Tom Date: 31 May 00 - 07:11 AM What rudeness! Surely we in the cyber-spaces talking of fatness as if it mattered. The answer as to why Americans are so fat is the same answer as to why anyone is so fat. Fat is neccessary to stop the skin from hanging about the ankles, if skin didn't stretch we would never be fat because we would ache as soon as we ate. Imagine troops of saggy skinned joggers tripping on their own baggy bottoms as they ran, noy a pritty sight and if you were unlucky enough to stamp on your own ass-hole then the shit would really fly. So I say, a little less of this fat talk. The consequences of the alternative could be far worse. I of course am a perfectly proportioned person, as you can see by my writing. Spider Tom (Web-sailing) |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 31 May 00 - 07:05 AM That was odd.....It happens occasionally.....kinda' weird. Anyway McGrath.....I quit trying to drink Bud a long time ago. I don't drink much beer anyway, but when I do, I'd like to at least enjoy it. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 May 00 - 06:57 AM That's odd - well.here's another go at giving you Budweiser Budvar |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 May 00 - 06:54 AM "We in NZ eat lots of veggies" - I'll warn my friends who are veggies to steer clear of your cannibal islands... And spaw, if you're drinking the stuff they call Budweiser that's made in America (and in franchised "breweries" elsewhere), I'm not surprised if you're not too happy with it. Try to get hold of Czech Budweiser, which is a different thing entirely. (Czech lager is better than Guinness even, and I hate to say that.)
It's strange isn't it - public spirited citizens invented the stuff they sell in MacDonalds, clearly in the hope of putting people off eating, and it backfired, and they liked it. Round the world. And even with the mad cow disease you get people eating English beef. (Though at least they've stopped the cows doing the same...) |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Brendy Date: 31 May 00 - 04:13 AM Yeah I know. Hug a carrot today!! Sorry, wrong thread B. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: GUEST,Hilary Date: 31 May 00 - 03:58 AM thanks Brendy but that's made me so thirsty I've gotta leave and have my DINNER...lasagne with a beautiful juicy beef bolognaise sauce, squooshy layers of pasta and a rich tasty cheeeeesy sauce... OOooops, sorry Guest John! Another reason is I think they don't eat enough veggies - we in NZ eat lots of veggies and we beat you at yacht races (but that's all I think) But the problem with veggies is that they might have feelings too.... |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Brendy Date: 31 May 00 - 03:41 AM Food and music are inextricably linked, Hilary Check it out B. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: GUEST,Hilary NZ Date: 31 May 00 - 03:35 AM I have a problem. The threads i like best on this looney site are the ones that have NOTHING AT ALL!!!! to do with folk music. Wot if i get found out????? Someone post something about music QUICK!!!! ps i have two answers from the other hemisphere 1. being thin is very expensive in the western world 2. Now number two concerns the condition of being anally retentive, so I've reconsidered posting it coz I've already been told off twice and I've only been round here a week. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Brendy Date: 31 May 00 - 03:06 AM I don't think it is purely an 'American problem' I have met Irish guys in America, whom I knew as 'proportional' people when they lived in Ireland, only to turn out, 18 months later as little tubs I eat like a horse, and neither put on, nor lose weight. Aaaaarrrrrgh!!!! B. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Gary T Date: 31 May 00 - 02:07 AM Granting the premise implicit in the question, the answer is "Because we can be." Who determines how much right Americans, or anybody, has to use what amount of resources? If there ever develops a system that can actually get food and various other resources to the deprived people of the world who actually need them (and don't hold your breath for that to happen), I'd be willing to bet that in a generation or two those folks would be dealing with overcrowding problems of a hitherto unthinkable magnitude. Be careful what you wish for. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Liam's Brother Date: 31 May 00 - 12:29 AM John, what an appropriate observation to make on an international folk music forum! Any comments on the scarcity of Michelin-starred restaurants in the USA? Given the abundance of food and the (apparent) National Appetite in America, it is an enigma.
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: GUEST,flattop Date: 31 May 00 - 12:14 AM Or could starving, desparate people be inclined to war and instability, Sorcha? |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Sorcha Date: 31 May 00 - 12:08 AM Just remember--you take guilt on yourself. Nobody, ever, can MAKE you feel guilt. You, yourself, choose to feel it. Also, governments can and do deliberately cause famine. Look at Ethiopia for one example. It is a means of politcal control. Not that I approve, but it is true. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: GUEST,flattop Date: 31 May 00 - 12:03 AM I somewhat agree with Harpgirl but she's too much of a butterfly for my tastes. I'll stick with cheeseburgers. Massive increases in population in places like Africa were caused by drops in the death rate rather than by increases in the birth rate. It looks like we are all part of a global problem. David Suziki's book, It's a Matter of Survival has some disturbing information on trend lines and thing like the fact that there are more of us alive today than have lived in rest of the history of (wo)mankind. Yet few of us are volunteering to leave the planet. I don't know about you but I was just kidding when I said that I would kill myself. |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: catspaw49 Date: 30 May 00 - 11:46 PM Dear Abby, Dear Abby, I'm really fat People are starving I feel bad about that I want to help out and my diet's a dud If you'll give me an address I'll send them a spud. Signed .... Gross Fatass ......with apologies to John Prine Spaw |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: ceitagh Date: 30 May 00 - 11:46 PM What's this "contain population growth in the third world"....who gets to make that sort of decision? How do we go about this? Well, to start with we could try to set up more equitable food distribution systems, perhaps give some aid (debt relief would be nice) towards reviving economys where we can. Bluntly, even leaving birth control, sexual behaviours, etc. out of the equation, economically stable, successful and well fed societies have lower birth rates. Or we could take Johnathon Swifts 'suggestion.' It would solve population and food production problems. (TIC) Seriously, I'm kinda wary of 'population control' arguments, because sooner or later someone boils it down to "get rid of poverty by getting rid of the poor." And then they tell me that having kids while living under the poverty line is irresponsible. Then they remember my Mom and Dad (under the poverty line most of my childhood) had 7 of us....and apologise 'cause of course they didn't mean people 'like us'....they meant people like 'them' And I'm reminded of the scholar Darwin quoted in his "Descent of Man" who talked about how somehow the wrong people kept on reproducing themselves and used the Irish as an example of a group that was polluting the race.....shiver..... Sorry Bill, don't think this is all aimed at you....your comment sparked a sore spot of mine, and a certain amount of free associating resulted. hope you kind 'catters don't mind. Pax, Ceitagh Ceit |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Mrrzy Date: 30 May 00 - 11:24 PM Don't neglect the biological factor that makes any attempt at weight control through diet worse than finding a dam when you're a would-be-spawning salmon. We are biologically supposed to be fat, or at least to try as hard as we can to be - so that in the face of "caveperson" food availability, we end up with enough reserves to make it through a drought or, even more draining, a pregnancy. Trust to the caverperson lifestyle to keep you fit (until you die of old age at 35; who says exercise is good for you?). What's worse, our bodies are programmed to seek out and enjoy fats and sugars in contrast to food that's "better" for you. The yummy heartstoppers highly available today were scarce then, but were then and are now crucial to life-after all, cell membranes are made mostly of fat (not to mention myelin sheaths and other frills of the intelligentsia). And we're biologically omnivores, not herbivores; it's HARD to eat a really healthy balanced herbivorous diet without eating all the time like, well, herbovires; if we want to have meals, we're much healthier eating everything in sight (well, at the time of the programming, what was in sight was what you could catch). This is because we are built, as is any species, to survive whatever pressures created it in the first place - cruelly independent, in today's world, from the artificial social pressures to be thin. Many of today's women are especially betrayed by puberty when the hormonal/metabolic balance shifts to store EVERYTHING because you never know when you might have a fetus to support on top of having that famine or whatnot to get through. This is not to say that people don't overeat, after all, it is one of the wonderfullest greatest pleasures of all time. And if we still lived the way H. erectus did when environmental pressures (which, remember, must be CATASTROPHIC or it ain't worth the trouble to speciate) created Homo sap, we could eat as much as we want as the life of hunter-gatherers keeps you, if not fit, at least from obesity. It's no accident that overweight (à la Villendorf Venus) women are highly prized in contrast to skin&bones ooh la la in today's industrialized media. They are rare when you live that close to the source of the human food processing chain because of all the hard WORK involved in farming, in contrast to shopping. Signed, -Plump and grew up in the third world |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Bill D Date: 30 May 00 - 11:21 PM like harpgirl said, the problem is MUCH more complex than most people want to admit...evolution, social customs, balance of trade..etc..but the REAL issue is population growth and how to contain it in the 3rd world.....we just CAN'T have "45 billion folks on the old planet earth. "........and you wont like it as we approach 10-12 billion!.... "eat less" says John...tsk, what naiveté |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Mbo Date: 30 May 00 - 11:11 PM Try this song Harpgirl! --Mbo |
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Subject: RE: Why are Americans so fat? From: Baba Date: 30 May 00 - 10:55 PM The answer to this question is of course SERVING SIZE AND ATTITUDE TOWARD FOOD. My dear one's father, Richard, lives in Texas and recently returned home to Australia telling us tales of the HUUUUGE meal serving sizes at restaurants, and the tendency to take SUGAR, MEAT and OIL and deep fry them and mix them together in every imaginable manner as standard daily fare. Richard tells us that even the Asian eateries have enormous portions (which seems strange to me) because that is what people expect. It is too easy to drive through and scoff down a take away meal - apparently (and this is a bit of a generalisation) people don't walk down the street in Houston - their bottoms permanently attached to the soothing leather of the car seat. |
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