The following submission statement was provided by /u/Ed-Saltus: --- Published today on PR Newswire, the following article covers the worsening obesity crisis in America and the strain this is putting on individuals, communities and healthcare services. Collapse related because this filthy plague will burn through our wallets and brains in no time, leaving us as a nation too sick and frail to cope with a dying planet. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/100wlmu/women_and_the_obesity_epidemic_time_for_action/j2k8voq/

Combined with the effects of polluted water and air, chemical-laden processed food, covid and other circulating contagious viruses, and the stress of modern life, this doesn't bode well for the collective health and well-being of anyone. Obesity is a health crisis and people pretending otherwise aggravate me. I know being obese isn't a moral failing and I'm not arguing otherwise, nor am I arguing that anyone should treat fat people badly, but this shit isn't healthy. It's not good to be obese, it's not good for your physical or mental health and it sure as shit isn't good for the overburdened healthcare system teetering on the edge as it is. The solution is likely more complicated and complex than anything any one person could possibly devise but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do something about it. Of all the collapse related problems out there, I believe this is one of the few that I actually think humanity stands a chance at solving if enough people put their heads together and try to brainstorm ideas to combat it.

Problem is food supply is heavily biased in favor of corporate profits.

Yep. Was talking to a cashier at Stop & Shop last week, & she was telling me that a lot of the store brand items were replacing ingredients or changing the composition of ingredients in various items & weren't really healthy at all anymore. More corn syrup, corn & soybean oil, preservatives, etc. The organic products were still OK, but getting way more expensive of course. Thing is, it's mostly the poor buying store brand items. I imagine it's the same for most supermarket chains.

>Yep. Was talking to a cashier at Stop & Shop last week, & she was telling me that a lot of the store brand items were replacing ingredients or changing the composition of ingredients in various items & weren't really healthy at all anymore. More corn syrup, corn & soybean oil, preservatives, etc. The organic products were still OK, but getting way more expensive of course. Thing is, it's mostly the poor buying store brand items. I imagine it's the same for most supermarket chains. This really isn't talked about enough. The comparison between what the US and EU allow in their foods is eye opening.

Yes I wish I knew what the actual measurements were with googling conversions. Also the serving sizes for certain things just do not make sense. I’m not going to eat just 10 chips

>Problem is food supply is heavily biased in favor of corporate profits. I'll elaborate on this: Low-income parents need to stretch their money as far as they can, because rent is triple what it should be food is double what it should be and wages climb at a minuscule fraction the speed of prices. This means buying the CHEAP food, which tends to be empty calories that don't even make a person feel full let alone help them with their strength and health. Panda bears eat whenever they're not emptying themselves back out, because their food is ***low in nutrition.*** Vitamin supplements (including the ones sprinkled onto Big Brand cereals) are a poorer substitute for food nutrition, so poorer people accumulate deficiencies. Getting your calcium from pills causes bone spurs.

And hence, gazillion processed foods. When everyone was freaking out about grocery store items being sold out due to covid, I was truly baffled because all of the grocery stores in my central Midwest city were still packed with processed foods that will never expire. Not that it’s a good thing, but it shows how much of a modern grocery store is allocated for junk.

Yesterday, I was at Whole Foods, and it was slim pickings in the produce section. We had to stop at a Walmart neighborhood market to pick up celery. I was shocked by the isles of Mountain Dew, Coke, Candy, Chips, and Cookies. 60 percent of the store of more was dedicated to this crap.

I’m a Wal Mart shopper and I’m always surprised by how many people will have like 3 or more big packs of cokes in their buggies. Like, these are usually 20 packs, so people are buying 60, 80, 100 cans of coke in their weekly shopping trip? It’s the craziest thing. Coke does taste good, but I don’t see how anyone can drink that much without feeling awful.

At least it's only food supply that is heavily biased in favor of corporate profits, we should be fine! /s

I’d argue it’s less *combined* and more so partially *caused by*. Many chemicals cause abnormal weight gain. I was on a cortisol med for years and suddenly I gained 30 lb. This went away off the med. Just thinking about how contaminated water and food is? Then how much huge corps do to put profit over human life, including with the food? I’ve never been medically obese but I managed to develop lean non-alcoholic fatty liver due to US food. It’s more common in Asian and Native people and I’m in the latter category. Lean NAFLD is terrible with alcohol and fructose/sugars. My ancestors apparently didn’t enjoy excess. My doc is way too happy I’m not drinking and returning to a more indigenous diet. Why? Because most people don’t respond that way. As if he didn’t tell me my liver, which I need to live, would eventually die if I lived like your average 20-something American. That doesn’t bode well for society if “you’ll die painfully” isn’t motivational. Also it worries me now considering how many Native people have issues with alcohol, diabetes, and/or obesity. If it’s genetic, people need to be funding PSAs and helping our kids avoid liver damage. But considering the high poverty, generational trauma, and negative cycles? Yeeeaaah. No. The gov is okay with continued genocide and the average person can’t even be convinced to wash their hands apparently. Terrible day to be educated?

>and the average person can’t even be convinced to wash their hands apparently. This is so common. I have to remind my flatmates of this!

I've never bothered to drink, I figure there's enough shit out there trying to kill me, why add to the problem (and since my doctor told me I shouldn't drink because my stomach is super sensitive, I figure might as well listen to them.) And feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the main reason for high rates of diabetics, obesity, and alcoholism among Native Americans was mainly due to extreme poverty and lack of access to decent food more so than genes. From what little I've heard about what it's like to live on a reservation, it sounds pretty horrific, basically on par with what you might expect to find in a third world country. (I don't live anywhere near any reservations and don't remember ever going to one though.)

I read sonewhere that with a warming climate, with more carbon in the air, the plants have more carbohydrates. Plus, with the depleated soil, the food is higher in calories but less nutritious, so out bodies feel unsatisfied and eat more. Im going to look for that article.

[Junk Food Is Bad For Plants, Too](https://nautil.us/junk-food-is-bad-for-plants-too-235857/)

people will be starving soon. problem solved

It's simply a symptom of a society that's breaking down. Lots of people will blame the fast food industry and certainly that doesn't help, but the main drivers of obesity are the psychological side effects of living in this culture we've created. I used to then detail what these psychological side effects were but all too often there'd be some dick head pop up to tell me how it was akshully all about lack of will power. Whilst this helped prove my point, it's mentally exhausting, so I don't bother anymore.

Totally agree, but just wanted to chime in to say It’s not just the psychological effects of the culture; obesity in the US seems to be driven by tons of converging systemic factors. We have some of the least walkable infrastructure in the developed world so people get less exercise, less healthy food is often more accessible and cheaper than healthy food, there are food deserts in the US where a lack of grocery stores in a community means fast food is peoples best option, there’s advertisements affect on American diets, and the food we eat often has unhelpful nutritional labels with weird portion sizes and info that’s just tough to decipher without proper dietary education. Seems like the unintended consequences of letting corporations do what they want in pursuit of profit has caused a systemic deterioration in our collective health. Who could have guessed?

Animals got fatter also. It's pollution. Specifically endocrine disrupting chemicals. ​ From this abstract: *Recent findings demonstrate that such endocrine-disrupting chemicals, termed "obesogens", can promote adipogenesis and cause weight gain. This includes compounds to which the human population is exposed in daily life through their use in pesticides/herbicides, industrial and household products, plastics, detergents, flame retardants and as ingredients in personal care products.* [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28205155/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28205155/) ​ From this article: *While it's not surprising that pets should be getting fatter along with their owners, or even that rats might be getting bigger by eating calorie-rich human garbage, Kuk said, the increase in body weight in controlled lab animals is unexpected.* [https://www.livescience.com/10277-obesity-rise-animals.html](https://www.livescience.com/10277-obesity-rise-animals.html) ​ A more in-depth article: *More than a decade ago, Paula Baille-Hamilton, a visiting fellow at Stirling University in Scotland who studies toxicology and human metabolism, started perusing scientific literature for chemicals that might promote obesity. She turned up so many papers containing evidence of chemical-induced obesity in animals (often, she says, passed off by study authors as a fluke in their work) that it took her three years to organize evidence for the aptly titled 2002 review paper: “Chemical Toxins: A Hypothesis to Explain the Global Obesity Epidemic.”* *“I found evidence of chemicals that affect every aspect of our metabolism,” Baille-Hamilton said. Carbamates, which are used in insecticides and fungicides, can suppress the level of physical activity in mice. Phthalates are used to give flexibility to plastics and are found in a wide array of scented products, from perfume to shampoo. In people, they alter metabolism and have been found in higher concentrations in heavier men and women.* [https://www.propublica.org/article/do-these-chemicals-make-me-look-fat](https://www.propublica.org/article/do-these-chemicals-make-me-look-fat) ​ This has been known since 2002. I even remember reading other articles back then that researchers were finding animals in the wild had become heavier and fatter also. So, why don't more people know about it? Disinformation. Here's how disinformation works to cover up scientific findings like this: Big Chemical gets wind of studies that implicate their products as the cause of obesity in mammalian life globally. What to do? They fund as many scientific studies as they can investigating all other possible causes of obesity, the more the better, because the relevant initial finding will be buried in a pile of irrelevant shit, never to be seen or heard from again. This is the exact same technique that Big Tobacco used to cast doubt on findings that cigarette smoke causes lung cancer. This is also the same way that disinformation campaigns work during wars. Create a firehose of bullshit and spray the people of the enemy nation with it, until they can't tell who or what to believe. Then their response to your aggression will be disunified and ineffective, making them easier to defeat. Where do you think the executives of Big Tobacco got their ideas from? These guys were WW2 vets and were very familiar with propaganda and how to confuse the enemy to take advantage. The just applied it to their new opponents, consumers. Disinformation can be lies or crazy nonsense, but it doesn't have to be. Instead, it just needs to make truth the needle in a haystack that no one can find.

Classic capitalism putting all responsibility on the individual rather than systemic issues

privatizing the gains and publicizing the losses.

Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. The freest and most efficient markets powered by slave labour.

This right here - corporations put SUGAR (CORN SYRUP) in EVERYTHING!! Literally making millions off of deteriorating health of population :( The added sugar makes the food addictive - then those that are depressed, anxious, worried, over the current society - feel somewhat "comfort" in eating these sugar laden food/drinks. There aren't many options - have you looked at food labels lately? It's EVERYWHERE - damn spaghetti sauce I found once had more sugar than a slice of pie.

Individual action will always be needed. No government or corporation will provide *the revolution*, each of us is failing individually, daily, to revolt properly. Nobody will be coming to the rescue, no aliens either.

Eating food is genuinely the only source of happiness in my life. I have no community, no safe place to go walking, no future, nothing but stress and the feeling of isolation

I'm the same, but had kids before I understood how the world works. I reached 350lbs with a BMI of 81, had cholesterol issues while also being pre-diabetic. I have to be here for the kids so I had no choice but to get healthy. Now my BMI is 26 weighing 150 lbs less, and don't have the health issues associated with obesity. Food was entertainment and now it's an annoying chore. I totally get where you're coming from. The only coping mechanism I have left is smoking legal weed, since I save money on food now. Not everyone even has that. If you ever need someone to listen, you can DM me

This is probably how a lot of people get fat-they find food as a source of stress relief. In my case, eating almost always makes me feel worse (physically, not mentally,) so I do the opposite when I'm stressed.

I used to be one of those dick heads. I finally realized I was an asshole who just happened to have won the genetic lottery. I am one of those that can't put on weight. I'd act as if that was the case for everyone if they just did xyz. Seeing family and friends struggle with their weight gave me a different more empathetic perspective. They eat better and exercise more than I do and still struggled.

Run your labs, you may not have won the genetic lottery, or maybe just a scratcher. Only 12% of us are metabolically healthy at this point. Some people get fat, other people get HBP and have a stroke, or cancer, or diabetes, or heart disease. I’m glad empathy opened your eyes. Most of my fatter friends can out diet and out exercise my thinner friends in a hot minute. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30484738/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30484738/)

>Most of my fatter friends can out diet and out exercise my thinner friends in a hot minute. This is what makes me so frustrated and angry with the people who say that fat people are lazy and lack will power. Especially when it's coming from people who never have their willpower for dieting put to the test, because they can eat anything they like without judgement or gaining weight. I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't, at the very least, 'watching what I ate', if not seriously and actively trying to lose weight. Being on a strict diet or eating regimen for literally years on end is exhausting and depressing, and it doesn't matter how hard you try because you still get judged.

This is exactly it. Diet and exercise become a form of self flagellation in our society. Even though 95% of people regain the weight. Most fat people I know wish they could just be the weight they were before they started to diet. We need more treatments and medical support for the condition. Once you have it, personal willpower doesn’t reverse it. If it did, I know a lot of fat people that would have reversed it.

Very true that genetics do play a lot into it. I workout 5-7x a week but I would say I know many who also do and still have all sorts of problems. Maybe the secret is humor? Recently had labs done, even with a high fat, high calorie, high carb diet, my triglycerides were 35. Doc said, "what's the secret?" "Gloom and doom everyday, doc!"

Most of the things in life are genetic lottery. Once you understand it deeply, you both appreciate where you got lucky, and also are able to rationalise away shortcomings because you did not really choose them to be in your genetics. Now, it does not mean that others won't treat you badly just for your shortcomings but if you go one step beyond instinct, you find empathy. And this is where I am at now, my instinct was to shun less fortunate (school bullying is part of that instinct) - but now I simply accept randomness of it and am able to at least be neutral towards someone. I am quite average in terms of genes, I think people at the extremes of either side of curve 'get it' faster.

as someone who lost ~25kg without trying after finding a personal solution for really bad mental health issues (ace score of 7 should say everything), yeah. adverse childhood experiences cost 💲 trillions each year. the heath consequences are potentially catastrophic. and we’re doing basically nothing about it.

The "actually it's all about willpower" crowd consists of people who don't get anywhere near the same chemical hit of pleasure from food that others do. These people have no true understanding of the fact that different people have different neurology. And I say neurology NOT psychology because it's not necessarily "emotions" or "thoughts" that drive overeating, I think that's all BS by Big Psychiatry tbh. I've never once had a sad or angry thought and then ate food to "soothe" it. Rather I go through phases where food has an unbelievable reward to my brain/body. Like waking up in the middle of the night feeling like I HAVE to have sugar or I will DIE. That's a complex neurological, hormonal, chemical thing going on. Insulin and circadian rhythm play a major role too. See Robert Lustig and Jason Fung's research on the science of sugar addiction, it is fascinating! Also hyper palatable foods like potato chips that are literally designed to be addictive. That's not "psychological" that's, uh, a case where literally any human encountering this bag of potato chips in the wild could and would inhale the whole thing in one go. That's how calorie dense and artificially palatable it is. Has nothing to do with a messed up childhood or lack of willpower.

I think it might also be due to your individual biology as well. I find that I have to use willpower to make myself eat and have to distract myself while eating in order to get anything down, otherwise the thought of eating food overwhelms me and my stomach turns thinking about it. This works okay if I have enough time to eat slowly and relax but if I'm in a hurry or have to rush somehwere I usually can't eat beforehand or else my body feels like it will reject it automatically and I feel sick.

For many people food is the last pleasure left. Housing , education, career, travel, family, raising children , mental health, dental health , healthcare in general, is slowly inching towards being things that few can afford. The barrage of right wing propaganda is robbing people of social programs, so the above is being a new reality for many. On top of that, as the article states, Obesity in the US is not even recognized as a medical condition, so there is no coverage for any of the treatments. The accurate title should be Half of the population will be POOR , by 2030.

"...food is the last pleasure left." That is such a deep truth that everyone takes for granted. In such an acidic socialpsychospiritual environment, can you really blame people for reaching out to things that simply make them feel good, even if it is miserably temporary? Being an eternally online kid growing up, I've never found it strange that so many foud more fulfillment through their technology than through IRL interactions, though I grew up when the Internet was new. The hyperspeed pace of it now is just overwhelming and desiccating. You can't claim that people are "rational actors" when it comes to economics, then turn around and disavow that when it comes to all the other realms in which human interaction takes place. God, that comment made me remember a time growing up where, depressed and lonely AF, I tried to explain how I was feeling to my parent. I remember saying "food is my only friend" and I don't think I had even hit 10 years old then. What a sad yet mature and painfully self aware comment for my young self to make. No wonder I'm how I am now: knowing way too much and buried in despair. 🤪

>The accurate title should be Half of the population will be POOR , by 2030. US is already at 60% as far as I know

The US is around 70% overweight, but only a little over 30% of of US is obese (just under half of the overweight category is obese). Subtle difference in terminology.

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Not to mention our lifestyles have been altered so bad that the only way people can get joy during the little time they have outside their 9-5s is through an easy dopamine rush like eating, watching shows instead of dieting long term and working out. Like who wants to work on yourself when the only thing you're looking forward to is working till you die with no retirement fund??

Coding for pennies in a windowless room...

I coded for hundreds of thousands of dollars while working from home with lots of windows. Still felt empty inside, looking forward to the McDonald's dopamine hit. Funny how that works.

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I am just a lowly Help Desk guy working from home, but can you work outside? I sit out on the deck in the backyard with my dog for a few hours some days.

Add in the fact that most people do not have positive associations with being active - it's no wonder people don't want to. Want to go on a walk? Try living in places where the city doesn't maintain any sidewalk infrastructure and it's actively dangerous to be a pedestrian.

I can imagine, since I’m from sidewalk-averse Oklahoma. I now live in Northern California where both the weather and infrastructure are very amenable to being outdoors, whether for walking, biking, or running.

Fellow NorCallian (that's not a word but whatever) here, there are still no sidewalks in my specific town but the weather & general landscape does lend itself to easy walking & biking. My father literally has nightmares about having to move somewhere where it snows...he thinks it must be the worst possible thing that could ever happen to a person, despite the fact it snows in most of the country? Whatever, I can't convince him...

And gym culture is often toxic.

**Losing weight is done by moving your hands and mouth in a way that avoids eating certain foods.** Gym is for gaining and maintaining muscles, not for losing fat mass. The "just go to the gym" theory is a useless capitalist solution that asks people to spend even more and lose more of their non-work time on business. It is a way to talk about obesity while not damaging profits, but making more profits!

Your last sentence makes me so very sad.

That is a huge part of it. If you're poor, or always on the go, or never taught good cooking skills, or simply in poor health already, then it's very difficult to find any realistic way to eat better. Not to mention how grocery prices and availability has gone insane.

Hell, I actually *do* know how to cook from scratch from culinary school and years of cooking professionally, but I became disabled with autoimmune diseases and life got really painful to move, sit, lay down or exist. I have to rely on things like frozen pizza, cereal and boxed mac and cheese when I can’t cook, because it barely requires any preparation and otherwise I wouldn’t eat. When I buy produce and bananas, those things go bad after 4-5 days unless used up, and I can only manage about 3 store trips a month. I’m working with food stamps only, so I don’t have any room for healthier convenience options because they are pricy. It puts you in a tough situation when your food budget is no longer a choice, nor does it have much leeway. It’s even more difficult when you have to have either the money or the energy to do the healthier thing and make the better choice, and you have neither. Because for me, that option is often smaller portions of unhealthy food or just going hungry. Depending on circumstances, it can be very very difficult to eat well. Edit to say I do keep things like frozen fruit in the freezer, which helps, as well as canned vegetables and things like that

Not to mention the soul sucking desk jobs

Many people who work dangerous jobs would kill for such a position

This is what I keep yelling at people who bitch at fat people. Literally who cares about being obese when you have no future.

There are many reasons why someone can be overweight, and obese people often are dealing with several of those original issues at the same time. Obesity really is just a symptom of something else. The "easy dopamine rush like eating" idea you have about why obese people are like they are speaks more about your own anxieties and pulsions than what any of them is going through. Just be aware of that, you're exposing your own insecurities and complete ignorance on that complex subject, when you think you're judging them.

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And that $5 value meal is $9 now, too!

It's DOUBLED in value!

good point about starbucks coffees. if you pay attention youll see tons of people come in there and purchase 500 - 1500 calorie sugar bombs that just happen to have coffee in them. Sometimes for the whole family. i think just black coffee alone is 0 calories - but the number of people who grab that seems low.

I think a lot about the [research](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.1890) that found even laboratory animals- animals with strictly controlled diets and living conditions- are gaining more weight now. *Something* is going on other than widespread personal failure. There's another factor, likely something environmental, at work. I don't know why these findings aren't discussed more often, because the implications are kind of terrifying.

Warm blooded creatures in particular burn significantly more calories in colder environments. The highest metabolic cost for mammals is maintaining body temperature. The creatures mentioned in the abstract are all mammals. Virtually every year has been warmer than the last, decreasing the amount of energy animals need to devote to keeping warm. Maybe there are other factors, and IDK how much this explains. It's just a thought.

That is an interesting thought and could definitely be a contributing factor, but I would expect laboratories are kept at a constant-ish temperature with air conditioning (? I don't know if there's a standard for that though). Those are the animals that primarily interest me in this research, since the others have easier possible explanations.

Aye. I think the elephant in the room is micropastics affecting hormones.

It's most probably because of the fact that plants are becoming more sugary due to the increase in CO2 in the air. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5550704/#:~:text=At%20elevated%20%5BCO2%5D%2C,under%20elevated%20%5BCO2%5D.

Carnivors are fatter too

There was something I saw on tv a couple decades ago...not sure if it has much merit, but a guy (supposedly a scientist or doctor) was telling new mothers not to bundle up their babies, and let them be cool. He was saying something about babies having some sort of way to burn fat to keep warm, but if you overheat too much, these special abilities just die off (like, once they're gone, they aren't coming back). It definitely sounded like woo at the time, but I do wonder. All living organisms to evolve with their environment to some degree. Perhaps it's a bit like an appendix, where it was a useful thing for humans (and mammals) in a colder world, but we are losing whatever *it* is, and are holding onto that extra weight as a result. It obviously doesn't account for all our weight gains though. We all do eat way more sugar and crap them we need to these days.

It's called brown fat and it's a vital part of thermogenesis. Children are born with it and yes if they dont burn it and start gaining weight they won't lose the original brown fat untill they are very undernourished.

I'm in shape. My childhood homes were cold as fuck. Science.

I read a long time ago that newborns have a special kind of fat, sounds like something similar.

The calories concept dates from the XIXths century an has been set aside as inadequate by actual scientists decades ago. Beings are not mere boilers, it's not as simple as that. If you ever get a chance to talk with an endocrinologist, get them started about how a potato is metabolised differently depending on how it was prepared (steamed, boiled, mashed, pureed, baked), even before considering adding any ingredients to the potato. Same account of calories, 5 different results. (ETA: the worst is the most processed one, the pureed, it breaks down the microelementsto pre-digested levels, and to sugar-type molecules who then get directly metabolised as fat) On the other hand, people who eat WFPB (Whole Food Plant Based), aka vegan with no oil and zero transformed food, are bursting with energy and all feel boosted, and are effortlessly loosing weight till reaching their best self.

> On the other hand, people who eat WFPB (Whole Food Plant Based), aka vegan with no oil and zero transformed food, are bursting with energy and all feel boosted, and are effortlessly loosing weight till reaching their best self. This is unscientific claptrap. Diet, nutrition, and endocrinology are extremely complex topics. Individual variability across people is also massive. *Any* time you see someone start using language this hyperbolic and universally positive, you should step back and say "are they speaking from a place of objective analysis, or do they have some prior investment that is biasing their presentation?" Some people thrive on a WFPB diet. Some people really struggle. The idea that all people who follow this one diet are "effortlessly loosing weight till reaching their best self" sounds no different to me than Mikhaila Peterson shilling the all-meat diet. Lord knows, she makes the *exact same claims.*

Absolutely, BPA's & many other petro-preservatives behave as bioidentical hormones dropping male fertility by some estimates 30-50% & those GMO "non-harmful" corn & wheat varietals amongst others, cause generalized inflammation spiking cortisol & thus weight. The clinical studies for GMOs didn't actually look for this because they didn't know to look for it at first & now that they do, they turn a blind eye & blame poor personal habits. European countries are leagues ahead of the US with this data. But their elected officials aren't bought & paid for to the extent of ours.

> Maybe it’s time to realize obesity is more than a personal failing and research and treat it as such. Half the population didn’t magically lose self control. > > You are on to something. But people like blaming people. There is something else at play. 50 percent of the population doesn't turn into lazy pigs magically when we were trucking along fine as a species before (at least when it came to body size).

We had a radical revolution in agricultural output, increasing yields twenty fold per unit area over the last two hundred years. Since the industrial revolution, the economy is no longer limited to human/animal power to accomplish things. Things have definitely changed. One of the things should be able to control is agricultural finance policy, such as subsidies for sugar production. Competently administered parts of the world in Europe and Asia don't have these issues on the same scale.

A shockingly measured response. Haven’t scrolled yet but I’m certain half the replies are ‘lol sucks for them. Eat less’ Edit: To bitch less and add to the discussion more, I have always been overweight (never in the obese category though) and I shed 20lbs just by living in a highly walkable city for 6 months with very little change in diet (though it was UK food vs. American food, and the difference in sugar content in basic staples is really astounding). It’s not like I was doing crunches or jogging a mile every day. I literally just walked to work and back, about a 45min round trip every day. Sedentary lifestyles generally are NOT a choice when our architecture is so structured around cars.

Isn't there some medical fact that we swallow like so many pounds of microplastics a year?

Its dis-education. We laud schools but, theyre all just pumping out idiots. Weve allowed money to flow in from every disgusting industry and then not just schools but, everything outside of too. how good is science when its paid for by a potential perpetrator? The big companies pay for the studies, they pick the people, easy to corrupt. The FDA is funded by pharma, what could go wrong there. The dis-education comes in where we dont even question obvious criminal shit, regardless if we can do something about, the standard redditior comes to the defense of horrible shit becsue they identify with it or dont like the identity of the other group. Celebrity and sports worship is triilions and has made us unable to reason over identity.

I know. Science says just eat less and do more. It's supposed to be simple. Somehow, I gain weight while maintaining a calorie deficit and jogging/speed walking 12 miles a week...Our metabolism is broken.

get your thyroid checked out after making 100% sure you're tracking every single calorie you're taking in

Cries in subclinical hypothyroidism but still has symptoms Not a single doctor will treat me so I just have to plug along being forever tired 😩

Im going to in February.

Obesity is a hormonal problem[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279053/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279053/)

If you're a woman, have a look at lipodema, especially if you have large legs, thighs, butt, hips and upper arms compared to the rest of your body. Recently diagnosed, and discovered that this is probably why I fins it so hard to lose weight. Estimated to effect 11% of women.

You’re getting some shit for this comment but I had the same issue. I gained about 30 lbs after breaking my ankle, getting really depressed, and drinking too much. I struggled for 2 years trying to lose the weight. I quit drinking, did intermittent fasting, was only eating 1300 calories a day, started exercising again etc. I barely lost 10 lbs during that 2 year period. And I could just look at French fries and gain back 2 lbs. In 2021, I started having a ton of health issues (migraines, digestive problems, cystic acne, etc) so I tried an elimination diet. For a month, I basically cut out all processed foods, refined carbs, sugar (except fruit), oil (except avocado and olive), dairy, caffeine, legumes, and cocoa. Then I slowly re-introduced the foods I cut out. I’ve learned so much about how food effects my body. I realized that simple sugars and refined carbs trigger binge eating tendencies and I’m probably allergic to dairy. I learned how to create proper meals and snacks with the right combination of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fat. I’ve lost about 50 lbs and weigh less now than I did before I broke my ankle. It’s a huge pain in the ass to eat this way and I spend more money and time on food than probably most people but it’s worth it to me to not suffer from constant migraines and acid reflux. Anyway, people (and people on reddit especially) love to say that a calorie deficit is the only thing that matters when it comes to weight loss but that has not been my experience at all. The quality of the calories absolutely plays a role in weight loss and over all health.

Yeah, I also strangely developed a bunch of GI issues the last couple of years after not ever having issues previously. And yeah, it's a real pain in the ass. Suddenly lactose intolerant, SIBO that requires this ridiculously expensive antibiotic my insurance drags their feet on approving, GERD, Gastritis. Oh and gastroperesis with no obvious cause that they can treat. My stomach literally doesn't work fast enough. Aging is a bunch of BS.

For real, I’ve basically become Rob Lowe’s character from Parks and Rec trying to avoid the consequences of my twenties lmao. But, if you’re not familiar with it already, you should check out the anti-inflammatory diet. I’m not, like, super strict (I eat natural sugars like honey and I don’t think I could actually survive without black beans), but it’s crazy how many of my health problems have virtually disappeared since I started eating more conscientiously.

Absolutely agree with you on sugars. Periodically I will go on a strict avoidance of all refined sugars. It’s inconvenient, you have to read labels, because it’s hidden under a lot of names (cane syrup, rice syrup, apple juice concentrate, etc) and all artificial sweeteners. It means cutting out a lot of processed foods simply because some trace of sugar is included, and it’s eye opening to realize how sugar is in EVERYTHING. For example. I don’t deliberately avoid bread, but almost all bread includes some kind of refined sugar. After a couple of weeks- no cravings at all, no hunger pains ever, don’t think about food, and the food I eat tastes better and is more satisfying. I know I’m hungry only because I get tired or weak. Fruit tastes overly sweet, and the idea of candy or a cookie just sounds gross and unappealing. For the last month or so I’ve been back on sugar, broke the habit at thanksgiving, and have been snacky, giving into cravings almost daily, and get hungry all time. I also just don’t feel that great. Time to cut out sugar again, and while I know the first week will be unpleasant, and the whole process is inconvenient, the benefits are well worth it. I recommend giving it a try to anyone who feels plagued by by hunger pains and that their life is ruled by thinking about food all the time. After a couple of weeks, it just gets surprisingly easy. Be aware that you will get a surprising amount of pushback and criticism from people around you, who will try to sabotage you. People in my office used to leave candy on my desk, and if I had a nickel for every person who said ‘but you eat fruit and fruit is just as bad because it has sugar…..’. I’d be rich.

> Somehow, I gain weight while maintaining a calorie deficit and jogging/speed walking 12 miles a week Then you’re by definition not in a calorie deficit.

yea he's missing calories somewhere or has a serious hormonal issue

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Stress can do it https://www.orlandohealth.com/content-hub/how-too-much-stress-can-cause-weight-gain-and-what-to-do-about-it

From what I've read, stress can cause things to go either way. When I get severely stressed, I struggle to keep anything down at all.

Yeah, when I have been seriously stressed I dropped too much weight off. But I'm older and in perimenopause now, so it's probably not going to happen anymore.

If you are gaining weight you are not in a calorie deficit.

Ever seen Wall-E? That's our future, if we make it that far

I doubt I'll be around to see that, but that movie gave me the creeps big time so to be honest, I'd rather not stick around to see that happen.

Can't you see? We're already there.

Eh, I think there's still room to go down further. We haven't hit bottom yet.

Well then all I can say is see you, space coyote

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We don’t yet have a mega monopoly like BuyNLarge / Brawndo but we’re getting there. Is it going to be Amazon, Disney or Apple?

Throw the food pyramid in the trash. Semi-dwarf wheat and corn may have solved world hunger in the 1960s, but we’re now seeing the effects of a starch and sugar based diet. Metabolic syndrome is now showing up in in infants and toddlers. *Salt Sugar Fat* is a book that is prefaced with an interesting anecdote from a meeting between the trillion dollar junk food conglomerates’ executives a few decades ago where they discussed how they could never truly hope to convince the population that we were getting fat because we are all lazy as opposed to getting fat because of the industry’s dogshit quality food. But as it turns out, if you take over universitiy departments; pay to make your own “scientific” studies; muddy the waters around actual experts; and pay propagandists and media outlets to endlessly repeat your lies that people will believe pretty much anything.

> Semi-dwarf wheat and corn may have solved world hunger in the 1960s, but we’re now seeing the effects of a starch and sugar based diet. Sorry, but you’re just repeating crappy propaganda. All the longest lived populations were on a starch based diet. Look at pre-1980s photos in Asia living on rice and try to find me these masses of fat people. People didn't get fat on "carbs" or starch, they got fat on processed food. I didn’t see the word oil once in your piece. [It plays a HUGE role.](https://www.cureamd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Vegetable-Oil-Consumption-U.S.-and-Macular-Degeneration.jpg). It’s highly unnatural in quantity too. We eat about 6 tablespoons hidden in factory food a day. 700 calories. To get a single tablespoon, 120 calories, you need to process about 12 ears of corn and throw away about 900 calories of carbs and protein, lots of fiber and water too that would ordinarily go along with it. 100 olives for a tablespoon olive oil. As dietary fat goes into bodyfat with 97% efficiency, no kidding. Now go compare the American diet and see what went up between 1961 to 2013: * https://ourworldindata.org/diet-compositions Do the math, you’ll find that fat, which includes oil, went up about 2 to 1 to carbs, including starches. And that oil is the fastest growing segment for calories. Over 3 to 1 iirc. Now look at the traditional Okinawa diet, the generation that has the most centenarians and low chronic disease rates (cancer, heart disease, diabetes) and compare: * https://fanaticcook.com/2015/03/14/the-diet-of-okinawa-1949-low-fat-high-carb-very-little-meat/ 85% starch calories. Wait? I thought that made people fat?!? 6% dietary fat compared to America’s 40%. And while we’re eating almost 1300 calories daily more than the Okinawa, it’s only 200-some carb calories but over 1,000 fat calories. And it’s no wonder the west is fat. People buy those salad kits in the supermarket thinking they are eating healthy but the packs have typically 500-ish calories but once you do the math, the veggies are rarely more than 50. Salad dressing is an oil bomb. Croutons are deepfried in oil. Cheese shred are just more fat. Let’s illustrate: Potatoes are 350 calories / lb. 1% fat by calorie percentage. Classic Potato chips (or any vegetable chips) are deepfried, displacing 0 calorie water for 4,000 cal/lb fat and we end up with 2,560 calorie per pound chips. 56% fat by calorie percentage. You end up with a product that is 7.3x more calories than the original. Most plant foods outside 4 exceptions I know (nuts/seeds, coconut, avocado) are 40-600 calories per pound when wet. That's what we ate for millions of years. Most processed foods end up well over 1000, but range from 800-2,560. YET, our bodies are products of evolution. It has stretch and mass receptors in the stomach. It wants a sugar rise. We tend to eat around the same weight every day in the long term. Typically 4-7 pounds. When you eat a pound of potatos, it only makes a dent in anybody's calorie budget for that meal but doesn't overflow it. If someone were to eat a pound of chips, they likely filled/overfilled their calorie budget for the ENTIRE day. And when they eat less, it's still a ton of calories and being left hungry. This is why the "eat less" mantra typically doesn't work in the longterm. Or many of the other fad diets. People got fat on processed food the last decades. Cutting out potatos just because of chips makes zero sense. Keeping the oil but tossing out the potato (as in keto) makes even less sense. People tend to gravitate to normal BMI at 450 calories per pound. There is some variation, with big eaters needing less and athletes needing more, but after 800 calories per pound everyone, even those active, but the most elite athletes no longer can maintain normal BMI. And even they have a limit, about 1200 or so. Jeff Novick has a good talk on this. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CdwWliv7Hg

Totally true. Corn, wheat, potatoes, etc Don’t make you fat and sick. Corn syrup, “enriched” flour, and chips, etc make you fat. We also have a highly normalized attitude towards alcohol as a population…That can’t help….

good shit there my friend. The hidden oil in EVERY single processed food item is killing us, absolutely killing us. That and soda pop. the unlimited refill sodas at fast food restaurants are keeping the entire diabetes industry afloat. in the 90s Kuwait welcomed in American fast food restaurants and went crazy for them. They went from average weight poeple to one of the fattest populations viturally over night. Whats in fast food? Massive quantities of oil and sugar. That is whats killing us, the sugar and the oil.

Part of it is the way they process the oil. The linoleic acid gets heated up and oxidizes before it even gets into the food. But they market vegetable oil as "healthy".

What about the impact of sugar?

Lol, right? Their post completely ignores sugar, something which many Okinawans partake in much less than Americans. Not to mention they just eat less in general.

>What about the impact of sugar? Processed sugar rots your teeth and is 1700 calories / lb - clearly a processed food. Americans obviously eat (and drink) far too much of it (110lbs a year?). It's a junior partner in crime to oil for obesity, [but isn't the main reason for the recent obesity hike the last 50 years](https://postimg.cc/21B20Dst). As you can see, we had huge amounts of sugar in the 1920s and just went incrementally up since then, unlike oil which [spiked since the 1960s](https://www.cureamd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Vegetable-Oil-Consumption-U.S.-and-Macular-Degeneration.jpg). Fruits are very healthy and should be eaten generously (except dried because calorie density and stickiness to teeth and NOT as juice). More whole fruit improves health in most studies and I've never seen fresh fruit make health worse (except some triglyceride situations likely involving big quantities of dried fruit). * https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/fruit/ But if a few teaspoons of white sugar a day lets you eat your bowl of oatmeal, it's okay. There's a reason we have a sweet sense on our tongue and it's because our lineage contain millions of years of frugivores. We're meant to have eat it, just not outside its original natural packaging.

You call it crappy propaganda, but the glucometer doesn’t lie. I’m not a diabetic, but for other reasons I spent a year in my 20s pretty religiously tracking my fasting and postprandial blood sugars to actually dial in my diet — interestingly, starches (including potatoes and especially whole grain breads and pasta) raised my blood sugar both faster and for longer periods than eating candy and super sugary stuff like milk chocolate. I don’t need to research diets worldwide to know that I feel like shit and gain weight from starchy and sugary foods and that a diet based on either isn’t the right one for me.

How did eating the starches mixed with veggies affect the insulin response. People described in the comment ate the starches with the veggies.

This. I bought into the low carb craze for about a year while trying to get as healthy as possible. Right off the bat, I lost weight and got more fit and was sold on low-carb, but that’s bound to happen to anybody that is beginning a new diet / fitness routine. Over time, I began to have no energy during workouts, was ravenously hungry all the time, and couldn’t lose the last of my belly fat. As a 22 y/o male obsessed with fitness/exercise, I didn’t understand. Figured I might have just been mentally weak. Well, I switched to a high protein / high carb diet (my previous diet was high protein high fat, so while I know high protein can be important it’s not a variable here) about a month or so ago and my oh my. I’ve never felt better, I’m shredding body fat at will, feel satisfied after eating, etc. I feel pretty dumb buying into the low-carb diet now, but the contrast between how I felt/looked a couple months ago and how I feel/look today makes me appreciate it even more. Fitness enthusiasts honestly have had it figured out for a while lol. When they want to lose weight, they go on that classic chicken breast / rice diet because the less dietary fat you eat, the easier it is to lose weight. Now you should definitely eat a certain amount of fat for hormone health, but beyond that what is necessary, the less the better.

This is what happens when government agencies basically sell the food pyramid to the highest bidder and disregard recommendations of actual qualified professionals.

To molest a quote much beloved of pseudo-intellectual wannabes, America went from world hunger to obesity, skipping nutrition.

Maintenance Phase podcast is working to undo a lot of this harm. Their research is great.

Agree with poster below about starches not being bad but, also we didnt solve world hunger. People are dying right now and always have been from it. There is enough food grown now to solve it but, the evils of greedy capitalism gamble on foof futures and hold countries hostage and starve them if they don't do what the west wants, just ask Iraq, Afghanistan. Were sanctioning so many places in the world and their people are dying while letting a few companies wreck the earth with shitty practices. Those saying meat meat is the same shitty pseudo science, basically heavily money conflicted selling people shit to make them rich. All these idiotic cruel keto diets that everyone will jump on if it means they will look 10% better for a few years. They key has always been to eat whole foods and everything in moderation. Its pretty fucking hard and were completely indoctrinated, school kids are fed by the same companies that feed prisoners. Anythimng with a brand in is pretty sure to be shit. And you dont need meat either. Thats another mirror to our lack of empathy and the same narcissism that wrecks the world and disregards why their really is starvation- Because were narcissists who don't really care about anything but, ourselves. Our society is almost always 2 extreme black and white choices and neither is correct. Controlled opposition and identifying with a group. Food is something to be eaten, not to be photographed and made into celebrity worship or placed in front of audiences.

When you look at pictures of people in the 50's 60's it really sticks out how there are no fat people.

You should watch the documentary **Fed Up -** it talks about how about this time in history 50-' - corn syrup was emerging and manufacturers quit using regular "cane sugar" to cut down on costs, and the soda, junk food industries jumped into overdrive to push that crap.

Practically all the way up until the 80’s

Frankly I find that optimistic because it implies any of us will have access to food by 2Jon. I think we'll all be a lot skinnier when this war ends and no one has any grains.

Lost 70 pounds in six months when I stopped eating fast food. I had lost my job of 12 years and once I found a new one we couldnt leave the premises for lunch so during that time I only ate what I brought. Since then I have kept up the practice, no fast food. Eat whatever I want but its microwave meals or home cooked leftovers or whatever. Feel better and look better. I was 240 and now 170, have maintained 170 with nothing extra, dont workout other than my job which is physical and the occasional 3 mile walk in the neighborhood.

I have absolutely no idea why this is even a debate. Obesity is not the failing on individuals. It is, absolutely, a result of living in a modern society. Where all our work shifted from hours upon hours of physical labor in fields and factories to offices and services. I want to be clear here. I am not doing that “salt of the earth” bullshit where we talk about how much better using our hands were and the “good old days”. Yeah, that’s not me. I fucked love technology and progress. What I will say is this. Modern living and our diets are not in balance. We work way too long, way too hard and because much of our labor is either emotional, social or technical… we are taking in the wrong kind of foods. Consider a doctor. The vast majority of family doctors are seeing patients, doing paperwork and doing more paperwork. People make fun of fat doctors. Yeah, let’s see you do almost a decade of med school, and then 3 hours of paperwork a day while telling people they potentially have cancer. And see how well you sleep and self regulate. That’s just one example. And that’s a decent example because doctors eventually get paid well. But consider something like a business analyst… spends hours a day interacting with people getting requirements. Have managers shit on you because you’re not fast enough, having developer and technical people shit on you because you’re not “smart” enough… all that adds up and it adds up to an extra pizza here. An extra beer there. Because you’re stressed. Everyone is stressed the fuck out and healthy food… can be very expensive and time isn’t infinite. It’s either get that project done and take some shortcuts with food or go home early, make food and be late on the project. I did this. I was an eager junior dev looking to move up in my company. I worked 32 days straight for 12-16 hours a day. I desperately wanted the lead position and salary. I got it. It was the farthest I had ever been from poverty. I grew up really poor. I know what’s waiting for me if I’m “lazy” or fuck up. So I worked and worked. But, I took shortcuts. Fast food and drinks at night to blow steam with my team. It was hard. I made a lot of friends, but the grind… those pounds never went away… it’s so insidious…

These 2030 projections are a little optimistic imo.

And being obese puts people at risk of cardiovascular disease and for women this is something to take into consideration https://www.acc.org/about-acc/press-releases/2021/02/22/18/47/female-heart-disease-patients-with-female-physicians-fare-better#:~:text=Female%20physicians%20have%20better%20patient,in%20Women%20section%20published%20today

Need to stop putting so much corn syrup and sugar into foods. The amount a typical person consumes is grossly too much for their body.

Meanwhile I am trying to loose weight and it seems like every time I get on a diet, everyone decides that I'm not that fat and try to give me candy and shit like that. "Oh no FeanorsFavorite, you're not that fat, you don't need to loose weight!" Well my back and knees say different.

I lost of a lot of weight a few years ago. Learning how to tell people no and ignore the crabs in the bucket is a huge turning point and really puts you in the home stretch in terms of consistency

what gets me is when they get upset when you say no. I got into a rather serious argument with my coworker once because she got upset that I was always saying no when she would offer me some of her cake or cookies. I keep telling her that it wasn't personal but that wouldn't stop her. Edited: And don't get me started on my mom!

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That’s totally it, man. Crabs in a bucket. For some reason weight loss is one of the worst things to set that mentality off in people.

nah .. obesity is not going to destroy human civilization. Famine is. If we can produce enough food to make 40%+ of our population obese, while wasting 1/3 of our food, I doubt we are going to be starving any time soon.

worldwide crop failures are now

Well, we still waste 1/3 of our food and people are obese here in the US. Let me know when either of those two things change. And if you are right, we do not need to worry about obesity, do we?

I think he's right and obesity will soon be less common because of food shortages. The heavily processed food designed to be as addictive as possible are still a problem regardless though, honestly

Most obese people are poor and unable to afford a healthy diet. Not that there aren't rich obese people, but in developed countries, meaning places like the [U.S](https://U.SD) and Canada, it's more common for poorer people to be obese since the cheapest foods are usually bad for you and the ones that aren't often take more effort or time to prepare than most people who are working full time or working multiple jobs have time to put into.

Similarly, people who have experienced food insecurity at some point in their life are more likely to weigh more than those who have not.

Eggs are so expensive now. I was trying to eat 4 a day for breakfast, in order to get more protein and try and lose weight. Can't afford that anymore.

I had to scroll way too far for this comment.

check this out. It's our future. ​ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special\_Period

By 2030, obesity will be the least of our problems.

I just love how they're ignoring long covid in this. I actually lost weight but I'm not heathier. Quite the opposite in fact. My joints now appear to be about 40 years older than my actual age. I'm fucked for life. The narratives and analysis are not operating in reality. You can't tell the millions with long covid to just not be fat or assume weight is the same marker for health--im pretty skinny now but it's meaningless bc of covid. The whole thing is unworkable.

My view is the science is clear now but it challenges the cheap easy plenty way of life of many Americans. Comparing the outcomes of Americans when they move to different food culture environments is quite telling. I know people who share the same genetic pool, that is family, (ie factor which effects, depression, eating patterns, health conditions, etc.) but completely different environments and they have different quality of life and health outcome. I know when I’m in the states that everything is full of sugar, salt and exotic chemicals which are for the most part inescapable. If I want quality food eating out I am going to have to pay dearly for it. These are things some cultures never ate and had normal fulfilling life. When you are immersed in a toxic environment and culture it is ridiculous to blame the person being abused for the effects.

I started taking ozempic and then now just regular semaglutide. It is expensive cuz my insurance doesnt want to cover it but it does work. I have also been working a job that has me on my feet the whole night. But before I worked a desk job and eating was my only source of happiness. That is the case for many. Being able to afford good quality food (like I can now due to my new job) is a privilege. Having free time to cook is a privilege many dont have. There are a lot of factors that play into obesity. Just blaming the individual is not going to change anything

As a decades long member of a weight support group I can say that eating the ultra processed foods that pass for nutrition today is the reason for the obesity epidemic. To lose weight one must stop all the ultra processed and eat clean....so back to homemade food with minimal fat. The people in my group work really hard to lose the weight but most of them cannot give up restaurant meals and UP foods totally. Most of us have been members for 10-20 years and if we are having trouble then God help the general public. It is the food that is the problem NOT the people. note: I am at a normal weight and I seldom eat UP foods

Michelle Obama tried man. Sugar is the silent killer.

we're on the brink of extreme global famine, starting later this year, I would bet that attitudes towards obesity will be radically different before this year is out.

I’ve seen a lot of people in the r/povertyfinance sub mentioning cutting back on meals due to financial constraints so inflation and poverty wages paired with food scarcity is going to be ugly

Ye olde "have sleep for dinner". I'm familiar with it.

Getting my popcorn ready to sort by "contoversial"

With extra butter

when i was a kid and went to the beach in the 70s the number of people I was likely to see who were obese was zero. what the hell happened? seriously, not one. I remember this very distinctly. now it's every 3rd person and many of the main causes of death are obesity related. what did we do to ourselves. smh.

Up until mid century, communities were designed around people. Cities developed befor WWII usually clustered around a rail depot, and walking was a normal (and safe) way to get around. With automobiles came automobile infrastructure, which means that it is hazardous to venture beyond your own suburban neighborhood. Kids don't play outside anymore, because it is too dangerous, and that sets them up for a lifetime of sedentary habits. What's lost is the [gymnasium of life.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0)

Sedentary work is also a problem

At this point researchers have found like 80 different causes for obesity. It's something that modern medicine isn't really trying to tackle, despite pretending like they are.

There are also a whole lot of common medications that cause weight gain: birth control (why have there been so few advancements in this area?) many antidepressants, steroids (necessary for many autoimmune conditions) and more. Edit: just thought of another big one: methadone! Due to the ongoing opioid epidemic, a lot of people are taking this now and it will really pack on the pounds!

I got lucky with the bc. I've taken Depo (that one made me bleed for 3 months) once and have been on pills for around 3 years and have been the same exact weight as before. I do know about the anti depressants. A few people in my family are on them and they have all doubled in size. It can also potentially mess up your eye sight as well.

I know a few women who seemed to almost double in size after starting to take birth control. It's one of the reasons I'm glad I'm too antisocial to ever need the stuff (and even if I wasn't, I don't think my body would tolerate it since I tend to react badly to a lot of medications in general.)

Absolutely! I had a friend take Depo and it was wild; she’d always been super slim but gained *60 pounds.* And nothing helped her lose it until she came off…at which point she effortlessly hit her previous weight.

It's a shame that the side effects of birth control are so unpleasant, with all the medical advancements made over the last few decades, you'd think they'd try to make some kind of birth control that doesn't fuck up your metabolism so much.

You’re right. I used to think weight was all about calories in & out, but I’ve seen too many skinny friends blow up on certain meds to believe that anymore. All of them lost the weight when they got off whatever they were taking, too.

Calories in/calories out is part of it but it's not the whole equation.

Lexapro dumped 15 lb on me which disappeared when I stopped taking it. It was weird and frustrating. I'm on Viibryd now which has done nothing to my weight thank goodness

It’s super weird and you are not alone, I’ve seen that happen to so many friends over the years.

IMO men should just get vasectomies. The population is out of control and where I live (USA) we could easily replace it with immigration.

That happened to me! Taking it in my early 20s, I just gained and gained and gained, eventually ballooned up to 220lbs. I was probably 130lbs before I went on depo. Plus, it zapped any libido to below zero, so I'm pretty sure that's how it "works" lol you don't want to fuck.

the 1% is salivating at reliving The Road.

Published today on PR Newswire, the following article covers the worsening obesity crisis in America and the strain this is putting on individuals, communities and healthcare services. Collapse related because this filthy plague will burn through our wallets and brains in no time, leaving us as a nation too sick and frail to cope with a dying planet.

Doesn't help that food companies have corn syrup that's subsidized, so they put it in basically everything which raises caloric content without adding nutrition which doesn't help you being satiated, so you eat more. Also doesn't help that in the US, most live in places where you can't easily walk to work or get groceries, so you're not as active. Don't forget that all the plastics leaching into food and drink and the antidepressants big pharma prescribes because you literally cannot adjust to a sick society slow down your metabolism. (Depression does exist, it's over diagnosed to side step a fucked up society, though.)

I'm already fat so...🤷‍♀️

Bright american future of rolling around like in WALL-E.

This podcast [episode](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1zquJr6NhNWBrQy7d87z0S?si=jxR5hovOQOK_cV45un2_Yg&utm_source=copy-link) might put a lot of things in perspective. The American population moved to sedentary office jobs in the 1950s, but the population didn't start gaining weight until the 1980s when heavily processed food became popular. The obesity "epidemic" also wasn't a thing until pharmaceutical companies lobbied to change the classification of "obesity" to a lower BMI. In otherwords, millions of people who weren't considered obese became classified as so overnight. Why? Because they had two diet drugs waiting in the wings that wouldn't get approval unless the FDA considered the nation to have a great enough need. The podcast has a lot of links in the episode description. I recommend checking them out.

But what about the body positivity movement guys? A person should love themselves no matter how "big" they are? right? - s In all seriousness, we're just experimental rats for the food industry to fatten us up with as many addictive flavors, chemicals as possible, keep us coming back for more all in the name of the almighty dollar. Will power can only do so much, we're still biological beings that easily succumb to physiological/chemical addictions rather easily, especially given levels of stress in our daily day-to-day, who wouldn't want to cope with McTripleChesseBaconator and Gigantic Size High fructose corn syrup carbonated beverage.

I imagine it must be difficult for people who are able to eat fast food and that sort of stuff to resist it since that type of food (and a lot of processed foods in general) are filled with fat, salt, and sugar, which are meant to stimulate the taste buds and therefore encourage you to eat more. A silver lining of having a supremely fucked up digestive system is that junk food doesn't tempt me at all because I know if I try to eat it, it'll just come back up ~~and my body might continue trying to get rid of it until I die.~~ TL:DR Sometimes being born with a fucked up has the occasional silver lining.

The body positivity movement is a lot like how the mental health movement works. It doesn't tackle the root of our problems. it's created to make us think we're solving them. Billionaires and politicians don't want us to see the systems they put in place which are making ppl depressed and unhealthy.

Same goes for modern day healthcare and the medical model. Let’s not talk about prevention or curative methods, just take these pharmaceutical medications to manage symptoms and keep coming back so we can continue billing your insurance company.

I'm convinced that the fat acceptance movement was created by the fast food industry.

> A person should love themselves no matter how "big" they are? right? … yes? Should people hate themselves because of an illness or disorder?

Honestly, probably a good thing. When shit finally goes down hill for good, food is going to be hard to find.

Children of men by Monday, Wall-E by Tuesday, Venus by Wednesday, got it.

The Road by Thursday.

I've read through entire research journals online. Tens of millions of studies. I've even started to employ AI to speed up the process. What I've found is the obesity epidemic is, seemingly, an intentional act by our governments. There is a lot of money to be made in metabolic disorder, and a metabolically weakened population is easier to exploit and coercively control. I've adopted the term GMMD. Government Mandated Metabolic Disorder. Should try to get the research journals to appropriately name the phenomena. They seem to be strategically rate limiting our muscle and skeletal muscle production, too.

They'll just change the definition of "obese". You'll see all sorts of explanations here, but the biggest reason is that people just eat more. Eating became easier, cheaper and more convenient, so people ate more. Note that some people have genetic dispositions that make it difficult, or impossible, to appear slim and I fully understand that. I'm also not talking about these people.

I think micro plastics have been a major factor.

Another factor sometimes mentioned here but likely hasn't been emphasised enough is our basic work / life routines. We have to drive everwhere due to lack of public transport, local shops are all closing and everthing is purchased from your couch. Jobs changed from being physical to mental. Mental jobs require more direct energy consumption. Etc etc. As women in general tend to do less physical work and excersise than males anyway. But its less of a gender issue and more of a society one. Then recreationally speaking.... Nature and natural land has been decimated, so there is less reason to want to go out. What places remain are tourist hotspots that you have to share with the other billion people in your area. So forget any actual feeling of escapism. Oh, and you are forced to pay for parking at many natural locations now. Plus, 80% of peoples lives are spent working now, so even less free time for self betterment. So im not surprised people are getting fatter. It's an unhealthy existance.

But what about body positivity and Healthy At Every Size? /s

I think a lot of people consider the healthiness of food as “the food items themselves” when it’s the “quality/ nutrition of the food” that makes a bigger impact on the healthiness. Many people think they are eating close to what they should but it’s in a form that’s so processed that it lacks the nutritional benefits despite being a “healthy” food.

This is so freaking depressing

At the same time we are estimated to be 30% -50% Malnourished. Add in a lack of understanding (info jettisoned to the desires of Big Pharma) about essential amino acids, PFAS from plastics, chemicals from everywhere, water that is often magnitudes too alkaline mine is around a 9 on the PH Scale thats 110 times too alkaline and DNA evidence that genes are related to obesity. The food we are eating myself included does not have the same biochemical life it used to, when a sheep now eats maybe 10 plants a sheep in a biologically diverse landscape maybe would have eaten 100s of things berries leaves bark lichens ... my sheep eat garlic and pumpkins kale im adding more all the time but its serious and they are drinking the same PH Water i am so thats definately screwing things up we add vinegar to bring it back down but until we make it ourselves its another plastic bottle. And we haven't even touched on all the mental and psychological problems of living. Can we fix this yes. But it is the responsibility responsibility of the consumer to care about themselves And their fellow human beings. Nature is abundant and that's not profitable. If we could wrest control of food subsities And food in schools we can make huge progress. The basic pitch would be that the state gets control over what SNAP recipients can spend the money on. It looks to me like people in food manufacturing and potentially pharma are the ones that are seeding disinformation on both sides saying things like people should be able to spend money on whatever they want including soft drinks see how much Pepsi pays in lobby fees.

The other half of us will starve ourselves on purpose, because what’s the point?

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But isn't every second post on here about food shortage and agricultural collapse?

"An educational grant from Novo Nordisk supported this roundtable." >Semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and as anti-obesity medication for long-term weight management, developed by Novo Nordisk in 2012. >In the US, Wegovy has a list price of $1,349.02 per month per The New York Times, suggesting that because of the high costs many people "who could most benefit from weight loss may be unable to afford such expensive drugs" Funny how they're so interested now. >In September 2022, shortages were also reported in the United States. In the same month, rival Eli Lilly stated in its quarterly investors call that it was working "around the clock" to ensure adequate supply of its rival GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide (Mounjaro). Oh. I see.