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Why were people before the 1950s almost completely unaware of calorie counts but almost all lean?

by sbenitoj 8y ago

jonknee 8y ago
They ate fewer calories, but still had lots of starch.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
They did a lot more physical labor and food was much more expensive, for starters.
- sbenitoj 8y ago
  That sounds true but the evidence shows otherwise. Women in the 1950s were mostly lean and did almost no exercise. Look around at the people who are the most physically active today (day laborers/construction workers). They’re active all day, and yet most are still overweight. It’s not about activity, it’s about consuming quality food to fix your hormone levels.
  - AstralStorm 8y ago
    Please provide evidence that hormonal balance or other endocrine mess is involved. I'm quite interested in such. I think it is combination of both increased calorie intake and somewhat reduced physical work thus caloric demand - mostly sitting (in car, at work) instead of walking or standing. Having food be more palatable and caloric plays into this too but seems secondary.
    - sbenitoj 8y ago
      There is absolutely nuance to it, I’m certainly not a proponent of a sedentary lifestyle or not working out. But if people just start exercising without also switching to whole foods, they will never out-exercise their diet — in fact many people end up losing muscle (because they’re running a lot and not eating enough protein), which slows down your metabolism even further. I great book for you to checkout is Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf — it talks about how different foods affect insulin differently while also including the nuance of differences between people, as well as a way to test your personal response to certain foods to determine your optimal macronutrient intake.
      - AstralStorm 8y ago
        I suspect insulin is only a small part of the story in obesity and other hormones are more important, esp. growth hormone family (e.g. ghrelin) and steroids - in starting the cascade that leads to metabolic syndrome. We do not know nearly enough and any book is liable to be outdated by at least 10 to 20 years and trying to sell something. Otherwise diabetics with insulin replacement wouldn't go fat - but instead even controlled type 2 diabetes is highly linked to obesity. (Both ways!) Likewise type 1 diabetics are somewhat more likely to be obese despite tight control on insulin levels. Here's a very interesting but not quite in depth study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4159079/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4159079/
        sbenitoj 8y ago
        This book is cutting edge science, with ample references to recent studies. It came out last year and is written by someone who has personally helped hundreds of thousands (if not millions of people) to lose weight and keep it off long term, I highly encourage you to read it before making judgments about the motives of the author.
        AstralStorm 8y ago
        This means it is only 5 years out of date then? Unless it is one of those scalping Springer research books there is really no way for it to match latest research... And just do you know, most books are made to sell and this one does not strike me as a technical (enough) one. Though it is well written (based on the preview), I would not trust the conclusions. It really tries to sell a paleo diet which is an instant red flag because we do not have good evidence for efficacy of any diet, even less so for so-called paleo. Nutrition science is finally starting to move fast beyond preconceptions hopefully.
        sbenitoj 8y ago
        This is simply not true, there is ample evidence for Paleo diets, read the book and it references the studies. What is your theory for why the entire western world is suddenly obese? Why were people not obese even 70 years ago?
millstone 8y ago
People today eat more calories, because technological advances have made food more accessible and convenient.
dmoy 8y ago
Cus you had to be a lot richer to have access to shit tons of calories. The meme of the rich fat person goes way back in time; it's only very recently that food is so cheap and calorically dense.

Why were people before the 1950s almost completely unaware of calorie counts but almost all lean?

jonknee 8y ago

They ate fewer calories, but still had lots of starch.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

They did a lot more physical labor and food was much more expensive, for starters.

sbenitoj 8y ago
That sounds true but the evidence shows otherwise. Women in the 1950s were mostly lean and did almost no exercise. Look around at the people who are the most physically active today (day laborers/construction workers). They’re active all day, and yet most are still overweight. It’s not about activity, it’s about consuming quality food to fix your hormone levels.
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  Please provide evidence that hormonal balance or other endocrine mess is involved. I'm quite interested in such. I think it is combination of both increased calorie intake and somewhat reduced physical work thus caloric demand - mostly sitting (in car, at work) instead of walking or standing. Having food be more palatable and caloric plays into this too but seems secondary.
  - sbenitoj 8y ago
    There is absolutely nuance to it, I’m certainly not a proponent of a sedentary lifestyle or not working out. But if people just start exercising without also switching to whole foods, they will never out-exercise their diet — in fact many people end up losing muscle (because they’re running a lot and not eating enough protein), which slows down your metabolism even further. I great book for you to checkout is Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf — it talks about how different foods affect insulin differently while also including the nuance of differences between people, as well as a way to test your personal response to certain foods to determine your optimal macronutrient intake.
    - AstralStorm 8y ago
      I suspect insulin is only a small part of the story in obesity and other hormones are more important, esp. growth hormone family (e.g. ghrelin) and steroids - in starting the cascade that leads to metabolic syndrome. We do not know nearly enough and any book is liable to be outdated by at least 10 to 20 years and trying to sell something. Otherwise diabetics with insulin replacement wouldn't go fat - but instead even controlled type 2 diabetes is highly linked to obesity. (Both ways!) Likewise type 1 diabetics are somewhat more likely to be obese despite tight control on insulin levels. Here's a very interesting but not quite in depth study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4159079/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4159079/
      - sbenitoj 8y ago
        This book is cutting edge science, with ample references to recent studies. It came out last year and is written by someone who has personally helped hundreds of thousands (if not millions of people) to lose weight and keep it off long term, I highly encourage you to read it before making judgments about the motives of the author.
        AstralStorm 8y ago
        This means it is only 5 years out of date then? Unless it is one of those scalping Springer research books there is really no way for it to match latest research... And just do you know, most books are made to sell and this one does not strike me as a technical (enough) one. Though it is well written (based on the preview), I would not trust the conclusions. It really tries to sell a paleo diet which is an instant red flag because we do not have good evidence for efficacy of any diet, even less so for so-called paleo. Nutrition science is finally starting to move fast beyond preconceptions hopefully.
        sbenitoj 8y ago
        This is simply not true, there is ample evidence for Paleo diets, read the book and it references the studies. What is your theory for why the entire western world is suddenly obese? Why were people not obese even 70 years ago?

millstone 8y ago

People today eat more calories, because technological advances have made food more accessible and convenient.

dmoy 8y ago

Cus you had to be a lot richer to have access to shit tons of calories. The meme of the rich fat person goes way back in time; it's only very recently that food is so cheap and calorically dense.