5 ms·
Definitely. I don't understand why you're getting down-voted without actual refutals. I guess it generates some internal/psychological discomfort, but I expecte
by glastra 8y ago
Definitely. I don't understand why you're getting down-voted without actual refutals. I guess it generates some internal/psychological discomfort, but I expected better of HN readers.
Indeed, the only animals suffering from obesity and modern civilisation diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and other degenerative or systemic diseases) are humans and those animals of other species unfortunate enough to be fed by humans.
Diet composition is obviously to blame, but not just carbohydrates (be them complex or simple, refined or "natural"). Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (and especially their ratio to omega-3's) in the diet lead to inflammatory responses throughout the body, which can, and do, wreak havoc on health.
If you look at trends in modern nutrition, carbohydrate and omega-6 consumption are at their highest and have sky-rocketed in the past 60-70 years, as have rates of prevalence for various diseases. Of course, correlation is not causation, but many studies are coming out in the recent years showing the mechanisms through which all of this takes place.
- gnulinux 8y agoThis might be true but is very surprising (since Omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids are found poultry, eggs, nuts etc... which I thought to be rather "healthy" in general) I found this [1] abstract which supports your point. Is there more evidence? Also what's the relation between inflammation and obesity? [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29610056 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29610056
- glastra 8y agoThe amount of omega-6 PUFAs in eggs is almost negligible compared to MUFAs and SFAs [1, table 1]. Assuming that a single egg yolk is around 20 grams, that's less than 1 gram of omega-6 per egg. One would have to eat an absurd amount of eggs daily (think >50) for it to matter. Some nuts and seeds do contain high amounts of omega-6. Sunflower seeds and peanuts especially. That is why non-high-oleic sunflower oil is so bad for health. Almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias and others have much better fatty acid profiles. In general, all industrially extracted vegetable oils are rich in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. Replacing them with animal fats or cold-pressed vegetable oils (olive, avocado or coconut, all of them relatively low in omega-6) is a very easy dietary intervention that should have a profound effect on health, similar to cutting sugars. Here is a non-comprehensive list of studies and articles if you want to dig a bit deeper: - https://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000032 https://openheart.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000032 - https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2012/539426/ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2012/539426/ - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1098882316300363 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S10988... - https://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt/5/2/e000898.full.pdf https://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt/5/2/e000898.full.p... - https://breaknutrition.com/omega-6-fatty-acids-alternative-hypothesis-diseases-civilization/ https://breaknutrition.com/omega-6-fatty-acids-alternative-h... - https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpheart.00480.2004 https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpheart.00480.20... (especially interesting as it points to a possible synergy of omega-6 fatty acids and carbohydrates) I hope that helps. [1]: https://academic.oup.com/ps/article-pdf/79/8/1168/8203403/poultrysci79-1168.pdf https://academic.oup.com/ps/article-pdf/79/8/1168/8203403/po...
- gnulinux 8y agoUh this sucks peanut is my favorite thing in the world :( Thanks I'll check those links.