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Low carb skeptics often raise this point, but I'd like note that it can be misleading to consider a single diet variable in isolation. The Japanese smoke more t

Low carb skeptics often raise this point, but I'd like note that it can be misleading to consider a single diet variable in isolation. The Japanese smoke more than we do, and yet have less heart disease. Hence, smoking reduces the risk of heart disease.... Of course not. Asians eat more white rice, perhaps, but they also eat more fish, seaweed (in the case of the Japanese), more vegetables, walk more, eat more soy, etc... The effect of all of these variables, combined, may result in better overall health, and yet it could also be true that white rice in and of itself isn't that good for you.

carbocation 16y ago
Let me quote you out of context: "eat more ... eat more ... more ... eat more ..." I don't think they stay skinny by eating more. (I know, you mean "eat more of this good thing relative to the bad things".) But eating less on an absolute scale is probably a critical component.
potatolicious 16y ago
> "walk more" This part is huge. I moved to a new city a year and half ago and started walking everywhere. Where I used to struggle keeping the weight off, nowadays without even going out of my way to exercise, it just stays off. And now bear in mind my city is far less walkable than your average developed Asian city... I'm convinced that if America finally got rid of its car obsession, health levels will improve dramatically, and all this talk of the obesity epidemic will fizzle.
- Khroma 16y ago
  Exactly. We don't need to exercise now, so few people do. Exercise has become something to do in our spare time. We stay in our homes and are required to use cars. When I visited China, I had to walk everywhere because I didn't have a car. Unfortunately we really can't get rid of the car obsession without a huge effort. First, the suburbs take up so much space and distances living areas from the store areas. If we had a New Urbanist city, it would get people to walk. Now, you can't walk. Walking is impossible. You can't walk to a Walmart and grab fresh food every day. In China, my family would get food from the market every day. Now, we get food once a week and it's in big bags. That's because buying food is inconvenient. Second, the suburbs take up space and creates the dreaded long commute. You can't walk to work. This makes public transportation unfeasible. Everyone buys a car. It's all a big self-propelling problem. It creates its own problems, and to fix them, you have to contribute to the problem. Long distance? Get a car. A lot of cars? Build more roads. The vicious cycle continues... EDIT: Biking is possible. But does anyone do it to commute, with so many cars and such long distances? Nope. I personally witnessed this myself. I had to come home from school one day and today's roads aren't good for walkers. There's no sidewalk, so I had to walk on the grass or in the ditches. In many places (in the burbs, not in the city, the city is fine for walking), there were no walk signals. If there were, you had to walk along the road to the signal which often required adding more walking to the trip. For example, I had to cross the street from the library to a restaurant for lunch. I had to cross the middle of the road, and no one wants to do that.

carbocation 16y ago

Let me quote you out of context: "eat more ... eat more ... more ... eat more ..." I don't think they stay skinny by eating more. (I know, you mean "eat more of this good thing relative to the bad things".) But eating less on an absolute scale is probably a critical component.

potatolicious 16y ago

> "walk more" This part is huge. I moved to a new city a year and half ago and started walking everywhere. Where I used to struggle keeping the weight off, nowadays without even going out of my way to exercise, it just stays off. And now bear in mind my city is far less walkable than your average developed Asian city... I'm convinced that if America finally got rid of its car obsession, health levels will improve dramatically, and all this talk of the obesity epidemic will fizzle.

Khroma 16y ago
Exactly. We don't need to exercise now, so few people do. Exercise has become something to do in our spare time. We stay in our homes and are required to use cars. When I visited China, I had to walk everywhere because I didn't have a car. Unfortunately we really can't get rid of the car obsession without a huge effort. First, the suburbs take up so much space and distances living areas from the store areas. If we had a New Urbanist city, it would get people to walk. Now, you can't walk. Walking is impossible. You can't walk to a Walmart and grab fresh food every day. In China, my family would get food from the market every day. Now, we get food once a week and it's in big bags. That's because buying food is inconvenient. Second, the suburbs take up space and creates the dreaded long commute. You can't walk to work. This makes public transportation unfeasible. Everyone buys a car. It's all a big self-propelling problem. It creates its own problems, and to fix them, you have to contribute to the problem. Long distance? Get a car. A lot of cars? Build more roads. The vicious cycle continues... EDIT: Biking is possible. But does anyone do it to commute, with so many cars and such long distances? Nope. I personally witnessed this myself. I had to come home from school one day and today's roads aren't good for walkers. There's no sidewalk, so I had to walk on the grass or in the ditches. In many places (in the burbs, not in the city, the city is fine for walking), there were no walk signals. If there were, you had to walk along the road to the signal which often required adding more walking to the trip. For example, I had to cross the street from the library to a restaurant for lunch. I had to cross the middle of the road, and no one wants to do that.