4 ms·

Carbohydrates cause obesity. Wasn't until the change in the food pyramid for more bread/pasta/rice/etc. that obesity started being a problem.

• otterley 5y ago
  It's hard to square this hypothesis with the fact that much of the world (Asia, Africa, etc.) lives on carbohydrates such as rice, and that meat and other dense proteins are too expensive for many people to afford - yet, those people tend not to be overweight.
  • toomuchtodo 5y ago
    How much high fructose corn syrup do they consume?
    • techbio 5y ago
      The answer is "carbs". Let's not quibble with the details. EDIT: /s
      • toomuchtodo 5y ago
        Based on data around obesity, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Those who argue “calories in, calories out” have been doing everyone a great disservice when it turns out gut biome and what you’re eating plays a material role in the human energy balance.
        • techbio 5y ago
          I think calorie IO is a rule of thumb, and a reasonable summary though obviously incomplete. Where it is used as an argument against more sophisticated understanding of metabolism, it would be wrong. Sweet tastes change a number of digestive processes, as does severe calorie restrictions.
    • tonyedgecombe 5y ago
      In the UK, consumption of high fructose corn syrup is negligible (0.38kg per person per year), whereas in the US it’s 65 times higher (24.78kg per person per year). Yet we still have an obesity problem.
  • dragonwriter 5y ago
    > It's hard to square this hypothesis with the fact that much of the world (Asia, Africa, etc.) lives on carbohydrates such as rice Not really, though it needs expanded: Calorie surplus + high carb diet leads (via contributing to or exacerbating various metabolic conditions) more and harder to resolve obesity than the same calorie surplus with other macronutrient composition.
    • josephcsible 5y ago
      > Calorie surplus + high carb diet leads (via contributing to or exacerbating various metabolic conditions) more and harder to resolve obesity than the same calorie surplus with other macronutrient composition. No it doesn't. High carb diets only make obesity more likely because they make it more likely that you'll have a calorie surplus.
• mmarq 5y ago
  Countries where people eat bread, pasta and rice on a daily basis have lower obesity rates than the US, so I think it's more likely a problem with lack of food culture. After 15 years I'm still surprised by British adults talking about eating their "5 a day" like an Italian 6 year old would. My experience with American tourists, tells me that the situation there is even worse.