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Of course sugar doesn’t magically make one fat. The problem is that the body doesn’t register how many calories it’s eaten with sugar (and “processed” food in g

Of course sugar doesn’t magically make one fat. The problem is that the body doesn’t register how many calories it’s eaten with sugar (and “processed” food in general), and so you can’t rely on that natural mechanism to know how much to eat. I think it’s crazy that the default outcome in our current modern environment if you follow your natural instincts is obesity. Clearly we need some regulation around how processed food must produce satiety and not just flavor, the current setup is not working.

JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago
It's also crazy addictive. People don't think it be a drug, but it do.
SoftTalker 3y ago
It's not just that sugar doesn't satiate hunger, the body actually craves it. In pre-agricultural times, calories were scarce and sugar (glucose or fructose) was an easy way to get a lot of calories quickly. The palate evolved to favor things like honey, fruit, berries, and other sources of sugar. The few thousand years since food has not been univerally scarce have not changed that.
loeg 3y ago
> I think it’s crazy that the default outcome in our current modern environment if you follow your natural instincts is obesity. Clearly we need some regulation around how processed food must produce satiety and not just flavor, the current setup is not working. I kind of agree, but people are irrationally attached to unhealthy, high caloric-density foods. If you tried to regulate away or even just tax ice cream, soda, and chips, people would riot in the streets. Regulating unhealthy food is extremely unpopular.
- acuozzo 3y ago
  Regulation wouldn't fix the underlying problem anyway. Plenty of food addicted persons get obese from eating gargantuan amounts of "normal" food. When I used to be obese, my weakness was sushi rice. Getting my binge-eating "high" required only a high quantity of food. Hell, I would eat a lot of Nori if I were desperate enough. Go to a Puerto Rican cookout in NYC and look at what the heavier persons are eating. They're not waiting until dessert time to start digging in. They're eating plate after plate of Arroz con Pollo.
- pixl97 3y ago
  >but people are irrationally attached to unhealthy I'd disagree, we are rationally attracted to these things because the state of pretty much all animal life has been boom/bust cycles of food. That's why our bodies get fat in the first place. A reserve for when the lean times come. Humans, bees, and ants are some of the few creatures that break this cycle well.
  - loeg 3y ago
    You're ascribing motivation and agency to evolutionary pressures. I'm talking about individual behavior. Evolution isn't rational or irrational.
acuozzo 3y ago
> I think it’s crazy that the default outcome in our current modern environment if you follow your natural instincts is obesity. Is it a matter of natural instinct(s)? I don't think so. Using food as a drug to cope with your life is not natural. It's understandable given our "modern environment", but it's certainly not a natural outcome. Food addiction is the #1 cause of obesity. HFCS and other food additives come in a distant second if we're assigning blame. (To make matters worse, once obesity sets in, Leptin & friends take over to add a physiological addiction on to the psychological one!)

JPws_Prntr_Fngr 3y ago

It's also crazy addictive. People don't think it be a drug, but it do.

SoftTalker 3y ago

It's not just that sugar doesn't satiate hunger, the body actually craves it. In pre-agricultural times, calories were scarce and sugar (glucose or fructose) was an easy way to get a lot of calories quickly. The palate evolved to favor things like honey, fruit, berries, and other sources of sugar. The few thousand years since food has not been univerally scarce have not changed that.

loeg 3y ago

> I think it’s crazy that the default outcome in our current modern environment if you follow your natural instincts is obesity. Clearly we need some regulation around how processed food must produce satiety and not just flavor, the current setup is not working. I kind of agree, but people are irrationally attached to unhealthy, high caloric-density foods. If you tried to regulate away or even just tax ice cream, soda, and chips, people would riot in the streets. Regulating unhealthy food is extremely unpopular.

acuozzo 3y ago
Regulation wouldn't fix the underlying problem anyway. Plenty of food addicted persons get obese from eating gargantuan amounts of "normal" food. When I used to be obese, my weakness was sushi rice. Getting my binge-eating "high" required only a high quantity of food. Hell, I would eat a lot of Nori if I were desperate enough. Go to a Puerto Rican cookout in NYC and look at what the heavier persons are eating. They're not waiting until dessert time to start digging in. They're eating plate after plate of Arroz con Pollo.
pixl97 3y ago
>but people are irrationally attached to unhealthy I'd disagree, we are rationally attracted to these things because the state of pretty much all animal life has been boom/bust cycles of food. That's why our bodies get fat in the first place. A reserve for when the lean times come. Humans, bees, and ants are some of the few creatures that break this cycle well.
- loeg 3y ago
  You're ascribing motivation and agency to evolutionary pressures. I'm talking about individual behavior. Evolution isn't rational or irrational.

acuozzo 3y ago

> I think it’s crazy that the default outcome in our current modern environment if you follow your natural instincts is obesity. Is it a matter of natural instinct(s)? I don't think so. Using food as a drug to cope with your life is not natural. It's understandable given our "modern environment", but it's certainly not a natural outcome. Food addiction is the #1 cause of obesity. HFCS and other food additives come in a distant second if we're assigning blame. (To make matters worse, once obesity sets in, Leptin & friends take over to add a physiological addiction on to the psychological one!)