6 ms·

It's not just processed foods, there is also a genetic struggle as well. Looking at my family living in the US and in the EU, being overweight is a thing for a

It's not just processed foods, there is also a genetic struggle as well. Looking at my family living in the US and in the EU, being overweight is a thing for a large portion of us. Even in my grandparents generation of family had issues as well, and they were all blue collar manual workers that lived before processed foods. This is not to say you are wrong. The food supply in the US is not healthy. The bad news is that the same greed that destroyed our food will find ways to get around the ways GLP-1s work.

xenospn 9mo ago
I’m sure in 5 years all processed microwave meals and fast food will be “fortified with GLP-1”.
- smileysteve 9mo ago
  Historically, this is called "fiber", and has already been regulated to be required in European breads
  - patentatt 9mo ago
    I find this humorous but I’m also genuinely curious what the analogy is between fiber and GLPs?
    - mminer237 9mo ago
      Fiber is essentially mass with little to no nutrition in it. So it makes you feel fuller without adding calories, like GLP-1 drugs. I do think there's a strong argument that lack of fiber and protein are huge contributors to the world's obesity problems.
      - array_key_first 9mo ago
        In most developed countries people eat lots of fiber. Like just unbelievable amounts of meat, more than ever before in human history and prehistory.
        warkdarrior 9mo ago
        What are you talking about?? Meat contains no fiber. The primary fiber source is plant-based foods (e.g., vegetables). So modern populations eating lots of meat means they're getting little to no fiber.
        array_key_first 9mo ago
        Sorry, that was a mistype, I mean lots of meat, very little fiber.
      - alvah 9mo ago
        "So it makes you feel fuller without adding calories, like GLP-1 drugs" Nobody really knows how GLP-1 agonists work, but given the other effects (e.g. insulin stability, change in other addictive behaviours etc.) it's definitely not just this.
    - Zacru 9mo ago
      Probably simply "makes you feel full longer".
  - staticassertion 9mo ago
    > and has already been regulated to be required in European breads Source needed.
LeifCarrotson 9mo ago
There's negligible "genetic" difference between German and American gastrointestinal systems. No DNA mutations occurred in your grandparents that caused all of their children and children's children to be overweight. There may be cultural or behavioral issues - attitudes and habits around cooking, expectations of what a meal includes or does not include, taste preferences on what's too sweet or too fatty, etc - but it's not genetic.
lm28469 9mo ago
> there is also a genetic struggle as well. Weird that it virtually did not exist pre ww2 and that it now affects 75%+ of your population
- infecto 9mo ago
  I am not sure the genetic angle but there definitely is something happening at a craving level in the way the mind is responding. On the flip side I don’t think your comment holds much weight either. A large portion of the population worked trade jobs and the access junk food was a lot less prevalent. You kind of have a good recipe for unhealthy population now. Low quality foods and less activity.
  - lm28469 9mo ago
    I have access to the same food as everyone else, I also have craving as everyone else, but as hairless monkeys we evolved a brain able to bypass instant rewards for future goals. My step dad was obese and blamed everything and everyone but himself. We installed an app to count calories on his ipad, he lost 1/3rd of his bodyweight in less than a year and he's now cruising at an healthy weight, it really isn't rocket science People who look for excuse will always find something, it's genetics, today is a cheat day, today was a bad day, I'm not feeling good, I crave chocolate, #healthyatallsizes, &c. people who stop making excuses get out of the hole surprisingly fast
    - infecto 9mo ago
      You are blinded by your experiences. I don’t think it’s as clear as “stop making excuses”. Obviously there is a healthy portion that is probably this but I do believe there is a borderline if not full blown addiction that happens where people are not able to put it out of their thoughts. I don’t think we fully understand why but it’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s a real problem. After all there is a reason that glp1 show efficacy with other addictions. Accountability is important and I even think there is a healthy level of social shaming to be made, we should not be normalizing obesity. But I also realize that there is something at play that’s more than simply excuses.
phkahler 9mo ago
>> It's not just processed foods, there is also a genetic struggle as well. Looking at my family living in the US and in the EU, being overweight is a thing for a large portion of us. It's not genetic, this is just your family refusing to take responsibility for their own eating habits. The proof is people who have bariatric surgery so that they can't eat as much, and people on GLP 1 drugs so they aren't hungry. Both groups lose weight. It's not your genes, it's the fact that you put too much food in your mouth (and probably the wrong kind of food). As an overeater myself, knowing this does not help reduce intake... People have to make changes and stop blaming genetics, or thyroid (there are drugs for that too) or whatever it is they think is beyond their control.
- staticassertion 9mo ago
  You're assuming something they didn't say. Genetics might mean a poorer response to GLP1, or a poorer metabolic response to specific hormones, or how we observe that people with ADHD have poorer eating habits, or if you're genetically smaller then your metabolism may be smaller, blah blah blah. There are many genetic factors that obviously impact weight. We know that alcoholism is genetic, addition is genetic, etc, and those are just tiny subsets of problems that genetics are involved in.
- indymike 9mo ago
  > fact that you put too much food in your mouth (and probably the wrong kind of food) I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years ago. I radically changed my diet to a hard keto diet with a cap of 50g of net carbohydrate per day (carbs - fiber = net carbs). My caloric intake quadrupled due to fats being high calorie. My weight dropped by 48 pounds. In every measurement, I'm healthier despite being older. My diet is also expensive and difficult: Most foods in the us are high in carbohydrate. Cereals, added sugars, fake sugar free (sugar alcohol instead of sugar), and foods that have lots of integrated carbs... sandwiches, tortillas, etc. There's a huge preference for bad foods baked into the culture. It's hard to eat well. So culture is as much of a problem as any other factor.

xenospn 9mo ago

I’m sure in 5 years all processed microwave meals and fast food will be “fortified with GLP-1”.

smileysteve 9mo ago
Historically, this is called "fiber", and has already been regulated to be required in European breads
- patentatt 9mo ago
  I find this humorous but I’m also genuinely curious what the analogy is between fiber and GLPs?
  - mminer237 9mo ago
    Fiber is essentially mass with little to no nutrition in it. So it makes you feel fuller without adding calories, like GLP-1 drugs. I do think there's a strong argument that lack of fiber and protein are huge contributors to the world's obesity problems.
    - array_key_first 9mo ago
      In most developed countries people eat lots of fiber. Like just unbelievable amounts of meat, more than ever before in human history and prehistory.
      - warkdarrior 9mo ago
        What are you talking about?? Meat contains no fiber. The primary fiber source is plant-based foods (e.g., vegetables). So modern populations eating lots of meat means they're getting little to no fiber.
        array_key_first 9mo ago
        Sorry, that was a mistype, I mean lots of meat, very little fiber.
    - alvah 9mo ago
      "So it makes you feel fuller without adding calories, like GLP-1 drugs" Nobody really knows how GLP-1 agonists work, but given the other effects (e.g. insulin stability, change in other addictive behaviours etc.) it's definitely not just this.
  - Zacru 9mo ago
    Probably simply "makes you feel full longer".
- staticassertion 9mo ago
  > and has already been regulated to be required in European breads Source needed.

LeifCarrotson 9mo ago

There's negligible "genetic" difference between German and American gastrointestinal systems. No DNA mutations occurred in your grandparents that caused all of their children and children's children to be overweight. There may be cultural or behavioral issues - attitudes and habits around cooking, expectations of what a meal includes or does not include, taste preferences on what's too sweet or too fatty, etc - but it's not genetic.

lm28469 9mo ago

> there is also a genetic struggle as well. Weird that it virtually did not exist pre ww2 and that it now affects 75%+ of your population

infecto 9mo ago
I am not sure the genetic angle but there definitely is something happening at a craving level in the way the mind is responding. On the flip side I don’t think your comment holds much weight either. A large portion of the population worked trade jobs and the access junk food was a lot less prevalent. You kind of have a good recipe for unhealthy population now. Low quality foods and less activity.
- lm28469 9mo ago
  I have access to the same food as everyone else, I also have craving as everyone else, but as hairless monkeys we evolved a brain able to bypass instant rewards for future goals. My step dad was obese and blamed everything and everyone but himself. We installed an app to count calories on his ipad, he lost 1/3rd of his bodyweight in less than a year and he's now cruising at an healthy weight, it really isn't rocket science People who look for excuse will always find something, it's genetics, today is a cheat day, today was a bad day, I'm not feeling good, I crave chocolate, #healthyatallsizes, &c. people who stop making excuses get out of the hole surprisingly fast
  - infecto 9mo ago
    You are blinded by your experiences. I don’t think it’s as clear as “stop making excuses”. Obviously there is a healthy portion that is probably this but I do believe there is a borderline if not full blown addiction that happens where people are not able to put it out of their thoughts. I don’t think we fully understand why but it’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s a real problem. After all there is a reason that glp1 show efficacy with other addictions. Accountability is important and I even think there is a healthy level of social shaming to be made, we should not be normalizing obesity. But I also realize that there is something at play that’s more than simply excuses.

phkahler 9mo ago

>> It's not just processed foods, there is also a genetic struggle as well. Looking at my family living in the US and in the EU, being overweight is a thing for a large portion of us. It's not genetic, this is just your family refusing to take responsibility for their own eating habits. The proof is people who have bariatric surgery so that they can't eat as much, and people on GLP 1 drugs so they aren't hungry. Both groups lose weight. It's not your genes, it's the fact that you put too much food in your mouth (and probably the wrong kind of food). As an overeater myself, knowing this does not help reduce intake... People have to make changes and stop blaming genetics, or thyroid (there are drugs for that too) or whatever it is they think is beyond their control.

staticassertion 9mo ago
You're assuming something they didn't say. Genetics might mean a poorer response to GLP1, or a poorer metabolic response to specific hormones, or how we observe that people with ADHD have poorer eating habits, or if you're genetically smaller then your metabolism may be smaller, blah blah blah. There are many genetic factors that obviously impact weight. We know that alcoholism is genetic, addition is genetic, etc, and those are just tiny subsets of problems that genetics are involved in.
indymike 9mo ago
> fact that you put too much food in your mouth (and probably the wrong kind of food) I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years ago. I radically changed my diet to a hard keto diet with a cap of 50g of net carbohydrate per day (carbs - fiber = net carbs). My caloric intake quadrupled due to fats being high calorie. My weight dropped by 48 pounds. In every measurement, I'm healthier despite being older. My diet is also expensive and difficult: Most foods in the us are high in carbohydrate. Cereals, added sugars, fake sugar free (sugar alcohol instead of sugar), and foods that have lots of integrated carbs... sandwiches, tortillas, etc. There's a huge preference for bad foods baked into the culture. It's hard to eat well. So culture is as much of a problem as any other factor.