4 ms·

This is, at least, an appealing simple explanation for obesity. Much simpler than "Impurities in high-fructose corn syrup disrupt a particular metabolic pathway

by tlb 13y ago

This is, at least, an appealing simple explanation for obesity. Much simpler than "Impurities in high-fructose corn syrup disrupt a particular metabolic pathway in the liver causing ... increased fat storage". Simply: humans crave protein and will eat things that taste like protein until they have enough. I hereby suggest Occam's diet: avoid things that taste like protein but aren't.

sizzle 13y ago
can you give some examples of things that 'taste like protein but aren't'? thanks
- dhughes 13y ago
  Wouldn't that be something with an umami taste?
  - aneisf 13y ago
    That makes sense to me, but when I think of cultures that are big on umami I don't see a lot of obesity, so I'm not sure if the point connects fully.
    - orand 13y ago
      I used to believe that the Japanese diet is inherently healthier because there is lower obesity in Japan. I've asked Japanese people about this and they say that it's actually quite a struggle for many of them to not gain weight, but they work hard to keep their weight down because that's what's expected of them to fit in. So now my theory is that lower Japanese obesity is more a result of a strong sense of cultural conformity rather than something inherently healthy about the diet.
- amit_m 13y ago
  A Big Mac weighs 215g but has only 25g of protein. Add the french fries and coke and you basically have a whole bunch of carbs and fat. Even their ice creams don't contain much protein. A large McFlurry with Oreo's is 381g but has only 15g of protein (and 85g of sugar). source: http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.p...
- KerrickStaley 13y ago
  There's an amino acid called glutamate which creates an umami or "meaty" flavor. It's present in various additives such as monosodium glutamate and hydrolyzed yeast extract. Look at the nutrition facts of e.g. Doritos or Cheez-Its; you'll likely find one of these additives.
theboss 13y ago
The explanation for obesity is simply a caloric surplus. You can't get much simpler than that.
- seabee 13y ago
  That's just shuffling the question around rather than answering it. Why are more people running caloric surpluses than before? It is not happening deliberately.
  - theboss 13y ago
    I'm absolutely not shuffling around the question rather than answering it. In a practical sense, the question doesn't matter at all to people trying to live healthier lives. The reason we have fatter people is we have more calorically dense foods readily available (meaning greater calories in) while people live more sedentary lifestyles (means less calories out). This function to lose weight is so incredibly simple (paging jacques chester and his steam machine blog post).
    - jasallen 13y ago
      A proper solution involves solving the 'Willpower Issue'. We want to address the problem in a way that can be nearly invisible to those who want to spend their willpower and intellect elsewhere. As someone in the nutrition industry, I spend a lot of my time considering what I eat, but we also have to solve the problem so that everyone can eat healthy without it having to also be a full time hobby.
      - scoofy 13y ago
        Yea, it seems that people have this historical fantasy that people used to just exercise all day, and voila... were thinner. I've lived in Boston, NYC, and SF... all of which have had transit systems for a century, and people presumably lived extremely similar lives as far as passive exercise is concerned (though air conditioning is an obvious change). Still, many people in these cities are incredibly obese. The biggest difference is the automobile (for which i'm assuming these cities would be good control groups), after that, the clearest difference is food. More of it, yes, but why are people eating so much more... cost doesn't fit. It's not as though my stomach says, well these are cheap calories, better get my money's worth. No, it just doesn't make much sense if the food itself isn't causing the increased consumption.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

by tlb 13y ago

sizzle 13y ago

can you give some examples of things that 'taste like protein but aren't'? thanks

dhughes 13y ago
Wouldn't that be something with an umami taste?
- aneisf 13y ago
  That makes sense to me, but when I think of cultures that are big on umami I don't see a lot of obesity, so I'm not sure if the point connects fully.
  - orand 13y ago
    I used to believe that the Japanese diet is inherently healthier because there is lower obesity in Japan. I've asked Japanese people about this and they say that it's actually quite a struggle for many of them to not gain weight, but they work hard to keep their weight down because that's what's expected of them to fit in. So now my theory is that lower Japanese obesity is more a result of a strong sense of cultural conformity rather than something inherently healthy about the diet.
amit_m 13y ago
A Big Mac weighs 215g but has only 25g of protein. Add the french fries and coke and you basically have a whole bunch of carbs and fat. Even their ice creams don't contain much protein. A large McFlurry with Oreo's is 381g but has only 15g of protein (and 85g of sugar). source: http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.pdf http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/nutritionfacts.p...
KerrickStaley 13y ago
There's an amino acid called glutamate which creates an umami or "meaty" flavor. It's present in various additives such as monosodium glutamate and hydrolyzed yeast extract. Look at the nutrition facts of e.g. Doritos or Cheez-Its; you'll likely find one of these additives.

theboss 13y ago

The explanation for obesity is simply a caloric surplus. You can't get much simpler than that.

seabee 13y ago
That's just shuffling the question around rather than answering it. Why are more people running caloric surpluses than before? It is not happening deliberately.
- theboss 13y ago
  I'm absolutely not shuffling around the question rather than answering it. In a practical sense, the question doesn't matter at all to people trying to live healthier lives. The reason we have fatter people is we have more calorically dense foods readily available (meaning greater calories in) while people live more sedentary lifestyles (means less calories out). This function to lose weight is so incredibly simple (paging jacques chester and his steam machine blog post).
  - jasallen 13y ago
    A proper solution involves solving the 'Willpower Issue'. We want to address the problem in a way that can be nearly invisible to those who want to spend their willpower and intellect elsewhere. As someone in the nutrition industry, I spend a lot of my time considering what I eat, but we also have to solve the problem so that everyone can eat healthy without it having to also be a full time hobby.
    - scoofy 13y ago
      Yea, it seems that people have this historical fantasy that people used to just exercise all day, and voila... were thinner. I've lived in Boston, NYC, and SF... all of which have had transit systems for a century, and people presumably lived extremely similar lives as far as passive exercise is concerned (though air conditioning is an obvious change). Still, many people in these cities are incredibly obese. The biggest difference is the automobile (for which i'm assuming these cities would be good control groups), after that, the clearest difference is food. More of it, yes, but why are people eating so much more... cost doesn't fit. It's not as though my stomach says, well these are cheap calories, better get my money's worth. No, it just doesn't make much sense if the food itself isn't causing the increased consumption.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]