WestAustinAg said:
TXTransplant said:
Removing red dyes and "preservatives" from food isn't going to make Americans healthy again when over 40% of Americans are obese and 10% have severe obesity,
The average American eats less than one serving of fruits and vegetables (that aren't ketchup or potatoes) per day, eats over 2x the recommended amount of sugar, drinks more than 1 alcoholic beverage per day, and spends over 9 hours a day sedentary. I don't have the numbers, but I'd guess most people consume at least 50-100% more calories every day than their body actually needs to maintain a healthy weight. Maybe as much as 200% more if they are eating all or most of their food from restaurants.
Short of banning ultra-processed "junk" foods entirely - which we know isn't going to happen - the problem is much bigger than the targets the people supporting this movement are going after.
Removing dyes and preservatives doesn't make junk food healthier, just like gluten free junk food is still junk food.
Here's the defense that "there are so many issues affecting American's health these days...why should we start with one or more of the problems and try to solve it...it's hopeless!!!!"
Quote:
All this movement is doing is ignoring the real problem - which is Americans consume too many calories, especially in the form of high calorie, low nutrient, ultra processed foods, and don't engage in enough activity to prevent those calories from being stored as excess fat.
Have you considered that the quality of our food products and the chemical alterations that the food undertakes to make it addictive might be part of the problem with people eating more than they should. The food is lacking the density of nutrients that the same food has in Europe.
Food is not addictive in the same way alcohol or drugs are addictive (ie, your body does not become chemically dependent on it).
With that said, there are a lot of reasons why people overeat processed foods.
1) Taste. Junk foods taste good.
2) Mouth feel (for example, that satisfying "crunch" you get when eating chips or popcorn)
3) Convenience - prepared foods almost always have more calories than the homemade equivalent (restaurant foods having even more excess calories).
We should be eating a protein-rich diet (roughly 30-40% of calorie intake) with fresh fruits and vegetables, the balance of calories coming from fats and carbs, and minimizing consumptions of ultra-processed "junk" foods.
Ultra processed foods are typically devoid of protein. People overeat processed foods because they don't provide the same level of satiety that protein (in combination with the appropriate amount of fat) does. Think about the last time you were satisfied by a serving (the actual serving size on the container) of chips, ice cream, or even nuts (which most people consider "healthy", but overconsumption of even "healthy" foods can still be problematic).
There is no way to make these foods "healthier". The "healthy" choice is to simply eat them in moderation, because over-consumption of them leads to excessive caloric intake (often at the expense of protein, which is a macro-nutrient that our bodies actually need a lot of to maintain healthy muscle mass).
Eating also gives people a dopamine hit - much like doing any activity that gives you pleasure.
The problem is, the more you eat to get a dopamine hit, the more you have to eat to maintain the same level of that dopamine "high". Eventually some people end up overeating so much that it leads to obesity.
I have no idea what "chemical alterations" you are talking about, or what "nutrients" our food is lacking. No one is "chemically altering" food to make it less nutritious.
Whole foods in the US (chicken, beef, fruits, vegetables, etc) are not lacking in nutrients, nor are the nutrients being removed. Foods may have varying or different micro-nutrient profiles depending on where they are sourced, but that doesn't make them unhealthy or less healthy.
Ultra-processed foods are for the most part NOT dense in nutrients because that's NOT the purpose they serve. However, they are calorically dense, which is why overeating them causes so many problems.
People who are trying to maintain a healthy weight cannot and should not rely on most ultra processed foods as a source of any macro or micro nutrient.
I would also argue that obesity is not an addiction problem because because most people level off at some weight (extreme obesity is only about 10% of the population). So people CAN stop eating.
The problem is, they have been eating more calories than their body needs. The excess calories are stored as fat.
Once people have habits around eating, they can be very hard to break. In order to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories - but people have their morning grande Starbucks habit, their afternoon Snickers habit, their Chik Fil A with fries habit, etc, etc. None of these are excessive amounts of food, they are just really high in calories, and add up to more calories than most people need in one day.
I'm 5'6" and about 140 lbs, 18-ish% body fat, and roughly half my body weight is lean mass (muscle). I workout every day, lift heavy weights 3-4 times a week, do cardio 3-4 times a week, and try to get my 10k steps in every day.
My daily caloric intake to maintain my body weight at that level of activity is only about 1600 calories. If you weigh/measure your food, 1600 calories is not a whole lot. I could blow that entire amount with one meal at a restaurant (and would probably still be hungry).
I would also argue that preventative health care means teaching people (via things like body scans) how many calories their bodies REALLY need to maintain a healthy weight. Because I think most people have absolutely no clue. Then you teach them what that calorie amount REALLY looks like. One of the best investments I made was a food scale. It's very eye opening to see how much (or little) a serving size of various foods really is.