do you know why Americans are fat?

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Vic
If you eat more calories than you metabolize, then you will gain weight and (because weight gain is cumulative) you will get fat if you keep it up. In fact, the number is 3600 calories per pound of body weight. The opposite BTW is true for weight loss.

Leaving aside other important issues about eating right, nutrition comes into play because more nutritious and more complex foods can sustain your body longer, which in turn means it'll be longer before you get hungry again and overall you'll eat less calories. Think of your body like a fire (a very apt analogy BTW). If you burn paper instead of wood, the fire will burn brightly and quickly, but you'll have to add more paper more often than you would if it was wood or else it will burn out. Sugar and other simple carbs are like paper.

Fruits contain fructose which, when bonded with glucose, becomes sucrose (or pure sugar). Glucose is the primary fuel which your body burns. The production of complex carbs (like starch) into glucose is the one of the primary functions of your liver.

I just find it crazy that people manage to eat this much. But then, I generally eat less than 2000 calories a day. During the week when I'm busier, it's probably less than 1500 per day. Just being able to eat 3600 calories would make me feel sick.

Originally posted by: lrn2f1y
Yeah, and obsesity is common strictly in America.. No way it's wide spread epidemic, not a chance. It couldn't be. Could it?

The Sarcasm is strong with this one.



I think I'll stop in at Domino's tomorrow for one of these. I'll be sure that they send a check for a cut of the proceeds to Moshquerade, who posted the original thread, and some to fritolays for this thread.

the calorie/weight gain thing is cumulative. if your metabolism can burn say 2000 calories a day without you gaining weight, consuming 3600 above that will cause you to gain a pound. so if you eat 2200 a day for 18 days you'll gain one pound.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
Fruits have sugar, but they also have fiber which slows down the rate of absorption of sugar. That's why fruit juice isn't that good for you, but eating the same fruit is.

Some fruits have fiber, but not all of them. However, the sugar found in fruits (fructose) is a slower-digesting sugar than sucrose or dextrose, the types of sugars used in many sweet/fattening/etc. foods.

Look up glycemic index - it will give you the relative speeds of absorption of different foods (with pure glucose having a rating of 100).

Some fruits are actually absorbed very quickly.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: lrn2f1y
Yeah, and obsesity is common strictly in America.. No way it's wide spread epidemic, not a chance. It couldn't be. Could it?

The Sarcasm is strong with this one.

Canada and the UK are on par with the USA for obvious reasons but I cannot think of other nations as bad.

 

[BUTCH1]

The fast food industry keeps coming up with more unbelievable creations like Wendy's new
"Baconator" burger, 1/2 Lb beef ,SIX strips of bacon and 2 slices of cheese. It's the calorie
equivalent of cobolt bomb, they are preying on American's grease love....

 

[BUTCH1]

Oops, DP..

 

[Auryg]

Question about the basic calorie equation thing...

Why is it that some medications (most antidepressants, for instance) can cause people to gain weight even if they maintain eating and activity habits? Even if their appetite goes down?

Can the drugs somehow lower the amount of calories the person needs in a day? Make certain parts of the body less active or something?

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Auryg
Question about the basic calorie equation thing...

Why is it that some medications (most antidepressants, for instance) can cause people to gain weight even if they maintain eating and activity habits? Even if their appetite goes down?

Can the drugs somehow lower the amount of calories the person needs in a day? Make certain parts of the body less active or something?

good question, i gained about 40lbs in 3 years on paxil. switching now to take it off (hopefully). it probably has something to do with hunger and serotonin in the brain.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: Auryg
Question about the basic calorie equation thing...

Why is it that some medications (most antidepressants, for instance) can cause people to gain weight even if they maintain eating and activity habits? Even if their appetite goes down?

Can the drugs somehow lower the amount of calories the person needs in a day? Make certain parts of the body less active or something?

good question, i gained about 40lbs in 3 years on paxil. switching now to take it off (hopefully). it probably has something to do with hunger and serotonin in the brain.

also, i switched to an SNRI last winter and lost 10 lbs in like a month but it didn't work as well as paxil so i got back on paxil and gained 20.

 

[GTaudiophile]

1) We eat too much processed food.

2) Our daily routines do not incorporate enough exercise.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Because poor-quality food is cheaper and more readily available than high quality food.

Somewhat, I'd say it's also because convenience foods are also fairly poor in nutrition but they aren't necessarily cheap.

 

[krunchykrome]

We're fat because we eat well; better than any other country.

 

[Auric]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Because poor-quality food is cheaper and more readily available than high quality food.

Somewhat, I'd say it's also because convenience foods are also fairly poor in nutrition but they aren't necessarily cheap.

They are cheap relative to incomes yet have decent profit margins which tells us they cost little to manufacture and that rather than buying such vile concoctions consumers could instead get unprocessed and nutritious staple foods for the same or less. Just think about how much vegetables and bulk rice can be had for the price of a few offal burgers or frozen pizzas.

 

[FoBoT]

i am fat because i don't excercise
i eat crap food, but if i excercised a decent amount, i'd be ok, if i ate right, i'd be good




where did i put those ding dongS? BRB

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
1) We eat too much processed food.

2) Our daily routines do not incorporate enough exercise.

this is definitely my issue.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
the calorie/weight gain thing is cumulative. if your metabolism can burn say 2000 calories a day without you gaining weight, consuming 3600 above that will cause you to gain a pound. so if you eat 2200 a day for 18 days you'll gain one pound.

Right. Duh.

And dammit, that's what I was forgetting - didn't go to Domino's. That's what happens when I don't write things down.

Originally posted by: Auric
Canada and the UK are on par with the USA for obvious reasons but I cannot think of other nations as bad.

I hear that wealthy parts of China are starting to catch up though. Maybe it's partly a cultural thing, too.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: IGBT

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Because poor-quality food is cheaper and more readily available than high quality food.

..they would't eat the good stuff anyway. tv's got em all brainwashed and their racing to the grave yard.

Where can I find this fabled gravy yard?

...

Oh, you said "grave"

 

[FoBoT]

i love gravy

i always ask for extra gravy
and gravy on the meat, with extra gravy


gravy is a "special" food, yum yum

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
i love gravy

i always ask for extra gravy
and gravy on the meat, with extra gravy


gravy is a "special" food, yum yum

people in the south friggin love biscuit and gravy, but i refuse to try it.

 

[FoBoT]

if you are ever in kansas city around breakfast time, stop in here

http://www.bigbiscuitrestaurant.com/

 

[Dirigible]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog


Where can I find this fabled gravy yard?

...

Oh, you said "grave"

The gravy yard exists, oh yes. Don't be thrown off by the naysayers. The location of the gravy yard is obscured by myth, lore, and the propensity of its visitors to take a nap right after leaving instead of telling other folks where it is.

But I, I know the secret! And I woke up from my food coma, and used my napkin to remove the remnants and look presentable.

I'll share the location with you if you prove yourself worthy. Buy bulk beef (be sure to get more than 10 lbs!) off the internet, bring it back here and present it to me. Once you've done that, I'll tell you how to get to the yard of gravy.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
1) We eat too much processed food.

2) Our daily routines do not incorporate enough exercise.

this is definitely my issue.

The reason for both 1) and 2) is that we lead very busy lives here.

Our high level of productivity grants us lots of benefits, but this is one of the drawbacks. Maybe not for you guys living at home with your parents and just going to school, but if you work and have a family, just keeping up with the dishes and laundry and cleaning and yard work and still finding time to spend with your loved ones and maybe relaxing or enjoying a hobby and then on top of it all managing to cook a different healthy gourmet meal every night let alone decide what to cook and research the healthiness of the meals is just impractical. Plus you need to either mmeticuously plan out your meals for the entire week and then shop accordingly or you end up just storlling down the aisles picking up whatever looks good.

We manage to eat fairly healthy here, but mostly because when in doubt we stick to the quick and easy ones like salad or sandwiches or cereal.

I'm going to try to use allrecipes.com more. You can pick your meals for a week and then it spits out a shopping compiled from the recipes. You just follow the schedule you set up and, while it may not ultimately be super healthy, it will at least be home-cooked and you won't need to deliberate before deciding what to eat every time.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Dirigible
I'll tell you how to get to the yard of gravy.

is one yard of gravy bulk? how much gravy does it take to constitute bulk gravy?