Did anyone see the segment called "The Science of Skinny" on the Today show this morning. Seems scientists are studying the differences between the way thin and obese people brains react to food. I have believed most of my life that there must be a reason that some people are fat and others are thin. Just looking at Sheri and I and the way we treat food tells me there are definate differences. I also believe that a calorie is not necesarialy a calorie. It could be a difference in the way our body treats some foods and the way different peoples bodies deal with the same food item. I read several years back about our bodies having a "fat thermometer" that determines what our body believes is the correct body fat % for us.
Science of Skinny
- Thread starter Greenetuckian
- Start date
Greenetuckian said:
Because the worst foods just taste so darn good!
So true, so true. I think that goes back to when humans faced starving times. High fat / caloric food were desirable because they allowed us to store fat to survive famines.
That said the premis of the the story about the "science of skinny" was that certain areas of over weight people's brains still signaled hunger even right after eating a large meal while thin people's brains did not. They were measuring this with an MRI or CT scan.
Me thinks the biggest problem we have with obeisity is because evolution of our bodies has not caught up with our ability to produce high fat / caloric foods is such abundance and so cheaply. I also believe that one day scientists will be able to re-engineer our genes to make us stonger, thinner, healthier and live longer if they just don't kill all of us off learning how.
Greenetuckian said:...Me thinks the biggest problem we have with obeisity is because evolution of our bodies has not caught up with our ability to produce high fat / caloric foods is such abundance and so cheaply. I also believe that one day scientists will be able to re-engineer our genes to make us stonger, thinner, healthier and live longer if they just don't kill all of us off learning how.
I partially agree but personally I think the problem isn't genetics as much as lifestyles. Think back when you were a kid...some of us and definitely all of our parents came from a time where mom stayed home and *cooked* every night. We didn't have the computers and video games and the TV to keep us in, we wanted to be outside playing, swimming, running, riding our bikes, playing tag because being inside the house was boring.
Nowadays, most kids are slaves to their computers and tv, their cell phones and reality shows. Because we have chosen to have more than what we can afford (the bigger house, the fancy SUV with built in dvd player and GPS, the boats, the fancy vacations) moms now have to work and who has time or energy to cook a full meal after a working 8 hours a day and commuting for 2? It's easier, faster and sometimes cheaper to get fast food, order a pizza, pop tv dinners in the microwave.
When it comes down to it most Americans are fat because they are lazy, they want quick, unrealistic results in too short a time with little or no effort. Case in point, one of my good friends has been overweight for years. She called me excited the other day because her husband finally agreed to *take out a loan* so she can have liposuction...she said (and this is a true quote) "We are in the 21st century, why should I have to work for it when I pay for it?". This I took as a small jab at me because she knows how I feel about fitness and eating right.
We have become the generation of instant gratification, why not with our bodies as well, we have it everywhere else (IM, e-mails, texting)
Granted there are some who are chained by genetics and illnesses but when it comes down to it I believe that if you want something the best way to get it is to work for it.
Sorry if I sound harsh or unsympathetic...
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Moonbeam3 said:
Many people nowadays dont understand this concept.
I agree with your whole post.
Did they teach you a way to re-set this "weight set point"? Mine seems to have gone up about 10lbs since I quit smoking. Perhaps because I am still eating everything in sight to the tune of 3500 - 4000 cal a day and much of that in junk food.
Fly said:
I hear ya Fly, I can only speak about where I come from LOL. I have a big problem with accountability or lackthereof...people are always trying to find an excuse to take accountability away from themselves...
greentuckian said:
Exactly green, that's the main reason for weight gain, eating more calories than your body needs...
I see Greenetuckians point on this one. I learned a bit in biology about this. We most likely have been evolved to eat as much as we can of foods high in calories, because the ancestors that did were the only ones that lived to spread their genes. So it makes sense that we do crave food high in calories and not exactly the most healthy of foods. Thousands of years ago, people didnt care about nutritional value of food, but simply getting enough for the day, or week for that matter to survive.
I believe Moonbeam is also right on by saying technology has played a big part in us being lazy, causing us to be overweight.
Hopefully, if science has taught me anything, in a few thousand years people with be naturally selected to desire healthy nutricious food, because getting sufficient calories is not really a life and death matter.
I believe Moonbeam is also right on by saying technology has played a big part in us being lazy, causing us to be overweight.
Hopefully, if science has taught me anything, in a few thousand years people with be naturally selected to desire healthy nutricious food, because getting sufficient calories is not really a life and death matter.
Unfortuantely I doubt this. Obesity related problems kill people too late, after they are past child bearing age where as famines kill many children. It's similar to why alzhiemer's and heart disease have not been selected out, people are affected too late in life. If we are to have a chance to keep our diet high in simple carbs and fats and live a long time then I think our scientists will have to alter our genetics to weed out endomorphs or change them into a cross between ecto and mesomorphs.
Just changing people's minds and habits and ideas would help. A doctor started my dad smoking in 1935 when dad was only 8. The doctor believed at that time it would help dad's athsma. According to dad the doctor was right and the athsma was not as bad (of course like the vast majority of kid he evenually outgrew it anyway). The problem is that now dad is 79 and has a real hard time breathing and has low blood oxygen levels because he has smoked for over 70 years.
Now jump forward to 2006, how many people do you know that believe that not taking the kids to Micky Dees or giving them the ice cream or a coke is being mean to them or depriving them of some right of childhood? These same people would never dream of giving a kid a cigarette or a beer but they are addicting these kids to high fat, high sugar foods low nutritional value foods without even realizing the damage they are doing.
If you go walking through any U.S. grocery store the vast majority of products are the pre packaged junk foods that have all kinds of buzz words like "Low Fat", "Lean", "Reduced Sugar", "Whole Wheat". Now I figure the vast majority of people hanging around this forum know just how much BS the labeling on these junk products are but how few of the unwashed masses do. I would say not many when I see how many charlatans there are hawking bogus easy weight loss products or plans.
XMKATX said:
But thousands of years ago the foods being consumed were whole foods, not packaged or fast(foods) loaded with artificial sugars, and tons of salt and junk...I don't know, maybe I'm being unsympathetic, I just don't see genes and evulution having as high a role as the evolution of the types of foods being consumed and lifestyles lived...
But I can only speak from my experiences and not the experiences of others, I can literally remember the first time I had fast food, not knowing what to order or what I was really getting, I was 16 years old...it's all about how you are brought up. My father was an athlete and my mother believes in eating healthy, she's in her 50s and could pass for 40's and her lifestyle is responsible for that.
greentuckian said:
Again, IMO, catering the lazyness (sp) in people who are always looking for the quick fix or the magic pill...
What I and I believe Xmkatx are saying is that our primal instincts still have that fear of a potential famine and try to store calories to get us through. As for the evolutionary aspect, If you want to see the effects of radically changing a diet just look at how many Native Americans have fallen victim to obesity and type II diabeties from our western diet that was high in carbohydrates, fat and lacking in fiber and quality protein.
If we had evolved to accomodate a modern western diet then we could eat absolutely as much as we wanted of pretty much anything and still maintain a healthy weight. Our body would simply pass on through calories it did not need instead of storing them for a starving time in the future. I believe the Ectomorph body type already manages this to a large extent.
Moonbeam3 said:
This is true in many cases. However, many people are led to believe that these products are healthier choices. This low-fat, sugar free, ect. is marketed off of their ignorance. Unless they go searching for info. like many of us here, they may never know that they could or should have. An unfortunate number of doctors don't educate their patients about food choices, because their training dealt with many other aspects. Thus, a refferal to a nutritionist. The government doesn't really explain how to make good choices out of the food pyrimaid (which was due for a revision), nor do they promote healthy eating in mass advertising. Obesity is an epidemic now, but a lack of education for many people feeds this problem. Many people will keep choosing products under the false assumption that it is healthier, rather than out of laziness, and they may know the difference. At that point, they chalk it up to personal failure and, unfortunately, give up. Your point is well taken, this 'I want it yesterday' attitude exists in all areas of our lives. You may want to lighten up and rather educate people whose parents didn't teach them how to eat as healthfully as yours did. You obviously know alot and could help many people.
Greenetuckian said:
No it's because they taste good. Good theory but i think it's wrong.
Moonbeam3 said:
Wow, I would definitely take offense to that as well! It's this kind of attitude that is dangerous. So what if I have a heart attack, 21st century surgeries have me covered. At least I can eat fast food again, in between breaths assisted by my breathing machine!
And Greenetuckian, I agree with you completely! Although ultimately I think the children need the proper education to help them resist becoming habitual fast food eaters, the parents should be helping them make right decisions.
I bet if there a birthday party for young kids, and the parents did not buy soda, other parents would see them as abnormal deviants. Hell, I would have too a few years ago. Now I am that person!