http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jxzv8/The_Men_Who_Made_Us_Fat_Episode_1/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01k6l6l/The_Men_Who_Made_Us_Fat_Episode_2/

Text article

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18393391

I would love to quote the whole article but it's a bit long

One of the biggest changes in our modern diet stems back to the 1970s when US agriculture embarked on the mass-production of corn and of high-fructose corn syrup, commonly used as a sweetener in processed foods.

This led to a massive surge in the quantities of cheaper food being supplied to American supermarkets, everything from cheap cereal to cheap biscuits. As a result, burgers got bigger and fries (fried in corn oil) got fattier.

Dr Jean-Marc Schwarz from San Francisco General Hospital says it's the sheer amount of fructose being consumed that makes it dangerous.

"It doesn't have a toxic effect like lead. It's not comparable to lead or mercury, but it's the quantity that just makes it toxic," he says.

Fructose is easily converted to fat in the body, and scientists have found that it also suppresses the action of a vital hormone called leptin.

"Leptin goes from your fat cells to your brain and tells your brain you've had enough, you don't need to eat that second piece of cheesecake," says Dr Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist.

He says when the liver is overloaded with sugars, leptin simply stops working, and as a result the body doesn't know when it's full.

"It makes your brain think you're starving and now what you have is a vicious cycle of consumption, disease and addiction. Which explains what has happened the world over," he says.

Exactly what I've been saying for a long time, sugar makes you fat and before you argue it isn't white sugar (sucrose) that is turned directly into fructose and glucose. Perversely we are fat because of low fat products.

I actually watched this programme the other day, and it seemed they were far too eager to start pointing the blame solely at manufacturers so much so that the bias became all too obvious when 'multipack' purchases were being branded as 'supersizing' by the programme, because buying multiple packets of something to eat throughout a week is somehow directly akin to buying a monsterously sized pack.

The vast majority of consumers have no-one to blame but themselves due to poor research and apathy as to what they put into their body.

This is the crux of it.

The other point being raised was children are eating more junk. Well duh, if you are giving your children money every day to go and spend on confectionary and unhealthy sh*t at the newsagents every day then more fool you. It is perfectly easy to accustom your kids to eating healthily and not snacking on sh*t all day.

Quote from: Serious on June 23, 2012, 13:59:57 PM

Exactly what I've been saying for a long time, sugar makes you fat and before you argue it isn't white sugar (sucrose) that is turned directly into fructose and glucose. Perversely we are fat because of low fat products.

we?

You realise this is an American problem. Not obesity in general but specifically the use of high fructose corn syrup as a wide scale replacement for sugar hasn't occurred in the EU. Its actually subject to a production quota over here - in the US they've got a series of protectionist policies re: their agricultural sector which has resulted in its prevalence there.

During digestion, as I said above in your quote of me, white sugar is metabolised directly into Glucose and FRUCTOSE. your comment here therefore does not apply. We also now have imports of high fructose corn syrup for use in food production.

I also agree with what matt and clock'd are saying re: personal responsibility - while we'd likely be slightly fatter as a nation if we had the same prevalence of sugar replacement as the USA fat people still exist over here without this being a huge issue. It largely boils down to personal lifestyle/consumption choices.

Up to one third of Britains are clinically obese, that is up from just 16% in 1993. The epidemic is here already. The UK is fast catching up with the US. Treatment costs the US $150 billion. I guess it's time to ask the PM...

David Cameron, 16 May 2011:Take obesity: it already costs our NHS a staggering £4 billion a year. But within four years, that figure’s expected to rise to £6.3 billion.

So it does affect everyone, either directly or through your tax. As for it being a lifestyle choice the most fattening choices are actually the cheapest in the UK and the ones that get pushed by the supermarkets. I've seen plenty of biscuits, sugar laden baked beans and fizzy drinks on special offer but not much in the way of broccoli or peas.

Matt, Clock'd. Why not read it? Do either of you work for the food indusry? Perhaps you are just too jaded to realise the truth in the world. The reality is the food industry wants kids to snack on unhealthy foods, they advertise it for that very purpose. When legislation was proposed to stop it they were up in arms about it.

Yes, we are responsible for our actions - to a point and providing we know the risks. If someone takes drugs then commits crimes to pay for them then they are guilty. If someone smokes then they are guilty of addicting themselves.

But what about their peer pressures? If their friends all smoke then the pressure is for them to do it too, in order to fit in. What about advertising pressures? Cigarettes were once advertised as a healthy lifestyle option. Some people were even given them as medical treatment, my mother was for allergy asthma. What about covering up the truth about something? Lead in petrol or cancer from tobacco?

In this case fat was blamed for making us, err, fat. The reality is far more complex that just that. Any calorific intake can affect the situation and some are worse than others. Sometimes other people really are guilty.

Quote from: Serious on June 23, 2012, 18:21:40 PM

Up to one third of Britains are clinically obese, that is up from just 16% in 1993. The epidemic is here already. The UK is fast catching up with the US. Treatment costs the US $150 billion.

But why tar everyone with the same brush? Yes, eating habits are a lot worse than say 30 years ago, however of those clinically obese people you mention, how many have a metabolic condition? You don't know, so you can't say what we eat and the ingredients that are put in those foods are the sole reason we're a nation of fatties. Sometimes our bodies are just as to blame when they don't work in the correct way

I'm not excluding that, and I agree that some few people will have medical problems that cause it directly. The question is how many of the percentage presently regarded as obese are overweight because of medical problems? I suspect that it isn't the full 33%. It could be less than 1%. So I'm not saying everyone is fat simply because they overeat, you can eat a great deal of certain foods and still not put on any weight at all.

What I am saying is that certain foods do make people fat, that they are addictive, and that there has been a cover up by big business to preserve their profit margins.

I went to my GP’s for a routine healthy check earlier this year seeing I’m over 40 and I was flagged as obese by the system, the girl started giving me “lifestyle” tips to get my weight under control and explained how not doing something about it could shorten my life!... after I finished laughing at her I took my coat off and asked if she thought I looked obese? The answer was no! but no option on the screen to say "no this person isn’t obese even if the numbers say otherwise".

 I’m 5.10, well built and go to the gym 3 times a week, it was not long after Xmas in Jan so I was  about  ½ a stone heavier than what I consider my normal weight (which is 14.5 stone) my BMI was 30.15 just creeping into obese.

I wondered afterwards if that information would be added to the list as another obese person, I know and see plenty of guys down the gym and out and about  who are far larger than me and hardly have any fat on them, guess they are obese too! 

I already mentioned I watched the full programme on Beeb2 this was based on, while there is a problem with snacks and treats obviously being targetted at kids via advertising, this is hardly new; haven't these ads been given a watershed for some time now anyway? In any case, it still doesn't negate the fact that it's mummy's decision to load the trolley with sh*t for little Tarquin and Denise to scoff on every day.

Eating habits, lifestyle and healthiness all starts and ends with our children. If they were educated properly to begin with this wouldn't be a problem. These obese people that need walls taking out to airlift them to hospital are that way mostly because of their own stupidity but also because their family are moronic feeders. No one can or should be abolished of personal responsibility for controlling their own weight.

The only thing I would agree on out of any of this is that the contents of food should be clearly labelled and monitored for extremes of sugar and salt so it is not needlessly unhealthy, but we already do this.

Dave, you are just trying to avoid the facts. Just because the EU has production quotas doesn't mean that a lot of additional product is imported.

Just identifying what contains it is difficult enough because it goes under several different names.

I already mentioned I watched the full programme on Beeb2 this was based on,

This isn't a single program, it's a three part series. The second program is based on the Historical horizon program looking at how the fast food industry changed due to pressures. The first is new and based on sugars.

If you don't want to eat it then don't.

It isn't wether you want to eat it or not, it's how easy is it to avoid the stuff.

If the rest of us are all going to end up morbidly obese because of it then it's our own fault.

Same old statement, some people on here would do really well as Christians doing the collective self blame stuff. It's 2,000 years after the death of Christ near enough but we're all collectively guilty!  .

If you don't know about something then how can you stop? If something is named several different ways then how easy is it to tell if it is present?

If junk filler is presented as 'something good for you' then unless you know different there is no avoiding it.