So last weeks musings certainly raised a lot of discussion which was nice to see. Lets stir the pot again shall we.
Ok, not to abuse my hosts (too much) or anything and yes I know that statistics say Australians are just as fat, but traveling this week I really noticed lots of really, really fat people. You know the ones, the superfat. They are the ones you are deathly afraid will get the seat next to you on the plane. I’m convinced that the US have way more superfat people or else they just happened to be attracted to airports and looking at the food offered here, that might make sense. Maybe its once slim passengers caught in endless delays and cancelled flights who become hulking monsters eating airport fast food and then can never leave as they no longer fit on a plane.
So why are we all getting fatter? Well it’s genetics and evolution stupid. Of course mentioning evolution here in the US Midwest is almost as bad as telling folks you had something to do with the cervical cancer vaccine. Such folk are obviously deviants, promoters of promiscuity and debauchery, leading young folk to stray and will end civilisation. Back to the matter at hand - you see our bodies amazingly efficient. We want to survive so we put away all the goodies we consume for the coming “bad times”. No I don’t mean the Broncos didn’t win the grand final bad times, but more the apocalypse, end of days bad times like when Dr Who gets cancelled or the like. Of course since we domesticated livestock and developed large-scale agriculture some 10000 years ago there haven’t been too many bad times, although perhaps the Irish in 1845 (look it up kids) or a few African countries in the 80s, 90s… hell all the time, might disagree. Certainly no bad times here in “fat city, Arizona”. Naturally some of us are more efficient at storing food, these are the ones we use to call “survivors” but are now obese. They are blessed with a metabolism that is super efficient while those skinny catwalk models will be the first to perish come the famine (hurrah I hear the group of middle age women up the back). Of course Miranda Kerr survives no matter what, that’s just my rule ok.
“So its just my genes then, its not my fault” I hear the masses cry. Well yes is bloody well is your fault because knowing that you are really good at storing food (look in the mirror) means you need to understand that “energy in” should equal “energy out”. Understanding that some folk have a “gland issue” means understanding their metabolism. Yes some have rare genetic diseases that are not going to be controlled in any way by diet. Of course getting to my age you notice some middle age spread and wonder what happened to that body you use to have 20 years ago!
So what to do?? Well if you are the large food corporations, nothing. Its going great and we are slowly getting to the point were people wont even need a kitchen or remember how to cook a decent meal. Healthcare? Private health see this as good business and as long as the economy is going great the more heart disease the better. Don’t rock the boat too much. Governments see this as a big problem but seeing them wring their hands over regulating fast food or its advertising is reminiscent of tobacco in the 70s. We will look back and wonder what the hell we were thinking.
What about us, what can we do? Well you all watch the Biggest Loser, read the magazines, started and stopped endless diets, worked your butts of in high cardio, fat burning sessions at the gym. Exercise more and eat less, simple right. But that part seems to be harder. We are fighting against our very nature. You see the other part about our evolution and makeup is we don’t tend to expend energy unless we have too. We save it for the time we really need it - run from the lion/wolf pack, fight for survival. And once again, our genes, aided and abetted by our culture, aren’t helping. Eating is a social occasion (dinner with the family, going out with friends etc). We have only been eating cereals, sugars and grains for 10000 years, which in terms of genetics is nothing. These carbs are great sources of energy, easy to digest and plentiful. However we can’t genetically deal with it – coeliac disease seem to be in about 10% of our population now, type II diabetes (the one your get from eating too much sugars) is reaching epidemic proportions. Of course our natural “caveman” diet was just meat, fruit, nuts and vegetables. And yes, there is such as thing as the “caveman diet”.
Worse is that these carbs and sugars are now everywhere, in every supermarket product, processed into all our food and drinks as high fructose corn syrup or refined sugar. This makes our choices hard. Pasta, sauces, breads, cakes, biscuits, rice, potatoes, and drinks all have it. Basically everything in between the first and last isles at Coles is this. Every fast food meal is this. MacDonalds put that extra sugar in the bread to keep you coming back. But what about these zero calorie diet drinks surely they are a healthy option Well interestingly is not - aspartate (in Coke Zero and others) blocks serotonin in your brain and makes you...hungry. And these crazy diets like the grapefruit or cabbage one that lets you eat as much as you like (thus not really teaching to limit intake and who can only eat one thing anyway). An interesting trend is the size of dinner plates which have almost doubled over the last 30 years making our portions bigger now.
So for me, I just think it’s a slow and steady approach – healthy choices, limit portion size, get some exercise for the bones and heart. Ill never have my 20 year old body back and the only six pack I want is one containing beer, but then again I don’t want to be the guy having to buy 2 plane seats either!