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rfrey10/11/20241 replyview on HN

>Those people definitely existed, but were pretty rare. Maybe you are one of them. Statistically, probably not.

Mexico has approximately the same per-capita sugar consumption as Italy, Spain and France, yet the obesity rate exceeds that of the U.S. Norway has 50% more per-capita sugar consumption than the US and very little obesity. I don't think eating little sugar or refined food, yet being overweight makes me a statistical anomaly at all.

I'm not claiming some kind of magic variation in base metabolic rates. I'm only saying that it is too simplistic to point at refined sugar and say that a complex problem has that one simple cause. (And that to solve it one need only learn to be an adult).

I don't eat bread by the way, I bake it for my family. I do revert to eating potatoes and pasta though, which is no doubt to blame for my weight fluctuations. My irritation in this discussion comes only from the ridiculous claim that if I were only to eat like a grown-up for two weeks, food cravings would disappear and my problems would be solved.


Replies

andrewmcwatters10/11/2024

Mexican cuisine employs large amounts of fat, directly, or in the form of cheese. Take a trip to Italy, Spain, or France. It's a very different eating atmosphere. The portions and ingredients aren't comparable, and in Europe, there are greater food protections that straight up don't exist in North America.

Carrefour et Monoprix ne ressemblent pas du tout à ceux de WalMart, etc. You can't compare them. Their food selection makes ours in the states look embarrassing, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were the same for Canada. It's superior on all fronts.

It isn't too simplistic to look at sugar or general carbohydrates and say, this ingredient has the highest reconstitution of habit developing behaviors compared to that of any other macronutrient. Your body's ability to reinforce food habituation compared to any other macronutrient on a graphed scale makes every other macro look like peanuts. It's sugar. It's carbs. It's a fact. It's scientifically proven. I implore you to do the reading yourself. Fat also has a high recidivation rate, but it pales in comparison to carbohydrates.

For your own health and the risk that you'll tell others otherwise as well, just dismiss me and read these studies yourself.

It's that easy, and the reality is that no one adjusts for it. Your supermarkets don't care and all of the people around you probably don't realize it either. It's cultural. It's in your beer. It's in your coffee creamer. It's everywhere.

It is the dietary equivalent of global warming denial. Seriously. I have watched people with class 3 obesity drop 40 pounds in one month, which is terribly hard on your body and not recommended, by immediately switching off high carb, high fat diets.

Yes, your food cravings do truly, really, disappear within a span of 2-4 weeks. Within 30 to 60 days, people can and do form rejection habits with little documented "willpower" in the same way these individuals using GLP-1 hormones do.

Because it's the same activation vector. You increase incretins production through rich protein consumption. People suffer from the effects that you describe because of leptin resistance. For people in extreme weight class categories, you don't get off after a few months, fat cells stay in your body for years in dormant, reduced volume form.