How Fat Went Global

I'm disappointed that Mr. Popkin neglected to address preservatives... the rise in obesity strongly correlates to the rise in preservatives added to our food supply. The chemicals have an affect on our bodies that goes beyond regular digestion... it leads to sluggishness and mood change that can affect metabolism, not to mention the added sodium which leaves the body bloated and leads to stronger hunger cravings. Perhaps this has been mentioned in the book!

This is ultimately a spiritual issue. Only God can truly satisfy the human heart, soul, mind or BODY.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 WHO SATISFIES YOUR MOUTH WITH GOOD THINGS,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle???s.
Psalm 103:1-5

May the one true God of grace help us all to make the right choices in life!

s

Though the issue has many complicated aspects, the solution -as I've been saying for some time now- is simple:

Activity.

When you increase activity levels, when you shift to a more 'physical' lifestyle, when your life has as one of its pillars a decidedly physically active, 'athletic' approach, everything changes. If you have this pillar, by-and-large you're going to eat better, you're not going to be a smoker, you're not going to overdrink. One follows the other. (Just as, if you're non-active, you eat badly, and many smoke and drink to excess.

The problem with this salient truth is this: there's nothing to be 'sold'. You don't need a personal trainer, you don't need a certain supplement, you don't need to buy a particular piece of equipment. Therefore, in this consumer-based world we've created, the push just isn't going to be there for this simple solution. And yet it works.

The first step? Get off your butt and walk.

Yeah, Americans successfully made it a global phenomenon. Thanks to globalization Sir.

Ease off the caloric beverages if you want any claim to legitimacy. One doesn't need to have such a sharp line between drinks and food. It is like drinking a thing of slim fast for a meal, it isn't quite a drink. There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking orange juice, so long as that is accompanied by a diminishing of how many calories are eaten.

Take Japan for instance. Japanese often treat soups as a beverage. But they are also a far less obese society. It is net caloric intake, not whether a drink has calories, that matters.

It's not a matter of taxing food, but to stop taking taxpayer money to make it artificially cheap. Right now the system is designed to make corn and potato-based foods cheaper than all others because there are farm groups lobbying the gov't to give them money to grow more corn and potatoes. Cheap corn & potatoes mean cheap corn syrup, beef, chicken, and pork, and as a result poor families are encouraged to take their kids for dollar meals at mcDonalds. We should at least give healthy food a chance to compete by not encouraging this oversupply of corn and potatoes.