[HN Gopher] Obesity Is Contagious (2007)
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       Obesity Is Contagious (2007)
        
       Author : ctoth
       Score  : 23 points
       Date   : 2021-12-07 19:51 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (news.harvard.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (news.harvard.edu)
        
       | pknomad wrote:
       | Speaking as someone who was born overseas in Asia, grew up in
       | Northeast and went to a university in the deep south (Atlanta),
       | this part does not surprise me:
       | 
       | > "What we see here is that one person's obesity can influence
       | numerous others to whom he or she is connected both directly and
       | indirectly
       | 
       | I found that obesity becomes normalized once it reaches certain
       | threshold in the population. "Everyone that I know is obese so
       | this is ok."
        
       | mensetmanusman wrote:
       | Humans are memetic in every sphere of life. If half the country
       | is suffering from Obesity, I see no future where that gets below
       | 10% without some no-effort miracle pill breakthrough.
       | 
       | If anyone has raised kids, you know how hard it is to get them to
       | eat healthy when so many manufactured foods tastes 10x better.
        
         | xupybd wrote:
         | There are zero low effort convenience foods. I have options
         | everywhere for high calorie low nutrition foods. If I want
         | something nutritious and tasty I have to cook it my self. As we
         | get busier with work and entertainment we are going to reach
         | more and more for the easy option.
        
           | BizarroLand wrote:
           | There may also be an issue with Palmitic Acid content in
           | foods that hopefully can be addressed. If I remember
           | correctly they increase inflammation, cause insulin
           | resistance in all major insulin target organs (skeletal
           | muscle, liver, endothelial cells) and have emerged as a major
           | link between obesity, the development of the metabolic
           | syndrome, and atherosclerotic vascular disease.
           | 
           | in certain quantities they disrupt the satiation mechanism,
           | and a high intake of them could be one on the main causes of
           | western obesity.
           | 
           | There is also a possibility that there is an obesity virus
           | that works synergistically with elevated free fatty acids
           | (FFAs) like Palmitic Acid that could be the culprit.
           | 
           | Either way it goes, there is a good chance that obesity is
           | not solely the fault of the person suffering it and that
           | there may be a medical or diet based solution that can
           | resolve it discovered in the near future.
        
           | jackyinger wrote:
           | How about fruits & nuts? Both are quick and easy to eat, I
           | never feel compelled to gorge myself on em (unlike chips),
           | and full of good stuff.
           | 
           | Also, I eat a lot of rice and lentils and veggies, and it is
           | very easy to make. In 30 minutes of work (excluding boil
           | time) I can make enough to feed myself one meal of this a day
           | for a week.
           | 
           | I think people have a mental block around this. I don't blame
           | em, I encounter it myself, start eating out a bunch, start
           | feeling crummy, then realize I gotta eat something healthy.
           | Then I cook some good veggies filled food and life is good
           | again.
           | 
           | Another aspect is wide ignorance of natural flavorful things.
           | Fresh garlic, fresh ginger. Spices: cardamom, cumin,
           | coriander, pepper powders, etc.
           | 
           | People can do this, it just takes investing a little effort
           | to get started and maintain it.
        
             | Remnant44 wrote:
             | Nutrition makes me think of Tolstoy's famous quote in
             | reverse: every bad diet is the same, while every good diet
             | is unique.
             | 
             | By that I mean that I have to be very careful with fruit
             | and nuts - having them around the house means that I can
             | mindlessly eat at least an entire extra meal worth calories
             | a day, a handful at a time.
             | 
             | For me beans, lentils, and "veggies" more broadly are very
             | helpful with appetite control though, I agree.. and are
             | pretty easy to make unless you're on the go all the time.
        
               | 988747 wrote:
               | Except when you eat fruits you eat a lot of fiber, which
               | makes you less hungry. I can't see how you could get fat
               | on fruits.
        
               | abrowne wrote:
               | Agreed, excepting grapes, as long as you are eating fruit
               | itself, not fruit juice, pulp, puree or something else
               | made from fruit.
        
         | 1cvmask wrote:
         | You have to travel abroad to eat well cheaply. Where a tomato
         | tastes like tomato, and is shockingly inexpensive.
        
       | 1cvmask wrote:
       | We should have more data on their 2007 thesis now that visual
       | social media is all pervasive with FB, Tik Tok and Instagram.
        
       | aeternum wrote:
       | It's very illogical that we as a society spent and are still
       | spending so much to stop covid yet we spend little to nothing
       | fighting obesity.
       | 
       | Banning soft-drinks entirely would have less of an economic
       | impact than shelter-in-place and statistically would save more
       | lives over the long term.
       | 
       | Solving or reducing obesity will also greatly decrease the amount
       | of death caused by diseases like covid. It's crazy how okay we
       | are with death/disease when it ramps up slowly instead of
       | acutely.
        
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