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Notes -
What’s the actual deal with ‘seed oils’?
Obviously a topic right now. Does RFK have a point about polyunsaturated fats?
It's possible there's some minor impact from eating particular foods, but I am generally an IIFYM guy when it comes to the big obesity/health stuff.
Seed oil consumption tracks obesity because it is used in so many processed foods. The majority of technical diets that major in the minors just track with "create a restriction that prevents you from eating at a convenience store or fast food restaurant;" this prevents most people from eating mindlessly and serves as an effective calorie stopper.
What's bad about processed foods? Does the act of processing a food introduce sin into the food that causes obesity?
Talk of hyper-processed foods causing obesity seems very hand-wavy to me.
What, specifically, is causing the problem? Is it seed oils? Is it additives? Is it hyper-palatability (press D to doubt). Is it ease of use?
Of all those factors, I'd say seed oils feels like the most likely candidate, low confidence.
Well, first of all, I think it works like all restrictions— it makes it hard to just eat anything without thinking about it, reading labels, etc. This is important because America is stuffed full of convenience foods and they’re available just about everywhere you go. If you can’t eat processed foods, or seed oils, then you’re not going to be able to buy chips at the gas station, go through the drive through, get a pizza at the grocery store, etc.
Second I think there is something to hyper-palatable foods being a reasonable hypothesis as most processed foods have more intense flavors than anything in nature. The cheesyist natural cheese is not as intense as something like Cheetos. The sweetest fruits pale in flavor intensity compared to fruit flavored candies.
Third, processed foods often remove the things that allow your systems to feel full for example engineering mouthfeel (https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2023/11/07/mouthfeel-of-food-determines-whether-people-go-back-for-seconds/) to induce purchases. Now the article was about hamburgers, but mouthfeel is just one aspect of the engineering of food to induce people to eat it. Now, once your diet reaches a certain point with foods engineered both to induce eating, and to perhaps keep you from feeling full, becoming at least overweight is pretty much a done deal.
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