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Problem is "self-control or exercise" is not a solution to fatness in modern food environment like it maybe was for some king or rich merchant in the past. General populace just can't beat hyperstimulus, not without semaglutide at least. Fat shaming is bad because it isn't solving the issue of population becoming more and more obese it just makes lifes of unhealthy people more miserable.
Can you talk a bit more about what you mean by a modern food environment? As far as I know, fatness isn't evenly distributed across populations, and it's not that hard to find subgroups and cultures with much less obesity than we observe as the baseline in America.
One bit of anecdata I've heard over and over again, is people moving to Europe, not changing their diet what so ever, and losing weight. Because Europe doesn't put high fructose corn syrup in everything.
I've heard the same thing, but for Japan and Vietnam. It's worth noting that obesity in Europe is climbing rapidly as well. They are about 20 years behind the U.S.
Even Japan/Vietnam is seeing rising obesity but they seem to be much more resistant.
Some theorize that chemicals in the drinking water causing obesity. Areas where drinking water comes from agricultural runoff such as the Mississippi Delta have extremely high obesity while high altitude areas have less than would be expected from socioeconomic conditions. As far as I know, no one has adequately explained this phenomenon.
And they dismiss that people eat more calories and move less - and look for some grand mystery. There is none, CICO is the solution.
Of course CICO "works". No one is claiming that the laws of physics don't apply. It's just not a useful abstraction for maintaining weight in the real world.
For certain people who lose weight, the body reacts by increasing lethargy and appetite. Imagine being hungry and tired all the time. But that is what required for these people to maintain a healthy weight. Naturally, they can't do it.
In the past, people maintained their weight with less effort than today. Willpower didn't magically collapse in the 1970s. There has been a change in the natural environment.
Food become more available, more palatable and cheaper.
Note that curiously in Poland people have not become fatter in 1970s - it started to happen later.
Well, why they have gained weight? Maybe restoring health weight is extremely hard, but you get there by overeating.
not exactly natural one, but I agree (but it almost certainly was not lithium pushed by SM)
Agree on all points. Preventing weight gain is easier than weight loss.
My guess is that the causes of obesity are multifactorial: sugar, seed oils, soft hyperpalatable foods, and chemicals all seem likely. Lack of exercise and collective loss of willpower can be ruled out safely, I think. I agree that Lithium hypothesis is not 100% explanatory, but the high altitude anomaly sill hasn't been adequately explained.
I would definitely include people getting richer. It is no wonder that people eat more when food got many times cheaper (per hour of work).
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