re: How common was obesity in the past?

I imagine the timeline probably correlates with the numbers of McDonalds in the country (most prevalent, fast food chain in the world).

McDonalds, in its current iteration and not a BBQ place, was created in 1948. In 1996 they opened their 20,000th location (worldwide). Today, about 14,000 of those locations operate in the United States.

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They started injecting chickens with growth hormones. We eat that shite and it explodes inside of us.

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The problem is that we are eating too much of the wrong kind of chicken?

Well there you go. Problem solved.

A hormone called leptin, produced by fat cells, controls our weight "set point." When we get fat, high levels of leptin are produced by these cells and our bodies raise our metabolism to burn off excess stored fat.

Leptin levels can be diluted when there is inflammation in the body, which also causes poorer functioning of insulin.

Government guidelines to reduce (good) fats in our diets have resulted in skyrocketing vegetable oil consumption and a 20% increase in the amount of sugar consumed since 1980.

There is evidence that excessive amounts of omega-6 (vegetable oil) fats in fast food and processed food affects our cell walls, causing inflammation that dilutes the leptin signal, which causes our bodies to ignore it, raising our metabolic set point.

Highly-refined carbohydrates, sugar, and bad/vegetable fats that are used to preserve food contribute to this problem. Natural butter and olive oil do not.

Easier said than done, but don't eat wheat products, sugar, or fast food, and don't eat anything that does not spoil.


TL;DR Because of erroneous guidelines, we are now eating the wrong types of fats and much more sugar, which leads to inflammation, blocking signals in our bodies meant to regulate our metabolism.

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Government guidelines to reduce (good) fats in our diets have resulted in skyrocketing vegetable oil consumption and a 20% increase in the amount of sugar consumed since 1980.

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Bingo. This is the root cause of all of this.

Eat eggs and bacon. Eat salads for lunch with plenty of different vegetables. If you want a quick snack eat some berries. If you want a protein bar, make it yourself with natural peanut butter and good fats. Eat lean meats or grass fed red meat for dinner with vegetables. Limit your intake of white rice, white bread, and pasta. Cut out sugary drinks all together. Use dairy intake as a means of making sure your gut is getting probiotics.

Fix your diet and your immune system will improve. You will drop weight. It is really that simple.

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Too, I saw bikes everywhere, ridden by all ages, not for exercise but as part of their daily lives.

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This is the part that really bugs me about this country. I love America and I think the average person gets opportunities here that aren't attainable elsewhere, but our car culture drives me absolutely insane. One of the reasons we left the south (among many) was to find an area where biking to work was an acceptable means of transportation, and roads were set up with dedicated bike lanes and biking infrastructure.

I don't know where the stereotype that riding a bicycle is for children came from, but using a bike to get to and from places regularly is one of the quickest ways to prolong your life, assuming no pissed of motor vehicles run you down.

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but our car culture drives me absolutely insane. One of the reasons we left the south (among many) was to find an area where biking to work was an acceptable means of transportation, and roads were set up with dedicated bike lanes and biking infrastructure.

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Cars are important in America because we have a huge swath of land. Biking to work isn't going to be ideal for most workers.

Who is downvoting this? Maybe google some maps.

My BMI is around 23, but you'd think it was like 15 if you look at me in a crowd with most others in my community.

"Science" and the FDA decided fat was a killer and preached low fat - high fiber diet. Americans traded eggs/bacon/beef/etc and replaced them with carbs which are converted to sugar. Obesity and diabetes soon followed.

I remember when NFL lineman were listed at 250 and I thought that was a HUGE individual.