How we’ve come to believe that overeating causes obesity

[undergroundpanther]

The bipartisan Mississippi legislation, which proposed to ban restaurants from serving fat people purportedly to help them lose weight, has highlighted the most popular misconception about fat people. One that even a lot of fat people have been led to believe: that they overeat and that’s why they’re obese.

This concept has been drilled into us and “everybody knows” it to be true. But is it? Suppose we’ve been convinced of this by the continuation of a fundamental misinterpretation of anecdotal evidence and certain studies — suggesting that a correlation between overeating and some obese people means that overeating causes obesity. You’re about to learn that this common fallacy of logic is precisely what has misled conventional wisdom to believe something that isn’t true — when, in fact, the science and far sounder clinical research for more than half a century has disproven it.

In a cruel twist, it is the solution to this belief that has created the very perception of “overeating” popularly pinned on fat people.



http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-weve-came-to-believe-that.html

[melody]

1. Only fat people know the truth and thin people will not believe us

In a hundred years, medical science will feel horrible about how fat people have been treated. It won't be soon enough to help me but maybe it will my niece.

[Fran Kubelik]

2. Um. I am overweight and I know it's because I overeat and don't exercise enough.

Or are you saying I'm being brainwashed?

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Same here. I also know I way overeat. However, I also think that

the quality of food that I can afford does me no favors.

[alarimer]

33. And the sheer quantity in restaurants is also a big problem.

Apparently we don't feel we are getting out money's worth if there isn't enough food for three people on the plate. And we eat it all too (eventually at least) because we have all been taught to clean our plate.

And some say HFCS is also a problem. It might be; it's in everything.

The simple equation is that if you take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Everyone usually underestimates how much they eat (I know I do).

[hendo]

9. I was overweight, and i did overeat

then i went on a diet. I am now in my proper weight range, I feel better, and I eat better.

Then again, I was probably brainwashed too.

All that fat that i lost must have been brainwashed also. Damn all those brainwashing diet programs, the even convinced my body that eating less and working out would help me lose weight.

Sure, not all people who over eat aare obese, and not all people who are obese overeat. But there is a very strong correlation between being overweight and over eating.

More calories = more weight, unless they are offset by exercise.

[SmileyRose]

20. I bet you 10 bucks I eat triple what you eat and exercise the same or less

It's finally catching up with me. I'm about 5 pounds overweight at nearly 50 yr old and I've creeped on about half a pound a year over the last 10 years. I eat constantly. I'm HUNGRY constantly. I was always the skinny minnie and got no more or no less exercise than my siblings.

My sister was dinky until puberty hit and then kapow. She's struggled to say under 300# all her life. I lived with her a long time and I really do know her habits. She's by no means lazy, physically or otherwise, and eats far less than I do and far healthier. She's in the pool doing water aerobics 3 times a week and does everything she can think of to get more movement - take the steps, park way out you name it.

Calories is part of the equation but I've seen how it's only PART. Not all.

[Wapsie B]

3. It's easier for some to believe the tired myths about overeating and obesity.

Surely there has to be some socially-acceptable prejudices left. :sarcasm:

[gristy]

4. To the extent that if one is obese and one eats less one will lose weight, then yes,

overeating is a cause of obesity.

[nini]

6. They need to eat - even obese people need some substinance

this is stupid.

How about forcing restaurants to serve healthier food with smaller portions? The crap they put in their food and the huge portions have helped get the obesity problem out of control. (before anyone gets their underwear in a bunch, I'm NOT putting all the blame on the restaurant and know no one force feeds the obese)

[flvegan]

7. Absolute bollocks.

Blaming obesity on "overeating" removes far too many potential possibilities.

Overeating CAN be to blame for obesity, but it may not be the only/proper reason. Genetics, activity level, metabolism, hormones...it's just stupid.

I blame a lot of non-medical issue obesity on the lack of education on nutrition.

[nomorenomore08]

8. It's due to crap food as much as the amount eaten, that's for sure.

And it doesn't help that government subsidies have made it so that processed, HFCS-and-trans-fat-laden foods are affordable to the average struggling Joe or Jane, while a lot of REAL foods are outside the budget of these same folks.

[tridim]

10. Interesting article

Your post caught my attention because I've been on a weight gain diet for the past months. Eating 3,600 (mostly nutritious) calories a day is really a chore.

[SmileyRose]

21. GREAT SIG PIC!!

[electron_blue]

11. Is there a scientific study that shows obese people who are only eating 2000 calories

or less a day? Or some other number that is optimum to their height, body type and activity level? I am asking this in all seriousness. From what I've seen, overweight and obese people are all eating more calories than they need to maintain healthy body weight. I'm referring to people I know personally, obviously, which is only anecdotal. And I understand there are documented issues related to thyroid and other medical conditions that lead to weight gain, but for the vast majority of overweight and obese (who do not have thyroid and other issues), are they really not overeating? It wouldn't take much, in fact, it only takes an extra 250 cals/day to gain 25 lbs/year. In 10 yrs a person would be struggling significantly and may not think they're overeating at all, if they don't notice that extra 250 calories.

I'm not interested in starting a flame war, as I know this is a touchy subject, but I have just been looking for an answer to this for sometime now, as I lost 40 lbs several years ago and to me it seemed to directly correlated with what I ate, and I was shocked at how many more calories I ate than I thought (once I started counting calories).

[midnight armadillo]

17. I know why I'm overweight

I eat too much and move too little. I am back on an exercise routine and have actually joined WW. Me (age 33, male) and late 40s-50s women. It's a bit of a fish-out-of-water experience but hey, my pot belly ain't going away on its own volition.

[Codeine]

23. It's probably best not to even start, electron_blue.

People lose all rationality when this discussion starts here. Basic physics and the laws of thermodynamics seemingly don't apply to the human body according to a very vocal group here.

[piedmont]

12. What's so hard to understand about an energy budget?

Spend more calories than you take in and you lose weight. Do the opposite and your body stores the excess as fat.

[electron_blue]

14. I know, this is what I don't understand. From a physics point of view, I don't see where this

extra energy is coming from.

[Mojorabbit]

22. It has to be done right

I lost my appetite several years ago and gained weight. My doc said that when you don't eat regularly throughout the day your body thinks it is in starvation mode and converts everything to fat. I still have to force myself to eat breakfast and small meals throughout the day as I don't have the appetite. When I eat more spaced out through the day I lose weight. When I eat once a day, I gain weight.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. What stage are you in?

If you are moderately obese, yes overeating will lead you there

What is more, if you TRACK the caloric input of obese people, you'd be shocked

Now if you want to believe that sciency stuff is not real... your issue...

[Codeine]

24. Very true.

Few people are aware of the amount of calories they eat; they don't understand how to measure portions or are simply dishonest even with themselves about it. Show a person an actual serving of food and they will freak -- the normal portions served even to children, in restaurants AND at home, are ludicrously large.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. I know, a single bagel, depending on the size is anywhere from two to

three portions of bread

[Cleita]

15. Somehow I felt something like this would happen when the nanny police

started getting a foothold, first with the smokers. It won't stop here. Restaurant owners should band together to fight this.

[Arugula Latte]

16. ...

:popcorn:

[1]

18. i don't buy this. but its just from using my own body as my own personal lab over the years...

i know for a fact if i restrict my caloric intake i can contain my weight.

if i also increase my physical activity i can reduce my weight.

anecdotal, i know, its just my experience. take it, leave it, it is my own experience.

but i can be as thin or as fat as i choose to be. it just depends on my motivation...

[Hekate]

19. I certainly had an epiphany regarding my own weight when I lost my cravings w/in 2 weeks of...

... ceasing a medication I had been on for close to 20 years.

And I am more than a little pissed off that after years of doctors helping me to blame myself (I do remember every forkful, every midnight run) and especially my wondering what was wrong with me mentally that I could not control what I privately called "these insane cravings" -- more than a little pissed off that at least three separate doctors in the past year have said, "Oh yes, that medication is notorious for causing weight gain."

I started as a slender woman. I ultimately gained 60 pounds.

Then the cravings were suddenly gone. I stabilized. This April I decided (based on what I have learned here at DU) to read all the labels for HFCS, and also decided (based on my doc's advice) I could live without bread, rice, and potatoes. The less I ate of all of those products, the less hungry I felt. The less hungry I felt, the less I even wanted those products. I'm not on a diet, much less, gods forbid, the Atkins diet. But I have lost 15 pounds since April.

This thread will ultimately devolve into a huge flame-fest of disgust toward the obese. This topic always does. But just maybe someone will read my post and learn something. Maybe someone will read my post and take heart.

We don't know everything that we think we know, do we?

Hekate

[gristy]

26. So far so good on this thread

And congratulations on your discovery! :)

[Dorian Gray]

25. I lost 50 lbs in the last year and a half.

Diet and exercise. Taking in fewer calories than I burn.

I know that there are cases where people have thyroid disorders (I was recently diagnosed with anti-bodies that attack my thyroid, a pre-cursor to Hashimoto's), but with proper medical guidance the majority (not all) overweight people should be able to lose weight, if they so choose to do so. (If you love your body, then embrace it and love it!)

I was unhappy at my prior weight. I felt exhausted all the time. I lacked energy. I was depressed. Now I feel great. I have plans to lose about 20 or so more lbs,

I use my own experience only to encourage those who may feel hopeless. It sucks, but it can be done. And if there is an underlying condition, seek medical help in order to tackle those issues. An underactive thyroid is painfully difficult, but my friend has been on medication for Hashimoto's for years, and she's managed to keep her weight at a healthy level.

Good luck to everyone, whether they want to lose or whether they are happy with their bodies as they are. :)

[Codeine]

30. Congratulations!

:hi: Taking control of our health is the most important thing any of us can do.

[Dorian Gray]

34. Thank you

It sucks at times. But it's worth it. :)

The hardest part was getting past the emotional hurdles and excuse-making that I made. I know that the process is different for everyone, though,
and I'm certainly no one to judge being overweight. But it can be done (for most people) with some hard work. I would get the advice of a good
doctor, first, though. That is what spurred me on the proper road to health and nutrition.

[cobalt1999]

27. Interesting article.

Actually, it is the best I've seen on the long term effects of starvation.

My grandfather was a POW in WWII. He sometimes joked about one guy in his unit that was very overweight and claimed it was genetic and he couldn't lose weight. Later after many months in captivity, the guy was a skinny as the rest of them.

My grandfather stayed skinny as a rail his entire life, but he was always entirely focused on his plate at dinner. No conversation until that plate was wiped totally clean. If he didn't work so hard, he'd have been really overweight too.

[Marr]

28. Eh? Overreating *does* cause obesity.

It's not the only thing that causes it, of course-- but eating too much and moving too little will definitely cause obesity.

[TahitiNut]

31. I tend to think of it as "under-metabolizing."

:shrug:

[crickets]

32. That was a powerful article,

packed with solid scientific information that belies some of the obesity myths that are still around today. Sure, if you habitually eat more than necessary you'll likely gain weight, but the concept in and of itself is an oversimplification. As the article explains, why and how people lose or gain weight is too complex to be described by a single word like 'dieting' or 'overeating.' Bookmarked.

[protect our future]

35. Poverty can cause obesity.

You have no money to go anywhere and can't afford the gas, so you sit around & watch TV. Maybe you don't even have a car.

You can't afford food that will keep weight off and be good tasting at the same time. Like fresh salads, lean meat. So you eat fatty meats, beans, and lots of pasta & cheap carbs.

You get so depressed because you're in poverty that you become sedentary rather than active. You don't have the energy to exercise or walk. You're so depressed you're liable to spend what money you do have on junk food just to make yourself feel better for an instant.

I am very familiar with poverty.

I haven't clicked on the link in the original post and I don't know what it says. I learned how poverty causes obesity while living in poverty and raising my son. That was long ago, and I'm glad it is over.

[My Good Babushka]

36. I have read that stress is one of the main culprits

People who are under constant stress gain weight. I suppose historically, much stress humans endured had to do with acquiring enough food. So stress sends signals to the body that it's time to store up fat. That would explain why living in poverty will make you fat. It makes sense to me, you can't just short circuit that kind of evolutionary planning.

[nashville_brook]

37. thank you for the amazing read. this study perfectly describes sociopathy.

on every level.