
Food Swamps Increase Obesity Rates - joeyespo
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/12/food-swamps/549275/?single_page=true
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maxharris
The article features an image of the KFC "double down." The idea that this
should be the emblem of the obesity crisis has no credibility with me, because
the true cause of obesity is sugar (specifically fructose), _not_ lipids.

See
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM)
\- fructose specifically dysregulates appetite feedback loops between the gut,
liver and brain. The only healthy way to consume fructose is when it is
trapped in a great deal of fiber, which limits this effect. And the only way
to do that is to eat it in the form of fresh fruit that has not been processed
in any way (i.e., frozen, chopped up, etc.)

So the primary thing wrong with the KFC double down is the fructose in the
bacon and the mayo-like goop they put into the middle. But compared to a
milkshake, or a Big Mac, it's actually pretty healthy, _if_ you ask for it
without the bacon and "sauce." At least as of two years ago, KFC's original
recipe batter had no sugar added to it. (NB: The "extra tasty crispy" batter
_does_ contain sugar!)

Also, did you know that food labels routinely lie about sugar content? Turns
out that the USDA allows anything <1g per serving to be rounded down to 0g! Do
this with enough servings, and you'll run well past the safe daily fructose
limit. Also they permit fructose to under something like 60+ different names.
My way of dealing with this is to _refuse_ to eat any food containing any
amount of it, even if it is at the very end of the ingredients list. And when
in doubt, I ask the restaurant/grocery store/relative about what's in the
sauce. Don't leave anything to chance!

The result is that I'm quite fit at age 37, and I've managed to stay this way
for about a decade. Many other people my age have rolls of fat hanging off
their bodies, and they are very sad about it...

At any rate, there is no substitute for educating oneself, studying chemistry,
biochemistry, reading labels, keeping up-to-date with the facts. If you don't
put the effort in, you're not going to get the results you want back out.

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dbyington
Until we can get past the fast-cheap-easy mindset Food Swamps will continue to
dominate the landscape of many towns. Slowing down and putting more importance
on what we eat should be a priority.

~~~
peatmoss
There’s also a major interaction with poverty. From a dollars per calorie
perspective, fast food can be a great bargain... at the expense of nutrition
of course.

Similarly, healthy foods can be a luxury from a time-to-prepare perspective.
Toasting walnuts, chopping kale, and dicing pears for a totally rockin’ macro
nutrient side salad is something that someone with two jobs just isn’t going
to do.

Why are the fast, unhealthy things cheap? Some of it is government
agricultural subsidy structure. Some of it is comparative shelf life. There
are probably others as well.

~~~
dbyington
nail->head

Cheap-fast options put money into the pockets of those who provide those
options. The markup is ridiculous. The staff make little to nothing.

It wasn't until the 2015 Dietary Recommendations for Americans that any agency
that fresh food is better, in many ways, than packaged foods. This was a
glimmer of hope. But, while the American government continues to benefit
corporations and not individuals we will probably see little improvement.

