Yes, discipline is needed, but knowledge helps too, because it shows some of the directions in which discipline may be applied, for example:
One can learn that carb and fructose-rich foods are addictive and cause diabetes when consumed in excess.
One can learn that drinking alcohol just before eating causes the liver to prioritise metabolising alcohol and the other calories go into visceral fat (the so-called 'beer belly').
One can learn that eating just before bed or when one is normally asleep puts strain on the heart and causes fat to be laid down (importance of circadian rhythms).
One can learn that people who aren't even slightly fat are killing themselves from drug overdose, which may seem irrelevant until one recalls that many people eat for comfort. (So this is a personal/mental problem as well as a physiological one.)
All of those are absolutely miniscule when compared to the effect of undermoving and overeating.
The carb/fructose thing is scaremongering. Type 1 diabetes is genetic, type 2 partially genetic, and is not caused solely by carbs/fructose. One of its factors is a generally poor-quality diet, but saturated/trans fat intake plays a larger role than sugars. And all of that is completely dwarfed by the influence of obesity on the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes.
Drinking alcohol does make your body prioritize metabolizing it first, but alcohol also slows down digestion and can make you feel fuller for longer, leading to a decreased food intake. "Beer belly" is a myth.
Eating at night or before going to be is not unhealthier than eating during the day. That has been debunked countless times.
Food addiction is a real thing, however. And unlike tobacco or alcohol, you can't go "cold turkey" (haha) on food and just stop eating. You need rules, motivation and backup.
Yes, it's SA, notorious for its bad comedy forums. But the exercise and diet forum is seriously quality stuff, with hundreds of success stories of fat nerds getting in shape, and keeping it.
“One can learn that people who aren't even slightly fat are killing themselves from drug overdose, which may seem irrelevant until one recalls that many people eat for comfort. (So this is a personal/mental problem as well as a physiological one.)“
Well, people eat for comfort and pleasure, as well as for calories, and some people get addicted to food. So I think if we understood addiction and how to cure it then this might automatically solve the obesity epidemic as well as the drug problem.
One can learn that carb and fructose-rich foods are addictive and cause diabetes when consumed in excess.
One can learn that drinking alcohol just before eating causes the liver to prioritise metabolising alcohol and the other calories go into visceral fat (the so-called 'beer belly').
One can learn that eating just before bed or when one is normally asleep puts strain on the heart and causes fat to be laid down (importance of circadian rhythms).
One can learn that people who aren't even slightly fat are killing themselves from drug overdose, which may seem irrelevant until one recalls that many people eat for comfort. (So this is a personal/mental problem as well as a physiological one.)