4 thoughts on “The Modern Diet”

  1. I think there might be a glaring flaw in some of the charts, in that they show things like an increase in per capita calorie consumption corresponding to a large rise in obesity, without correcting for the fact that all those fat people would eat a whole lot more food, driving up per capita calorie consumption. So was the increase in calorie consumption the cause or the effect?

  2. The obesity epidemic is strongest in the U.S. and it started in the 1970s. I blame the cyclamate ban.

    OTOH, in addition to expanding waistlines, the heart-disease mortality rate has been declining. Did some of the decried changes cause that?

  3. I found an interesting article:

    “18 Restaurant Secrets From Cities Around the U.S”
    http://www.zagat.com/b/restaurant-secrets-from-around-the-u.s/?utm_source=disqus&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=desktopbuzz

    These restuarants general price themselves to be exclusive. So far so good right? … look at this comment:

    “Elitist exclusivity should be a crime. And no sane person would spend 20 bucks on one drink when you can get a decent bottle and drink at home for the same price. I think anyone with that much disposable income should be forced to share it with the 99% who aren’t multi-millionaires.”

    Only in America can nutballs like this have a computer to spread such insanity.

  4. One thing that this chart ignores is that there are other changes that occurred in this period. People live longer and they are taller on average. A big reason for this is increased meat, milk, and yes processed flour consumption. Whole wheat has anti-vitamins which contribute to diseases like rickets. Every single time I heard someone say nonsense that I have to eat brown bread I can only shudder at disgust at them.

    So yes people are fatter and processed foods have a lot of crap in it. The worst issue is that you can’t even choose something without, say, high fructose corn syrup if you want to. You can keep searching the supermarket shelves. It just is not there. You have to make it yourself. That is the problem. I think if someone made a food brand which used real sugar and real oils and real butter they could corner a wealthy niche market.

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