Is it processed foods, sugary drinks, lack of activity or just too many calories? Today we have a thousand diet books telling us to eat this and not eat that, yet the obesity rate is still rising. Nothing seems to be working. Looking back to 1970 when the obesity rate was low compared with today, we can find the reasons for the rising obesity rate and learn how to lose weight and stop being obese in America.
The Obesity Rate Has Increased Dramatically Since 1960
Obesity in America has become the normal. This is not meant to be a derogatory statement towards people who are overweight. It is to show how so many of us became overweight without realizing it until we were overweight. A subtle change we weren’t even aware of as it was happening.
Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30. At this time, more than a third of American adults are obese and 17 percent of the children in America are obese.
The Availability of Food Since 1970
The availability of food and food choices per person has increased dramatically since 1970. If it is available, people will eat it, and it has made unhealthy food cheaper.
In 1970, there was 2,057 available calories per person per day and in 2008 there was 2,674 available calories. A 30 percent increase. Below are the increases in availability of certain food items since 1970.
- High fructose corn syrup (HFCS): + 9,585%
- Cheese: +329%
- Cooking and salad oils: +253%.
- Corn flour and corn meal increased by 177%
- Corn starch: +132%
- Carbonated soft drinks (non-diet): + 60%.
- White and whole wheat flour: + 20%
- Sugar availability: -35%
It is interesting to note that along with the decrease in sugar, there was a huge increase in high fructose corn syrup, which is now known to increase weight and harm the liver more so than regular sugar.
Calories and The Rising Obesity Rate
The daily recommended amount for women is still 2,000 calories per day and 2,500 calories for me.
Vegetable Oil Consumption and Increased Obesity
The main argument today that eating fat is healthy and not a main contributor to the increase in obesity is that ever since we were told fat is bad in the 1980s, we ate less fat and became more obese.
That is not the truth. In fact, Americans ate more and more fat, mainly in the form of vegetable oils. Oils used in all baked goods, salad dressings, and about everything else. Americans thought they were eating a healthy salad and then drenching the salad in spoonfuls of fattening oil.
Between 1970 and 2003, oil consumption increased 63%. That is not eating less fat and is most certainly a major contribution to the increase in obesity.
The large increase in cooking and salad oils also contributes to the rising obesity rate because most of these oils are soy and corn oils, which are very high in omega-6 fatty acids, which when combined with a large decrease in omega-3 in our diets leads to disease.
You can hardly pick up a package of food in any store without any kind of oil in the ingredients. And there are very few salad dressings without oil. The increase in the consumption of oil is possibly one of the main reasons in the increase in obesity since 1970.
Oil is nothing but fat and fat has twice the calories than either carbohydrates or protein does. Carbs and protein each have 4 calories per gram while fat (oil) has 9 calories per gram.
Over-Consumption and Obesity
According to the USDA 2000 Fact Book, Americans increased their caloric intake by 530 calories per day or 24.5 percent since 1970. You have to do a lot of exercises to burn an extra 530 calories per day.
The majority of that 24.5 percent increase in consumption was almost entirely in refined grains, added fats and oils and added sugars [USDA].
In 1970, people didn’t guzzle soda pop like it was water. Since 1978, soft drink consumption in the US has tripled for males and doubled for females. Males age 12-29 now drink over 160 gallons of soft drinks per year.According to the American Dental Association, Americans were consuming an average of 53 gallons of soft drinks per person every year in 2001. That is more than the consumption of water. Over the past 50 years in the US, soft drink consumption has increased by 500%.
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| Obesity Rate - CDC |
Corn: The Government and Cheap Food
Could the inflation of the mid-1970s with Americans screaming for cheaper food have started the obesity problem?
We have seen how the availability of high fructose corn syrup has risen dramatically and HFCS was cheaper than sugar by 1980.
The huge increase in fast food meals since 1970 could be a cause for the rising obesity rate, which some then blame on the huge increase in corn, since cheap corn in some form is probably in most items you buy at a grocery store or a fast food place.
Cheap corn is in the hamburgers, the buns, the soda pop and the sauces they use. There are conflicting studies as to whether or not HFCS causes us to gain more weight than sugar. Believable studies say that it does [Princeton].
In 1970, most meals were cooked at home. Today eating at fast food places or take out has almost tripled since 1970.
In 1970, we didn’t go to the grocery store and have thousands of high-sodium fattening processed food choices tempting us.
In 1970, we didn’t have so many chemically laden processed foods like we do today.
In 1970, most of our foods did not have a list of ingredients that only a chemist could understand. Real food has almost gone the way of black and white television.
I wonder if someone from 1955 ate one of today’s processed meals, would they even recognize the food or even like it. Very high sodium levels, high fructose corn syrup, and chemicals that weren’t even invented in the 1950s are today called food.
Could there be something about the chemicals in processed foods that causes weight gain or possibly causes us to not feel full and eat more.
The answer is yes, the chemicals in our foods do cause obesity. These chemicals are called obesogens and they disrupt our hormones and destroy the good gut bacteria in our digestion.
Do Processed Foods Cause Obesity
Yes, processed foods can lead to obesity. Scientist at Pomona College in California fed two groups of people the exact same amount of calories. The only difference was that one group’s calories came from processed foods and the other group’s calories came from whole foods.
Lack of Fiber and Obesity
The intake of fiber, especially from starches like potatoes, has decreased dramatically since 1900 and is thought to be another main cause of obesity.
The starch in the potato is not only healthy, but it also fills you up without adding empty calories, not to mention packed with vitamins and nutrients.
There is very little fiber in refined white grains like hamburger buns, donuts and other bad carbs and no fiber in animal foods or oil. Fiber is only found in vegetables, fruits, legumes, beans, tubers, and whole grains.
It has been found that the lack of fiber in a diet is one cause of obesity. According to the Journal of Nutrition, increasing dietary fiber significantly reduces the risk of gaining weight and fat.
Fiber is also important in building good gut bacteria. More and more studies are finding a link between a healthy gut microbiome(good gut bacteria) and lower levels of disease and obesity.
The Answer to the Rising Obesity Rate
The most obvious answer to the obesity question is that the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study is correct. It is not as hard as you think to eat or drink 500 fewer calories per day. A large fries is 500 calories right there.
The 1970 answer to the rising obesity rate is simply eating less, like people did in 1970. If you are overweight or obese and ate 500 fewer calories per day, that would equal 3,500 fewer calories per week.
The 1970 answer to obesity, cook more of your own meals at home. This way you can control the sodium, sugar, ingredients and portion size and avoid the chemicals. When you go to the grocery store, ignore all of those high sodium, fattening, and processed food and snack choices that really didn’t exist in 1970.
Getting back to eating real whole foods and ignoring all of the processed foods, junk foods, and fast foods will definitely help.
The problem is that many people do not want to change their way of eating. Mainly because they know that dieting doesn't work. You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight only to gain it all back again.
Eating a nutrition dense diet instead of a calorie dense diet is the best way to lose weight. And that is a high complex carb / low-fat way of eating. Potatoes can't make you fat, they don't have that many calories. But adding butter and sour cream can triple the calories.
We've been mislead all these years to believe that carbs are bad. Processed carbs like cakes, doughnuts, potato chips, etc are bad. But complex carbs are not bad and will cause weight gain or type 2 diabetes.
Conclusion
There are so many food choices today, that too many people seem to have lost their ability to say no to unhealthy food. All of the high sodium, fatty or sugary foods could become some kind of addiction for many or just a normal habit that has to be broken.
The answer to the obesity problem is right in front of us. Stop looking for magic diets, losing weight is not magical or a fast process.
Take a close and honest look at the foods and calories you eat daily. I am guessing you could easily cut out 500 excess calories. Break the junk food and processed food habit and the obesity problem could soon be a thing of the past.
About the Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Copyright © 2011-2019 Sam Montana
