Posted on 01/02/2005 12:04:52 AM PST by neverdem
Good point about shrimp being inexpensive there. And yes it is a great diet meal.
Don't agree with the HFCS theory--you'd have to disprove the sheer lack of exercise first. Kids don't have playgrounds anymore because of lawsuits. Someone on FR was telling me about how some kids can't even have friends over anymore because if something happened to the friend, the parents would be hit with lawsuits. Kids aren't allowed to be kids. Etc etc.
That's true, but you have to spend some time going to buy the ingredients, spend some time preparing the meal, and spend some time cleaning up afterward. It sounds like it's just too inconvenient for these folks to go to all that trouble.
There's your answer right there. Why is this a big "mystery?"
The Hispanic fertility rate in the US is about 3.0 children per woman, which is almost twice the Caucasian fertility rate. If "thrifty genes" really are the cause of much Hispanic obesity, and if Hispanics are having twice as many kids (almost) as the general population, *do the math.*
Further, unlike the past, there's no strong negative selection pressure *against* those children that have the most obesity-causing genes. In the non-medical past, those at the extreme would have developed Type 2 diabetes and died without passing on their genes (assuming they even got enough to eat to develop diabetes in the first place.)
In any case, in this medicalized society, those who develop Type 2 early on *will* probably go on to have children. Combined with the higher fertility rate, it's no surprise that the rates of both obesity and diabetes are increasing *in this population set.*
Shrimp has gotten a lot cheaper over the years. Shrimp scampi is basically shrimp sauteed with garlic and some bread crumbs. The shrimp itself is almost pure protein; the bread crumbs provide far fewer carbs than deep-fried shrimp. You get a few calories from the butter or oil used to saute it, but again, it's less than deep-fried. The garlic probably has a protective effect on the heart and circulatory system. The child may actually be craving the garlic and may need more protein than she's getting.
But that's how "thrifty genes" work. There are about 60-80 that have been identified. When someone has the "full load," they do NOT have to overeat to get or stay fat. The body is incredibly efficient at storing energy.
If this is a New Yorker poking fun at flyover country, I do have to admit that Manhattan contains many beautiful, fit and slender ladies...is this article worth reading?
I suppose I shouldn't suggest paper plates should I?
Really it is sad, it takes very little time to sit down and work out quick and healthy meals. By the time you add in the "Sitting in the drive thru" time you would probably spend less time shopping, cooking and cleaning up. Not to mention all the money you save.
Just a lack of exercise alone doesn't cause young kids to be a type 2 diabetic or obese. Lack of exercise is a factor but the diet changed with the advent of the food guide pyramid. Fat became anathema and carbohydrates were the healthiest foods you could eat, so they said. The food companies took out the fat and added HFCS to *everything* to add back flavor and volume.
The thing is a constant consumption of HFCS causes the pancreas to continuously release insulin and insulin is a fat storing hormone.
I will give you an example from my family about simply changing diet can control the insulin spikes and assist with weight loss. My brother's blood sugar spiked to over 550 and nothing was bringing it down. I told him to give strict Atkins induction a chance and he did because he did not want to be hospitalized. Within two weeks his blood sugar levels were in the normal range, and he's lost almost sixty pounds in the last 3 months.
I know many many other diabetics who have gotten their blood sugar levels back to normal by getting off of refined carbs, primarily HFCS and white flour, and they are losing weight in the process. There is a correlation to the rapid rise in obesity with the use of the food guide pyramid and the massive use of HFCS.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4808249/
http://www.iotf.org/media/syrup.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?language=printer
http://www.diabetic-help.com/study_blames_corn_syrup_for_rise.htm
You've been watching Rachael Ray? LOL
Every chance I get! She's just so cute and perky!
Although I do have to say, the "E-V-O-O" bothers me, and I don't know why!
Seriously though, I find that I can cook nearly anything I'm interested in eating in less than 30 minutes. Things that take longer can wait until the weekends.
Mark
I seem to recall that Snapple originally had sugar in it, but the taste changed when they switched to HFCS. Same with Coca-Cola. Although with Coke, at certain times of the year, if you really look for it, you can find "Kosher for Passover" Coke that has sugar, rather than HFCS, and it really does taste better.
Mark
Of course I forgot the main reason to use the HFCS and partially hydrogenated fats, they are cheap, cheap, cheap.
I think it is because she follows EVOO up by saying Extra virgin olive oil....every bloody time she uses it during the show.
I counted in one show she said it 6 times.
I like the show but it annoys me so much that I can't watch it unless she is making something I would be interested in.
She is tolerable in her $40 a day show, but can't stand her new show where she interrupts the celebs a lot.
popular in parts of PA.
I like your post. When I was a kid, we ate the same way but did not get fat. Why? Well we went out in the morning, or after school, we played all around town and sometimes forgot to come home at dinner time. Kids can't roam like we did, because society has lost the attitude that kids should be protected and drugs and crime are everywhere looking to hook kids into their downward spiral.
Even in college we joined teams and worked out so hard that sometimes I was too tired to eat dinner. I stopped working out as I aged and now have too much weight for my frame. But I was not a fat kid, because I was busy. Kids need to do more activity, and be busier. And knock off the TV.
Hell I remember it was CRUEL to be trapped in the house as a kid...we were out the door after breakfast and back home in time for dinner...
Valid points. I have "Thrifty genes" I store fat easily and will easily survive a long bout with illness. People with my genes should not be allowed to eat anything we have not run down and killed with our bare hands. Becoming an engineer was one of the big mistakes as I should have been in a job that required physical labor and lots of time our of doors. Of course I am smart enough to know that I need more exercise and need to eat less. (Maybe this year?)
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
in looking at a recent book I bought called "Strange days,dangerous nights",(it's about St.Paul and newpaper
photography back in the early/mid 20th century) nearly everyone
smoked in all the pictures and NOBODY was fat.
Maybe we just replaced one vice with another? Chain smokers
ARE generally thin folks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.