[AntiGuv]

You are absolutely right. And, I think most of it comes down to high fructose corn syrup, to be exact. For a long time I wondered how I could eat like there's no tomorrow and gain hardly any fat-weight. I've realized it's primarily because I've hardly ever cared to eat processed foods (granted, I'm sure a got at least a bit of an assist from genetics). A few years ago when I identified and ditched my one regular source of corn syrup (Pepsi) I swiftly dropped the few extra pounds I didn't want without changing anything else. Then, not long ago I concluded that aspartame was very likely a health threat, and I had to ditch colas altogether. =(

But, getting back to the real point, if our government weren't so thoroughly corrupt they would approve stevia and end the sugar cane subsidies and the obesity epidemic would be all but over IMHO.

[applpie]

And how EXACTLY is this sandwich any more deadly than your average restaurant trans-fat ladened 5 mile high super chocolate dessert or a typical Denny's bacon, sausage, AND ham breakfast? Just another scapegoat. Strip off that roll and you have a perfect Atkins breakfast.

Gee, I even made myself hungry.

[Nataku X]

Yup, you're exactly right. I keep hearing, "we eat so much more than we do in the past", whereas in reality we eat much less. Who eats three squares a day anymore? It's coffee for breakfast, a salad or soup or sandwich for lunch, and the only square meal is dinner. If you look at the meals people used to eat in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, it's amazing how much they chowed down.

Ruby Tuesday's tried putting nutrition information in their menus for a short while. It was very illuminating. Basically, the steamed vegetable platter withOUT the mashed potatoes had more calories than the 6 ounce sirlion. As long as you don't order more than 16 ounces, and you don't order a T-Bone, you'll lose weight eating steak and salad. Skip the roll. You'll also lose weight eating scrambled eggs & bacon at Denny's.

I appear as a glutton to other people, chowing down fatty foods, simply because I am educated about my food choices. I look like I'm one of those lucky skinny people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight, but in reality I have inherited hypothroidism.

[Freebird Forever]

if our government weren't so thoroughly corrupt they would approve stevia

I mix stevia with unsweetened cranberry juice. It's been a healthy combination for me so far.

[kevkrom]

I think most of it comes down to high fructose corn syrup

I've become convinced that HFCS needs to be banned by Constitutional Amendment for anything not specifically marketed as "candy". (Ok, I'm kidding, but only just barely...)

[L,TOWM]

I believe Diet Rite Cola uses Sucralose, not asparatine as a sweetner.

[SamAdams76]

Well I've told the story here a hundred times so I won't bore everybody again with the details. But I had a life-changing event in 2003 (the development of Type II diabetes) that woke me up and made me stop eating junk and start exercising.

On April 1, 2003, I decided that I would no longer eat foods containing high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated vegetable oils and eat mainly whole, natural foods. This pretty much elimates ALL prepackaged supermarket foods by the way. I also began to wear a pedometer so that I could walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every day (roughly 5 miles).

Long story short, I stuck to the plan and lost over 100 pounds. More importantly, all traces of Type II diabetes was eliminated from my system. The doctor was stunned.

I am coming up on my two-year anniverary and I still feel great. Eating natural foods and walking at least two hours a day (at a brisk pace). That's the magic bullet.

I am convinced that HFCS and hydrogenated vegetable oils are very bad for the human body.