# How would YOU solve the obesity crisis? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746 "2015-04-28T21:13:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/101 "2015-04-30T17:56:19Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Cite? [http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.short](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.short) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/102 "2015-04-30T18:08:52Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > My favorite and closest to “Microbiome uber alles” was the idiot (described as a scientist - go figure) That “Idiot” has published dozens of papers on the subject, including ones in such prestigious peer-reviewed publications like British Journal of Nutrition and the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. > **[High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric...](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/high-dietary-intake-of-prebiotic-inulintype-fructans-in-the-prehistoric-chihuahuan-desert/FFAA744AB1F22B66429E3E2F8F79A41B)** > > High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert - Volume 103 Issue 11 [http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n1/abs/1602486a.html](http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n1/abs/1602486a.html) How many peer reviewed papers have _you_ published? The experiment you pooh-pooh was carried on in conjunction with: \*The project includes a talented team of collaborators from New York University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Stanford, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Western University & Lawson Health Research Center in Canada, and several researchers from the National Institute of Medical Research in Tanzania. \* He had a hypothesis, and he tested it- that’s science. The dude knows his shit- both literally and figuratively. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/103 "2015-04-30T18:16:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > [http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.short](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.short) That cite doesn’t say anything to support your claim that “HFCS has a extremely low satiety index (much lower than sugar).” Most HFCS has only 5% more fructose than table sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/104 "2015-04-30T18:20:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That “Idiot” has published dozens of papers on the subject, including ones in such prestigious peer-reviewed publications like British Journal of Nutrition and the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. > [High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert | British Journal of Nutrition | Cambridge Core](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7793089) > [Evolutionary perspective on dietary intake of fibre and colorectal cancer | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition](http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n1/abs/1602486a.html) > > How many peer reviewed papers have _you_ published? > > The experiment you pooh-pooh was carried on in conjunction with: \*The project includes a talented team of collaborators from New York University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Stanford, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Western University & Lawson Health Research Center in Canada, and several researchers from the National Institute of Medical Research in Tanzania. \* He had a hypothesis, and he tested it- that’s science. > > The dude knows his shit- both literally and figuratively. I completely agree with you here though. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/105 "2015-04-30T18:21:05Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > That cite doesn’t say anything to support your claim that “HFCS has a extremely low satiety index (much lower than sugar).” Most HFCS has only 5% more fructose than table sugar. Yes it does:_The digestion, absorption, and metabolism of fructose differ from those of glucose. Hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis. In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain._ ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/106 "2015-04-30T19:10:27Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > I currently attend the College of Public Health at my university, and nobody has yet mentioned the most important solutions, according to our profs and guest speakers: > > Stop building American cities in such a way that they encourage hopping in a car for even short trips, and discourage being a pedestrian or bicyclist. Make sure there are green spaces, walking/bike paths, playgrounds, etc. Build neighborhoods so that it’s easy to walk to the corner store for things, instead of having to jump in the car and drive to a large shopping center every time. In other words, build exercise into the daily lifestyle. Make it safe to be a pedestrian or a bicyclist, instead of a driver. Stop suburban sprawl and build actual mixed-use neighborhoods. > > Companies that pay for health insurance for employees should offer healthy food options at cost in cafeterias and easy-to-access, enjoyable exercise facilities, because this lowers health care costs. And stop arresting parents for sending their children outside or off to the park to play. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/107 "2015-04-30T19:50:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes it does:_The digestion, absorption, and metabolism of fructose differ from those of glucose. Hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis. In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight, this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain._ Obviously you don’t understand the difference between glucose and sucrose. HFCS and table sugar (sucrose) have nearly identical amounts of fructose. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/108 "2015-04-30T20:20:12Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > If car culture and urban planning were a significant factor I would think obesity rates should have exploded much earlier, in the '40s and '50s. > > Workers have been increasingly sedentary since the industrial revolution, though back then people often walked several miles to work. But jobs where you just plop down and push paper all day predate the obesity epidemic by decades. > > I don’t know how accepted the idea is as a causative factor vs. a correlation, but for years now I’ve been seeing articles [like this](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/) making the case for the gut microbiome playing a key role. > > Things that negatively affect it: > > 1. Diet high in refined carbs. > 2. Born by c-section (America has a high rate of c-sections compared to other countries). > 3. Formula feeding instead of breast feeding (from a quick and dirty google, it seems like formula feeding actually peaked in the middle 20th century, and breast feeding became more popular in the 70s and beyond, except in poorer communities). > 4. Antibiotics. I work in a semi-factory job and even those jobs where one must be on a line the amount of physical labor involved has decreased due to increases in automation and ergonomic initiatives. Ex. less lifting and bending. Many of our line workers just monitor a machine. Even in construction things have changed. Ex. nail guns vs. using just hammers. And there is more and better equipment to use. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/109 "2015-04-30T20:21:55Z")
When people eat too much or eat the wrong food it is not so unlike those of us who drink too much or engage in other destructive behaviors. We are obviously lacking somewhere else and use our vices in an attempt to make us feel better. Mapping the exact way our chemical compounds are produced and what produces them would be impossible at this time but is not really neccessary, we have a good working knowledge of how to supply ourselves emotionally in areas we are lacking but for some reason we seem to lack the resources or the availability od such activities seems evasive. ``` Doing more to give the everyday person more access to healthy productive social enviroments would help immensely with the war on obesity. ``` ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/110 "2015-04-30T20:40:35Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Obviously you don’t understand the difference between glucose and sucrose. HFCS and table sugar (sucrose) have nearly identical amounts of fructose. Within 5%, but “_Obviously you don’t understand_” how the body treats Fructose is different than Sucrose. > **[Fructose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose)** > > Fructose (/ˈfrʌktoʊs, -oʊz/), or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed by the gut directly into the blood of the portal vein during digestion. The liver then converts most fructose and galactose into glucose for distribution in the bloodstream or deposition into glycogen. > Fructose was discovered by French... \*Free fructose is absorbed directly by the intestine. When fructose is consumed in the form of sucrose, it is digested (broken down) and then absorbed as free fructose. As sucrose comes into contact with the membrane of the small intestine, the enzyme sucrase catalyzes the cleavage of sucrose to yield one glucose unit and one fructose unit, which are then each absorbed. After absorption, it enters the hepatic portal vein and is directed toward the liver…Excess fructose consumption has been hypothesized to be a cause of insulin resistance, obesity,[43] elevated LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, leading to metabolic syndrome.[44] In preliminary research, fructose consumption was correlated with obesity.[45][46] A study in mice showed that a high fructose intake may increase adiposity.[47] Although all simple sugars have nearly identical chemical formulae, each has distinct chemical properties. This can be illustrated with pure fructose. A journal article reports that, “…fructose given alone increased the blood glucose almost as much as a similar amount of glucose (78% of the glucose-alone area)”.[48][49][50][50][51]\* > **[High-fructose corn syrup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup#Comparison_to_other_sweeteners)** > > High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzymes. To make HFCS, the corn syrup is further processed by D-xylose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose. HFCS was first marketed in the early 1970s by the Clinton Corn Processing Company, together with the Japanese Agency of Industrial Sci As ... \*Cane sugar and beet sugar are both relatively pure sucrose. While glucose and fructose (the two components of HFCS) are monosaccharides, sucrose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose linked together with a relatively weak glycosidic bond. The fact that sucrose, glucose, and fructose are unique, distinct molecules complicates the comparison between cane and beet sugar (sucrose) and HFCS \* ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/111 "2015-04-30T20:57:22Z")
AFAIK the US is the only place where high fructose corn syrup is omnipresent, because of subsidies/tariffs on corn (maize) vs sugar. And even though the US is leading the industrialized world in obesity rates, some of the rest (like the UK) isn’t far behind. So it doesn’t seem that HFCS is the smoking gun. And the obesity problem has gotten enough attention that IF there were a smoking gun, it would have been found by now. My personal belief (as in, it sounds convincing to me, but there’s not enough evidence to be sure) is that food palatability is a big contributor to the problem: today’s food just tastes so good that it’s hard to eat just a little of it. Exercise is only a small part of the picture. You can’t outrun a bad diet. Specific types of food may contribute, but aren’t the answer by themselves. For any type of “bad” food, it’s easy enough to find normal weight people that regularly eat it. But one thing is for sure: if you drink sugary (soft) drinks every day, that does NOT help. So either get rid of those or switch to the artificially sweetened type. Another is portion size. I’m convinced obese people who haven’t seriously tried to diet have _no idea_ what reasonable portion sizes are. This is something we can teach kids, both academically and by example. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/112 "2015-04-30T21:12:46Z")
> [@esmeralda2](#): > > I’ve taught high school in the US and in Europe. The difference in the obesity rate among kids in the States and in Europe is astounding. A very small percentage of kids in Europe are obese compared to the US. … Yet [the curves](http://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/obesityandtheeconomicsofpreventionfitnotfat-unitedkingdomenglandkeyfacts.htm) increasing over the past decades parallel each other as do many of the disparities based on race, ethnicity, education level, and income. When I’ve been in Europe I’ve been impressed by the acceptance of body types and have never seen the fat shaming that occurs here. So I guess cite please for the claim otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/113 "2015-04-30T21:18:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That “Idiot” has published dozens of papers on the subject, including ones in such prestigious peer-reviewed publications like British Journal of Nutrition and the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. > [High dietary intake of prebiotic inulin-type fructans in the prehistoric Chihuahuan Desert | British Journal of Nutrition | Cambridge Core](http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7793089) > [Evolutionary perspective on dietary intake of fibre and colorectal cancer | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition](http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n1/abs/1602486a.html) > > How many peer reviewed papers have _you_ published? > > The experiment you pooh-pooh was carried on in conjunction with: \*The project includes a talented team of collaborators from New York University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Stanford, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Western University & Lawson Health Research Center in Canada, and several researchers from the National Institute of Medical Research in Tanzania. \* He had a hypothesis, and he tested it- that’s science. > > The dude knows his shit- both literally and figuratively. I’ve published a few papers more than you I suspect … but just a few. I am a clinician not an academic. Nevertheless he is still an idiot and any academic group that endorsed that as an experiment is also being dumb. If the hypothesis is that the Hazda microbiome is appropriate for all people in all cultures across the world then it a very naive and simplistic one and there is no way that what he did is an experiment that tests that hypothesis. He is a credentialed and published idiot, but an idiot nevertheless. Okay, more precisely, he is someone who did an idiotic thing. Proves only that educated people can be dumb. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/114 "2015-04-30T21:23:07Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > AFAIK the US is the only place where high fructose corn syrup is omnipresent, because of subsidies/tariffs on corn (maize) vs sugar. And even though the US is leading the industrialized world in obesity rates, some of the rest (like the UK) isn’t far behind. So it doesn’t seem that HFCS is the smoking gun. > > And the obesity problem has gotten enough attention that IF there were a smoking gun, it would have been found by now. My personal belief (as in, it sounds convincing to me, but there’s not enough evidence to be sure) is that food palatability is a big contributor to the problem: today’s food just tastes so good that it’s hard to eat just a little of it. > > Exercise is only a small part of the picture. You can’t outrun a bad diet. Specific types of food may contribute, but aren’t the answer by themselves. For any type of “bad” food, it’s easy enough to find normal weight people that regularly eat it. > > But one thing is for sure: if you drink sugary (soft) drinks every day, that does NOT help. So either get rid of those or switch to the artificially sweetened type. > > Another is portion size. I’m convinced obese people who haven’t seriously tried to diet have _no idea_ what reasonable portion sizes are. This is something we can teach kids, both academically and by example. All this is true. But HFCS leads to large portions, which leads to obesity. And of course the rest of the obese world imports a lot of US food. And you are in agreement with Michael Pollan when you talk about how "yummy: modern processed food is- they aim it right at our pleasure centers and with the joys of stuff liek HFCS we keep eating even after we should feel full. But yeah- there’s no one thing, no _one_ “smoking gun”. HFCS is just a easy target- get rid of corn subsidies and you get rid of some HFCS- it even saves taxpayers money! It’s the one 'easy" target, which is why I am in favor of it. Probiotics, getting more fiber are also “easy”. Telling the food industry they can’t make the food tasty? Making kids get off the couch and exercise? Making portion sizes smaller? All good ideas- but hardly easy. Certainly I am in favor of promoting these things. But just cutting off the spigot of taxpayer cash to the corn industry could help. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/115 "2015-04-30T21:30:25Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I’ve published a few papers more than you I suspect … but just a few. I am a clinician not an academic. Nevertheless he is still an idiot and any academic group that endorsed that as an experiment is also being dumb. > > If the hypothesis is that the Hazda microbiome is appropriate for all people in all cultures across the world then it a very naive and simplistic one and there is no way that what he did is an experiment that tests that hypothesis. > > He is a credentialed and published idiot, but an idiot nevertheless. Okay, more precisely, he is someone who did an idiotic thing. Proves only that educated people can be dumb. In my case, three or four (in one case, the “publisher” is so small one could dismiss it :p). And _no_, that’s not his hypothesis at all. ._..hypothesis I wanted to test was one of microbial extinction, something I believe we all suffer from in the western world and may be at the root of what’s making us sick. Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello and Marty Blaser at NYU estimate from their decades of work in the US and among Amerindian populations in South America, that us modern humans have lost a third (or more) of the microbial diversity we once enjoyed. The Hadza data thus far suggest this number could be as high as half. So for me, and my little transplant experiment with a Hadza hunter gatherer still living at microbial ground zero for all humans, I wanted to know if my western diet and lifestyle could rapidly destroy this newly acquired diversity in a short period of time_ [http://humanfoodproject.com/rebecoming-human-happened-day-replaced-99-genes-body-hunter-gatherer/](http://humanfoodproject.com/rebecoming-human-happened-day-replaced-99-genes-body-hunter-gatherer/) microbial extinction [http://www.microbiomeinstitute.org/maria-gloria-dominguez-bello/](http://www.microbiomeinstitute.org/maria-gloria-dominguez-bello/) > **[Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=uFZJ02IAAAAJ&hl=en)** > > Professor of Biochemistry & Microbiology and Anthropology - Cited by 36,870 - Microbiome - Anthropology - Microbial Ecology - Conservation > **[Can we save our body's ecosystem from extinction?](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/theres-extinction-happening-stomach)** > > The sheer amount of bacteria in and on your body weighs three to four pounds, the same weight as the human brain. But overuse of antibiotics is threatening the microbes our guts need, and possibly giving rise to modern plagues. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/116 "2015-05-01T03:59:32Z")
Okay. Still dumb. Really amazingly stupid. N of one in which the you have changed not only the variables of the diet and the lifestyle but _the host_ and all of the genes and immunological history and adaptations between microbiome and host that have occurred over a lifetime. Following the microbiome in a Hazda tribesman who adopts a Western diet/lifestyle would potentially suggest an answer to the question. He hsn’t even first shown that it is possible under any circumstances to get that microbiome to persist for a reasonable length of time in its full diversity in a host that is not adapted to it and that it is not adapted for, even on a traditional Hazda diet and lifestyle. BTW reading that link the project that he was there for - studying the microbiome of the Hazda - had the institutional supports/endorsement listed. His little grandstanding self administered fecal transplant bit did _not_ get any institutional approval or endorsement. In fact he specifically notes that > [@](#): > > one hundred percent of the experts I consulted said don’t do it. His decision to move forward was his alone. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/117 "2015-05-01T04:07:47Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > … My personal belief (as in, it sounds convincing to me, but there’s not enough evidence to be sure) is that food palatability is a big contributor to the problem: today’s food just tastes so good that it’s hard to eat just a little of it. > > Exercise is only a small part of the picture. … Quite a few experts are with you there, adding in the other side of the equation as well: low satiety. Diets that are high in foods that are moderate in palatability and high in satiety are associated both with little obesity and a host of good health outcomes. Diets high in the creations of Big Food Inc., foods that are designed to be hyperpalatable and low in satiety, i.e., hit the brain centers than say “DO THIS MORE.” hard and hit the brain centers that say “FULLA UPPA. STOP.” hardly at all are associated with lots of obesity and lots of adverse health outcomes. The latter also causes actual changes to those very brain centers, including even with prenatal exposure. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/118 "2015-05-01T04:17:27Z")
I think I’d just tax food at some rate dependent on the number of calories in the item. I’m not sure how exactly, but essentially highly caloric items would have a much higher tax than less caloric ones, or more nutritious ones. Kind of like Weight Watchers’ points system, only as a taxation scheme, with the first 2 points of every item tax-free, and then on a progressive scale above that. Vegetables and fruits would be untaxed. So for example, a 12 oz soda might be taxed at 1/4 the rate of a 32 oz and 1/16 of the 64 oz one. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/119 "2015-05-01T04:55:29Z")
Re fructose - an excellent coverage of the subject is [here.](http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/is-sugar-really-toxic-sifting-through-the-evidence/) Some very good points made in the article - The liver can handle a reasonable amount of fructose at a time just fine but there is a threshold to its capacity. Foods with lots of added sugar (and **surreal** ’s point is echoed here) be it sucrose or HFCS, both roughly the same in terms of fructose amount, flood the liver with the fructose all at once. Real foods have the sugars bound up inside structures that are slowly broken down along with fiber (but not just the fiber) which means that the fructose does not reach the liver all at once. Lastly and echoing **iljitsch** ’s point, high amounts of added sugar are one means of making a food hyperpalatable while staying low satiety … which gets those so prone - which are many - to overeat them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746/120 "2015-05-01T05:49:15Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Okay. Still dumb. Really amazingly stupid. > BTW reading that link the project that he was there for - studying the microbiome of the Hazda - had the institutional supports/endorsement listed. His little grandstanding self administered fecal transplant bit did _not_ get any institutional approval or endorsement. In fact he specifically notes that His decision to move forward was his alone. _Foolhardy_, maybe, but like i said- anyone with that many papers cited is not dumb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-solve-the-obesity-crisis/718746.md?page=7)