# Rant: the War on Fat **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329 "2006-03-07T01:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/181 "2006-03-09T18:11:55Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > What about the recent revelations about high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners? One dietician names it as the number one way to get fat. I have noticed how people in latin america drink a lot of soda-and don’t get fat…is this because THEIR soda is sweetened with cane sugar? High fructose corn syrup is in a LOT (I’d probably say MOST) of the processed foods you eat: canned soups, frozen dinners, maybe some cookies, pasta sauce from a jar, cereal (maybe?), condiments, salad dressings from a jar. I don’t know if Latin America eats as much processed food as we do, but I doubt it. But also, you’re talking about people with a whole different level of prosperity, so there are other factors at play on top of how much corn syrup they ingest. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/182 "2006-03-09T18:23:42Z")
I have a friend who, for a while, decided to eat whatever he wanted. And this is a guy who thinks steak is a vegetable. His only restriction was that he could have no high-fructose corn syrup. He lost 50 pounds. I’ve wondered if corn in general is the problem. Corn is very much an American thing, as is the level of obesity here. I wonder if there is some correlation. Then again, if that were so, one would think we’d be seeing far more fat Mexiacans. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/183 "2006-03-09T18:31:48Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > The fact that the government continually lowers the bar for what is considered “fat” doesn’t help matters any. Well, it helps the docs who get to claim the treatments they provide the obese. But it does appear that the CDC info is based on BMI so presumably that’s consistent across years. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/184 "2006-03-09T19:32:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have a friend who, for a while, decided to eat whatever he wanted. And this is a guy who thinks steak is a vegetable. His only restriction was that he could have no high-fructose corn syrup. He lost 50 pounds. > > I’ve wondered if corn in general is the problem. Corn is very much an American thing, as is the level of obesity here. I wonder if there is some correlation. Then again, if that were so, one would think we’d be seeing far more fat Mexiacans. Why, you make it sound like corn’s just a quaint, cultural preference of ours, rather than the issuse being the oft-discussed, nearly unanimously disparaged [government subsidies](http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/02/22/philpott/) causing an overproduction of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/185 "2006-03-09T19:35:20Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have a friend who, for a while, decided to eat whatever he wanted. And this is a guy who thinks steak is a vegetable. His only restriction was that he could have no high-fructose corn syrup. He lost 50 pounds. > > I’ve wondered if corn in general is the problem. Corn is very much an American thing, as is the level of obesity here. I wonder if there is some correlation. Then again, if that were so, one would think we’d be seeing far more fat Mexiacans. It certainly seems possible. I’d tend towards fingering the fructose rather than the corn. > **[Effects of dietary fructose on liver steatosis in overfed mule ducks - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15702436/?dopt=Abstract)** > > Overfeeding of some waterfowl species results in obesity, which is mainly characterized by a dramatic hepatic steatosis induced by strong accumulation of lipids synthesized from dietary glucose in the liver. In mammals, fructose is known to be able... ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/186 "2006-03-09T20:19:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I have a friend who, for a while, decided to eat whatever he wanted. And this is a guy who thinks steak is a vegetable. His only restriction was that he could have no high-fructose corn syrup. He lost 50 pounds. > > I’ve wondered if corn in general is the problem. Corn is very much an American thing, as is the level of obesity here. I wonder if there is some correlation. Then again, if that were so, one would think we’d be seeing far more fat Mexiacans. We are seeing far more fat Mexicans (and everyone else, too). > **[Sins of the fleshy](https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2004/12/16/sins-of-the-fleshy)** > > Mexico now enjoys two important characteristics of rich countries. Unfortunately, they are obesity and diabetes ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/187 "2006-03-09T20:38:44Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > High fructose corn syrup is in a LOT (I’d probably say MOST) of the processed foods you eat: canned soups, frozen dinners, maybe some cookies, pasta sauce from a jar, cereal (maybe?), condiments, salad dressings from a jar. > > I don’t know if Latin America eats as much processed food as we do, but I doubt it. But also, you’re talking about people with a whole different level of prosperity, so there are other factors at play on top of how much corn syrup they ingest. After having gastric bypass sugar, I avoid sugar like the plague as it can cause “dumping syndrome” - a reaction to the unprocessed sugar hitting my bloodstream that can be _highly_ unpleasant. Needless to say, I am a rabid label-checker. It was _shocking_ to see sugar - generally high-fructose corn syrup - in things I’d never think they’d be in. Lunch meat. Frozen lasagna. Meat spreads (there is a soft food stage early after the surgery). Just about anything you can imagine - it’s there. VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/188 "2006-03-09T20:44:42Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > We are seeing far more fat Mexicans (and everyone else, too). > > [http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story\_id=3507918](http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3507918) That suggests that Mexican obesity is a new problem, but corn has been a staple of Mexican food for centuries. Still, it seems like North Americans are basically corn-fed cows. I won’t give up the occasional buttered ear with my occasional lobster, but perhaps I should stop taking in corn syrup. That means I’ll only have to give up – er, nearly everything. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/189 "2006-03-09T20:47:42Z")
> [@Veuve\_ClicquotNJ](#): > > Lunch meat. Frozen lasagna. Meat spreads Damn! :eek: OK, what about lettuce? Is lettuce OK? ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/190 "2006-03-09T20:49:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Still, it seems like North Americans are basically corn-fed cows. I won’t give up the occasional buttered ear with my occasional lobster, but perhaps I should stop taking in corn syrup. That means I’ll only have to give up – er, nearly everything. Here’s what I’ve noticed: corn syrup is in _all_ the crap foods. If you give up corn syrup, you automatically avoid anything overprocessed, you pay a little more but the quality goes up. Good chocolate made with real sugar, the occasional freshly-made bakery cupcake as opposed to a box of powdered mini-donuts. And, personally, the real foods are more satisfying than a whole lot of crap foods so I eat less. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/191 "2006-03-09T20:51:01Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Damn! :eek: > > OK, what about lettuce? Is lettuce OK? Alright, who wants to break it to him that lettuce is out too? Your best bet, really, is to drink water. Wait, water has corn syrup in it now too? Son of a bitch! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/192 "2006-03-09T20:54:11Z")
What it looks like is moving to homemade _everything_, including lunch meats and breads. And thinking about it, there’s a huge amount of foods I buy that have no nutrition labels at all. Consider the lunch counter, for example. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/193 "2006-03-09T20:58:49Z")
> [@Veuve\_ClicquotNJ](#): > > After having gastric bypass sugar, Bestest. Freudian. Slip. EVAR. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/194 "2006-03-10T16:47:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Bestest. Freudian. Slip. EVAR. Why thank you! (where’s that curtsey icon?) I had sugar on the brain, obviously. But to be honest, I don’t crave it at all anymore. VNCJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/195 "2006-03-10T18:12:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > What it looks like is moving to homemade _everything_, including lunch meats and breads. Well. . .yeah. Essentially, in my house we make everything we eat. Occasionally, our lunches are meat & bakery bread, but probably 6 days a week, lunch is leftovers from supper. It’s not just high fructose born syrup either. There’s just weird, crazy stuff in pre-made foods. Now, has that weird crazy stuff been approved by the FDA? Sure. But I’ll be damned if they know what effect some of that has on a person who eats it for 40 straight years. You are going to eat food every day for the rest of your life. Get in the habit of making it yourself. (the Royal you) > [@](#): > > And thinking about it, there’s a huge amount of foods I buy that have no nutrition labels at all. Consider the lunch counter, for example. I trust the lunch counter stuff more than stuff that was put together by Kraft in some plant in the midwest. Prepackaged food has a lot of stuff in it to preserve it, to flavor it, and give it an appealing texture. Stuff, I don’t trust them to understand. I use high fructose corn syrup in some things at home (KARO is corn syrup. I’m not sure if it’s the same thing as HFCS, but I think so). When they say it’s the main ingredient in BBQ sauce, they mean it. It makes BBQ sauce TASTE GOOD, makes it nice and gooey. But you might as well be eating tablespoons of sugar when you’re eating it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/196 "2006-03-10T18:40:32Z")
I just got a bag of Doritos. You know, health food. Among the list of unpronounceable ingredients were the following: Corn, corn oil, high fructose corn syrup solids, corn starch. I’m sensing a theme. **Trunk** , I trust the lunch counter more too. But it’s not like they make their own balogna or ketchup. It all starts out in a factory anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/197 "2006-03-10T18:54:08Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I won’t give up the occasional buttered ear with my occasional lobster, but perhaps I should stop taking in corn syrup. That means I’ll only have to give up – er, nearly everything. There’s already firms in place that filter out all of that stuff for you. In other words, shop at Whole Foods. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/198 "2006-03-10T19:09:46Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > There’s already firms in place that filter out all of that stuff for you. In other words, shop at Whole Foods. Or Trader Joe’s. We love Trader Joe’s. Mrs. Giraffe went on a high-fructose corn syrup boycott a while back, and I too was shocked at _how many_ foods it’s in. It’s in _everything_. Between that and trans-fats, I suspect that processed foods are a lot more fattening than people realize. I’d be interested to see the results of a large group of overweight people going on a “eat as much of anything you want as long as it’s not processed” diet. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/199 "2006-03-10T19:19:44Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I suspect that processed foods are a lot more fattening than people realize. Me too. We’re told not to eat junk food, which makes us think of things like Twinkies and cheese doodles. It doesn’t occur to us that junk food might also include things like carrot soup and granola. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329/200 "2006-03-10T19:58:07Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Or Trader Joe’s. We love Trader Joe’s. I love Trader Joe’s too, but it’s no health store. Yes, you can hunt and peck and find some healthy things, but they sell a heck of a lot of junk food. Fancy schmancy junk food, but that’s still what it is. Dr. Andrew Weil has several books out that talk about this kind of stuff. I’d recommend him to anyone who is serious about changing their lifestyle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rant-the-war-on-fat/347329.md?page=11)