# Why is America so fat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583 "2019-04-15T16:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583/201 "2019-04-24T02:16:09Z")
Yesterday I saw an ad for Taco Bell promoting their latest wrap, I think. The big selling point is one of the ingredients is CHEETOS ! Y’know, on top of all the regular stuff. Then it’s rolled up and grilled. Got Cheetos inside! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583/202 "2019-04-24T04:17:11Z")
Blaming insulin for obesity comes from a position of ignorance, willful denial and refusal to accept responsibility. Insulin is one of many, many, many molecules which form the anabolic pathways. It just happens to be one that’s got a short name and that everybody has heard of. Insulin is a molecule. It doesn’t have opinions, it doesn’t make choices, it doesn’t exert its will on anybody or anything as it doesn’t have a will. Humans do have all those things. But hey, if insulin is making me eat, why, I’m not responsible for being a size that means my hearse will need to be trailer-home-sized! It’s Not My Fault! And if I have a job where success means getting yet another person to end up needing a casket that should be large enough for a family of five, hey, it’s not my fault, I was just doing my job! A man’s got to eat… ---
**Author:** ![Mcmechanic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Mcmechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mcmechanic)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583/203 "2019-04-24T04:57:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Blaming insulin for obesity comes from a position of ignorance, willful denial and refusal to accept responsibility. > > Insulin is one of many, many, many molecules which form the anabolic pathways. It just happens to be one that’s got a short name and that everybody has heard of. > Insulin is a molecule. It doesn’t have opinions, it doesn’t make choices, it doesn’t exert its will on anybody or anything as it doesn’t have a will. Humans do have all those things. > But hey, if insulin is making me eat, why, I’m not responsible for being a size that means my hearse will need to be trailer-home-sized! It’s Not My Fault! And if I have a job where success means getting yet another person to end up needing a casket that should be large enough for a family of five, hey, it’s not my fault, I was just doing my job! A man’s got to eat… Its marketing genius! Pizzas, burgers, all u can eat buffets,and cheap calories. It’s all hard to resist for the average person when it’s a constant onslaught. Follow the marketing money, big ag. I had a wealthy farmer tell me to avoid high fructose corn syrup, when I called out his hypocrisy, “well people will eat keep eating it”. It’s money in ur inherited pocket, asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583/204 "2019-04-30T02:35:40Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > It’s because we’re eating all the damn time. Back fifty years ago we ate 3 times a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now people eat 5, 6, 7 times a day. There’s a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. You can’t buy gasoline without someone trying to sell you a Slurpee or a bag of chips. People have a snack in the evening watching television. > > Every time you eat it raises your insulin level. Insulin is a fat storage hormone. As long as insulin is present; your body can not take fat out of storage and metabolize it for energy, all it can do is store more fat. > > If you want to lose weight, try not eating so often. Skip a meal once in a while, it won’t kill you. Our bodies evolved to deal with food scarcity and have compensatory mechanisms to handle the occasional fast. If you have medical issues you may need to adjust medications before trying it, but healthy people can certainly handle fasts up to a week or ten days without any problems. I eat two meals a day. I typically eat breakfast around 10:45-12:00, depending on my schedule and when I get hungry. I eat supper 5:30-8:00, again, depending. My BMI is 35. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-america-so-fat/832583.md?page=10)