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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1333994/

Exposes the lies of Super Size Me.

The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

A lot of these statistics are based on the heavily flawed BMI scale. According the BMI, I at 6' and 210 LBs am borderline obese. The lowest I've weighed at 6' is 170 and at that time I looked extremely gaunt, but that is in the normal range.

The BMI also does not take into account muscle mass. An individual at my 6' and 170 would be normal weight even if they had a nearly no muscle mass and a gut. An individual at 6' and 240 with under 10% body fat would be obese.

A two year old movie rebutal to a seven year old movie. Timely :0P

Hmm...I've often wondered about the " avoid fast foods/eat bean sprouts"=Health/long life train of thought.
The majority of the people in my extended family live on diets of fried foods/cajun foods,none are what I would classify as obese and most live to be 80+ (with the occasional exception).
As for the BMI ...I myself am 6'4" and my body weight varies between 250lbs and 260 lbs...and though I am a "big" guy ( IE built like a linebacker) I wouldn't consider myself to be obese.

And how many people have heard of it?

FITZZ wrote: Hmm...I've often wondered about the " avoid fast foods/eat bean sprouts"=Health/long life train of thought.
The majority of the people in my extended family live on diets of fried foods/cajun foods,none are what I would classify as obese and most live to be 80+ (with the occasional exception).
As for the BMI ...I myself am 6'4" and my body weight varies between 250lbs and 260 lbs...and though I am a "big" guy ( IE built like a linebacker) I wouldn't consider myself to be obese.

Since moving back to Japan, I've gone the bean sprout-tofu way out of necessity as that is what is eaten here. I too am a big guy, not only downstairs , but overall. I've lost about 25 lbs and feel way better than I did when I was in Canuckistan on a ration of government donuts and 'President's Choice' MSG supplements. There are a lot of old, old, old people in Japan. Meeting someone who is over 100 who can still walk, and in a few cases ride a bicycle, isn't that uncommon. Some of them still drink and smoke! I'd rather eat a truck load of cabbage and be able to drink a 6 pack a day when I'm 90 than ever eat at McDick's ever again.

Kornholio wrote:

FITZZ wrote: Hmm...I've often wondered about the " avoid fast foods/eat bean sprouts"=Health/long life train of thought.
The majority of the people in my extended family live on diets of fried foods/cajun foods,none are what I would classify as obese and most live to be 80+ (with the occasional exception).
As for the BMI ...I myself am 6'4" and my body weight varies between 250lbs and 260 lbs...and though I am a "big" guy ( IE built like a linebacker) I wouldn't consider myself to be obese.

Since moving back to Japan, I've gone the bean sprout-tofu way out of necessity as that is what is eaten here. I too am a big guy, not only downstairs , but overall. I've lost about 25 lbs and feel way better than I did when I was in Canuckistan on a ration of government donuts and 'President's Choice' MSG supplements. There are a lot of old, old, old people in Japan. Meeting someone who is over 100 who can still walk, and in a few cases ride a bicycle, isn't that uncommon. Some of them still drink and smoke! I'd rather eat a truck load of cabbage and be able to drink a 6 pack a day when I'm 90 than ever eat at McDick's ever again.

I defiantly see your points...and for what it's worth I do attempt to watch what I eat to a certain degree,avoiding my lineages typical " Grease for breakfast,lunch and dinner" habits in favor for more "balanced/healthy" meals (most of the time).
Although,I will readily admit to "indulgence"...if I'm faced with the choice of Salad or Gumbo,Red Beans and Rice,Corn Bread and Sweet Potato Pie...well...the Salad will be going into the refrigerator for later.

Coming Soon: 'A Convenient Untruth' - Why Pollution is Good For the Environment.

Albatross wrote:Coming Soon: 'A Convenient Untruth' - Why Pollution is Good For the Environment.

It would probably be more believable than Senator Gore's slideshow presentation.

Anyone else feel surrounded by lies and misinformation everywhere? It seems like skepticism and controversy surrounds just about any study done. On one hand, I can't in good conscience say that eating McDonald's isn't shortening my life rapidly, but on the other hand, there IS an awfully large amount of money wrapped up in the "organic hippy" movement. One thing I DO know for fact, I was a lot thinner when I didn't eat out all the time. On the other hand, back then I exercised and didn't drink on a daily basis.

daedalus wrote:Anyone else feel surrounded by lies and misinformation everywhere? It seems like skepticism and controversy surrounds just about any study done. On one hand, I can't in good conscience say that eating McDonald's isn't shortening my life rapidly, but on the other hand, there IS an awfully large amount of money wrapped up in the "organic hippie" movement. One thing I DO know for fact, I was a lot thinner when I didn't eat out all the time. On the other hand, back then I exercised and didn't drink on a daily basis.

In many ways I agree completely, " New research" is constantly proving " Previous Research" "wrong" only to later be "disproved" itself...and it seems everyone has an "agenda".

I was recently musing over the amount of " wonder drugs" that were supposed to "improve your life" that are now under a sea of lawsuits because they evidently weren't as "safe" as they were thought to be,which led me to wonder if the drugs were unsafe to begin with and the companies were attempting to turn a profit knowing the products were unsafe...or..if these incidents are simply cases lawyers trying to turn a profit from rare occurrence an attempting to "scare monger."

When it really comes down to were the gak sticks to the blanket,all you can really do is attempt to live your life using as much common sense as possible and realize that regardless of what you do...ultimately your worm food.

Albatross wrote:Coming Soon: 'A Convenient Untruth' - Why Pollution is Good For the Environment.

Or just "An inconvenient-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!! I LOST THE 2000 ELECTION TO GEORGE BUSH!!!- truth"

Amaya wrote:
The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

I don't know about that.

Go outside, and I guarantee you, you'll probably bump into more than a few fat people. Like, REALLY huge people. And it's not just because they take up a lot of space.

I don't agree with referring to it as an "epidemic" or likening it to some sort of disease, but it is a problem. Fat people are everywhere.

rubiksnoob wrote:

Amaya wrote:
The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

I don't know about that.

Go outside, and I guarantee you, you'll probably bump into more than a few fat people. Like, REALLY huge people. And it's not just because they take up a lot of space.

I don't agree with referring to it as an "epidemic" or likening it to some sort of disease, but it is a problem. Fat people are everywhere.

Yes...but then there's chubby..



And there's "Holy Hell..."

Anything that makes me feel bad about myself is a commie/hippie/alien conspiracy.

FITZZ wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:

Amaya wrote:
The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

I don't know about that.

Go outside, and I guarantee you, you'll probably bump into more than a few fat people. Like, REALLY huge people. And it's not just because they take up a lot of space.

I don't agree with referring to it as an "epidemic" or likening it to some sort of disease, but it is a problem. Fat people are everywhere.

Yes...but then there's chubby..



And there's "Holy Hell..."

I see Miss America is still going strong.

[ducks]

I wish I had the actual % for you gents, but I read not too long ago that the FDA only requires a ~30% success rate to be shown for a drug to be released in America.

So you know that is why those drugs are being recalled.

McDonalds doesn't cause obesity; a sedentary lifestyle causes obesity. Back when most people worked farms and ate eggs, butter and beef they lived relatively healthy. Sit on your butt for 8-10 hours a day with Big Macs and you are in trouble. Work on a farm 8-10 hours a day and you need a Big Mac.

Japan has one of the longest longevities of any human population, but also the highest rate of dogulatum (Sp? a type of tapeworm) infection. A culture giveth and a culture taketh away. lol

Bastion of Mediocrity wrote:I wish I had the actual % for you gents, but I read not too long ago that the FDA only requires a ~30% success rate to be shown for a drug to be released in America.

So you know that is why those drugs are being recalled.

McDonalds doesn't cause obesity; a sedentary lifestyle causes obesity. Back when most people worked farms and ate eggs, butter and beef they lived relatively healthy. Sit on your butt for 8-10 hours a day with Big Macs and you are in trouble. Work on a farm 8-10 hours a day and you need a Big Mac.

Japan has one of the longest longevities of any human population, but also the highest rate of dogulatum (Sp? a type of tapeworm) infection. A culture giveth and a culture taketh away. lol

I wasn't aware of the low standards regarding FDA regulations..interesting.

I do agree with your observations concerning obesity and sedentary lifestyle,I actually had an Uncle who owned a farm,he ate a huge breakfast of fried meat and eggs,huge lunch of fried meat and breads,huge dinner of fried meats and fried meats and stayed whip thin his whole life,he also drank like a fish and smoked 3 packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day and lived to be 86...maybe there's something to be said for "country living."

I much prefer "Super High Me." In all fairness though, I think sugar/caffeine is the biggest culprit in unhealthy diets. Ask the average American to stop drinking caffeine for two weeks and watch what happens to productivity.

Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:I much prefer "Super High Me." In all fairness though, I think sugar/caffeine is the biggest culprit in unhealthy diets. Ask the average American to stop drinking caffeine for two weeks and watch what happens to productivity.

Hell it wouldn't even take two weeks for me...if I don't start my day with at least two cups of coffee I'm useless...and very unfriendly as well.

Amaya wrote:The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

You would have to be one _dumb_ fether to believe that. The fact that America is getting rapidly fatter is as undeniable as the sun rising in the east tomorrow. Using the same standards of determining obesity, the fattest state in the US twenty years, had an obesity rate of 17%. Today, the thinnest state in the US has an obesity rate of 18%. That's fethed up.

The issue is that there is no single easy target to pick out to blame. It's becoming easier and easier to lead a sedentary lifestyle, while at the same time access to high calorie food is more convenient than ever. There's a local burger place that has a special burger with three patties, cheese, bacon, fried onions, garlic mayo... eat it with a side and a drink and you've broken the 2000 kcalorie mark. I've eaten it, it's damned delicious, and not as filling as you'd think something with that calorie load would be. Since I was being indulgent, I thought about getting a shake for desert, until I realized that'd put me beyond the 3000 kcalorie mark over the course of a single hour. Combined with the abysmal nutritional education in the US, very few people really do actually think about how much they're eating every day (I've been an insulin dependent diabetic since I was six, so I've had to keep a tab on everything I eat for so long it's second nature), and the sheer convenience and availability of delicious stuff means that a lot of people are eating a lot more than they should.

FITZZ wrote: I do agree with your observations concerning obesity and sedentary lifestyle,I actually had an Uncle who owned a farm,he ate a huge breakfast of fried meat and eggs,huge lunch of fried meat and breads,huge dinner of fried meats and fried meats and stayed whip thin his whole life,he also drank like a fish and smoked 3 packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day and lived to be 86...maybe there's something to be said for "country living."

Activity counts for a lot. If you're working so hard that you're burning 3000-4000 kcalories a day, then of course 1: eating that much isn't going to hurt you, and 2: high levels of activity also burn through a much higher portion of the bad stuff, like cholesterol, too, so their effects are reduced. Your uncle probably would've busted 100 if not for the smoking and drinking. An active lifestyle can only do so much against coating your lungs in tar, or drinking hard enough to burn out your liver.

Yeah, the biggest culprit in the "epidemic" is lack of exercise. Sure, a lot of foods are healthier than others, but your body can process just about anything and get out the nutrients. You can eat more or less whatever you want and stay reasonably healthy as long as you exercise on a regular basis.

I'm not saying eating Micky D's 5 times a week and running 8 miles a day is going to make you a specimen of perfect health, but you'll be a hell of a lot more healthy than your neighbor who eats fast food every day and sits at home playing CoD.

It's really just everything in moderation. Too much of anything is a bad thing. Eat a varied diet, and exercise regularly. That's all you need.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Bookwrack wrote:
It's becoming easier and easier to lead a sedentary lifestyle, while at the same time access to high calorie food is more convenient than ever.

This is where self-control comes into play. Yeah it's easier to sit at home on the couch and munch on KFC. If that's what people want to do, more power to 'em. But if they want to be healthy, sorry. It's a little harder than that.

Nothing worth having comes easily, and that goes for being healthy as much as anything else. If you want to get rich, chances are you're more likely to achieve that goal through hard work, rather than buying lottery ticks. If you want to be healthy you're going to have to work at it.

Bookwrack wrote:

Amaya wrote:The so called obesity epidemic is a myth.

You would have to be one _dumb_ fether to believe that. The fact that America is getting rapidly fatter is as undeniable as the sun rising in the east tomorrow. Using the same standards of determining obesity, the fattest state in the US twenty years, had an obesity rate of 17%. Today, the thinnest state in the US has an obesity rate of 18%. That's fethed up.

Did you even read the OP? Obesity statistic are based on the BMI which ignores body composition. 5'11 and 205 is considered obese...

If you don't believe there is an obesity epidemic just take a trip to Wal-Mart...

My grandfather ate eggs fried in bacon grease every day and lived to be 95. I, for one have absolutely no intention of living so long that I have to go back into diapers. Waiter!!! More Tacos!!!

I for one am proud that the amount of calories I injest on any given day would kill a lesser man.

daedalus wrote:Anyone else feel surrounded by lies and misinformation everywhere? It seems like skepticism and controversy surrounds just about any study done. On one hand, I can't in good conscience say that eating McDonald's isn't shortening my life rapidly, but on the other hand, there IS an awfully large amount of money wrapped up in the "organic hippy" movement. One thing I DO know for fact, I was a lot thinner when I didn't eat out all the time. On the other hand, back then I exercised and didn't drink on a daily basis.

Damn it man, saying that I just know some Femanist research group is going to counterpoint "Staring at boobs is healthy for you".



I'm crying tears.

It shouldn't take a counter-documentary for people to realise Supersize Me was a gakky movie, with poorly reasoned arguments.

That said, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict this counter-documentary will be at least as gakky. I mean, yes, the BMI scale has problems with taller people being deemed obese, so as society has gotten taller it's deemed more people obese, but to try and claim that therefore there's no obesity epidemic is just plain silly. There are plenty of other systems for recording obesity, and they all show growing levels of obesity.

biccat wrote:It would probably be more believable than Senator Gore's slideshow presentation.

Oh look, you're also opposed to the idea of global warming. You're just ticking all the boxes, aren't you?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

rubiksnoob wrote:Yeah, the biggest culprit in the "epidemic" is lack of exercise. Sure, a lot of foods are healthier than others, but your body can process just about anything and get out the nutrients. You can eat more or less whatever you want and stay reasonably healthy as long as you exercise on a regular basis.

Excercise or not fat will still built up in the arteries, and an excess of high fat meat will still increase the chances of bowel cancer.

It's really just everything in moderation. Too much of anything is a bad thing. Eat a varied diet, and exercise regularly. That's all you need.

Yeah, the big thing to remember is that a small amount of greasy food is very unlikely to cause you long term health risks. It's a regular diet of poor food that'll quickly increase the chance of heart disease and other problems.

sebster wrote:

biccat wrote:It would probably be more believable than Senator Gore's slideshow presentation.

Oh look, you're also opposed to the idea of global warming. You're just ticking all the boxes, aren't you?

Not only am I a stupid right-wing ideologue, I'm also an evil one.

This might be relevant.

Honestly, do you really believe that Senator* Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was being totally non-political in his movie making? Do you realize how much money he has made off of 'global warming?' Do you really believe that there can't be any reasonable debate about this issue?

I've been picking up on the groupthink around here, but there has to be at least some room for debate...right?

*not knocking Mr. Gore (at least, not about the Senator vs. VP bit, his name is another matter), it's more impressive to be a Senator than a VP. People at least vote for Senators. Nobody cares about VP candidates

It ain't McD's fault, it the fools who eat McD and don't exercise enough. I'll also act all snooty by asking how someone can enjoy the pieces of chemically-altered crap they put on a bun, but that's not needed.

Also, the FDA's regulations say that any more than three rat droppings in a can of food is bad. One or two, and the customer is out of luck. If you're wondering why our government is okay with us eating rat gak, know that this legislation is left over from back when the FDA was first started, when human fingers in your canned meat was considered A-okay, and this regulation was considered a crazy, totalitarian idea.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Biccat, of course Gore had a political motive for his little movie. It's just that the political motive was squeezed in alongside (some) truth. Denying global warming if pointless; arguing about government is pointless but fun.
And OF COURSE he stretched the truth and lied a little in the movie. He had to if he wanted to do well. Look at any major news source; they all use alarmist techniques, as they'd go out of business if they didn't. Sadly, today's media follows a mantra of "Be shocking or be nothing".

biccat wrote:Not only am I a stupid right-wing ideologue, I'm also an evil one.

Who said anything about evil? Why did you make that up?

Stereotypical would be a better term. Or cliche.

This might be relevant.

Not really, Gore overstated the case in places, that doesn't make the entire thing unbelievable. And you'll note that the nine errors made in the piece are almost entirely trivial.

Honestly, do you really believe that Senator* Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. was being totally non-political in his movie making? Do you realize how much money he has made off of 'global warming?' Do you really believe that there can't be any reasonable debate about this issue?

I don't care. You shouldn't either. In the same way that neither of us should care that Limbaugh was addicted to drugs. What matters is the truth of the argument, not how much we can drag the celebrities attached to one side or the other into the mud. That is, again, a debate that will make us stupid.

So don't be stupid, and instead engage in an actual debate on the actual substance of the issue.

I've been picking up on the groupthink around here, but there has to be at least some room for debate...right?

In terms of what the science is saying about the most likely scope of the issue, then yes there's still plenty of room for debate. In terms of a debate over whether there's a global warming pattern and whether it's actually man made? No, there's really no sensible room for debate, and there probably hasn't been since the late 1990s.

*not knocking Mr. Gore (at least, not about the Senator vs. VP bit, his name is another matter), it's more impressive to be a Senator than a VP. People at least vote for Senators. Nobody cares about VP candidates

Do you realise how tiny this writing is?