Alberta, August/agosto 2008
20
ALTERNATIVA Latinoamericana
ENGLISH SECTION
The Obesification of America
Everyone talks about our terrible dependency on
oil -- foreign and otherwise -- but hardly anyone
mentions what it is. Fossil fuel, all right, but whose
fossils? Mostly tiny plants called diatoms, but quite
possibly a few Barney-like creatures went into the
mix, like Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus and other giant
reptiles that shared the Jurassic period with all those
diatoms. What we are burning in our cars and keeping
our homes warm or cool with is, in other words, a
highly processed version of corpse juice.
Think of this for a moment, if only out of respect
for the dead. There you were, about 100 million years
ago, maybe a contented little diatom or a great big
Brontosaurus stumbling around the edge of a tar pit
-- a lord of the earth. And what are you now? A
sludge of long-chain carbon molecules that will be
burned so that some mammalian biped can make a
CVS run for Mountain Dew and chips.
It's an old human habit -- living off the road kill
of the planet. There's evidence, for example, that
early humans were engaged in scavenging before they
figured out how to hunt for themselves. They'd scan
the sky for circling vultures, dash off to the kill site--
hoping that the leopard that did the actual hunting had
sauntered off for a nap-- and gobble up what
remained of the prey. It was risky, but it beat doing
your own antelope tracking.
We continue our career as scavengers today,
attracted not by vultures but by signs saying
"Safeway" or "Giant." Inside these sites, we find bits
of dead animals wrapped neatly in plastic. The killing
has already been done for us -- usually by underpaid
immigrant workers rather than leopards.
I say to my fellow humans: It's time to stop
feeding off the dead and grow up! I don't know about
food, but I have a plan for achieving fuel self-suffiency
in less time than it takes to say "Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge." The idea came to me from reports of
the growing crime of French fry oil theft: Certain
desperate individuals are stealing restaurants'
discarded cooking oil, which can then be used to fuel
cars. So the idea is: why not could skip the French
fry phase and harvest high-energy hydrocarbons right
from ourselves?
I'm talking about liposuction, of course, and it's
a mystery to me why it hasn't occurred to any of
those geniuses who are constantly opining about fuel
prices on MSNBC. The average liposuction removes
about half a gallon of liquid fat, which may not seem
like much. But think of the vast reserves our nation is
literally sitting on! Thirty percent of Americans are
obese, or about 90 million individuals or 45 million
gallons of easily available fat -- not from dead
diatoms but from our very own bellies and butts.
This is the humane alternative to biofuels derived
directly from erstwhile foodstuffs like corn. Biofuels,
as you might have noticed, are exacerbating the
global food crisis by turning edible plants into
gasoline. But we could put humans back in the loop
by first turning the corn into Doritos and hence into
liposuctionable body fat. There would be a reason to
live again, even a patriotic rationale for packing on the
pounds.
True, liposuction is not risk-free, as the
numerous doctors' websites on the subject inform us.
And those of us who insist on driving gas guzzlers
may soon start depleting their personal fat reserves,
much as heroin addicts run out of useable veins. But
the gaunt, punctured, look could become a fashion
statement. Already, the combination of a tiny waist
and a huge carbon footprint -- generated by one's
Hummer and private jet -- is considered a sign of
great wealth.
And think what it would do for our nation's self-
esteem. We may not lead the world in scientific
innovation, educational achievement, or low infant
mortality, but we are the global champions of obesity.
Go to http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-
health-obesity; and you'll find America well ahead of
the pack when it comes to personal body fat, while
those renowned oil-producers -- Saudi Arabia,
Venezuela and Iran-- aren't even among the top 29.
All we need is a healthy dose of fat pride and for CVS
to start marketing home liposuction kits. That run for
Mountain Dew and chips could soon be an energy-
neutral proposition.
Barbara Ehrenreich (Alternet)
Contrary to
what Americans
have been led to
believe, the
epidemic rise of
excess weight gain
and obesity in this
country is not the
result of overeating
fat laden foods. The
obesification of
America is the direct
result of a mild
depression that
causes people to
savagely crave, and
then overeat, junk
food carbohydrate
(sugar).
Junk food is
the trillion dollar food industries legal drug for this
mild depression and, although it's been very profitable
for the food companies, it's been devastating for the
health of the American public. According to the
Centers for Disease Control, 368,000 Americans died
last year from obesity related illnesses. In
comparison, fewer than 14,000 Americans die
annually from all the illegal drugs combined. This
epidemic is an ominous threat to our country's future.
America's overconsumption of the chips,
bagels, sodas, pastries, sweets, fries, etc., stems
from ferocious cravings that are triggered by low
levels of a key neurotransmitter or chemical
messenger in the brain called Serotonin. Serotonin is
the feel good hormone that affects mood and
cravings.
Depleted levels of Serotonin are caused by the
contemporary lifestyle factors of stress, poor
nutrition, and the lack of quality sleep. It is estimated
that over 80% of the U.S. public suffers from low
Serotonin and thus, record numbers of prescriptions
are being written for the anti-depressants like Prozac,
Paxil, Zoloft, etc. These mind drugs, called Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (aka SSRI's), attempt
to alleviate this unhealthy, low Serotonin condition.
Unfortunately, SSRI's are now the number one selling
prescription drugs.
Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, the highly reputed
author of The Schwarzbein Principle and founder of
The Endocrinology Institute of Santa Barbara, CA,
says, "These hormone depleted cravings can be more
powerful than the cravings experienced by drug users
for illegal street narcotics." The body instinctively
knows that eating junk food will cause the brain to
produce a burst of this feel good hormone. Junk food
acts like a psychoactive drug for this widespread mild
depression and, that is why it is commonly referred to
as mood food, comfort food, or emotional eating.
In addition to low Serotonin, the food flavoring
agent High Fructose Corn Syrup promotes junk food
carbohydrate craving and also blocks the body's
ability to feel full. Tests have shown that even healthy
people consume more food when it contains HFCS.
Most Americans are unaware that corn syrup
was banned as a food additive in 1906 by Dr. Harvey
Wiley, the Father of the Pure Food and Drugs Act.
Wiley was a sugar research expert and the first head
of the Bureau of Chemistry (now the FDA). He
banned corn syrup because it was the only
sweetener causing diabetes in all of the test animals.
Dr. Wiley accurately predicted that if we ever allowed
corn syrup to be used as a food additive, we would
become a nation of diabetics. Today, because of food
politics, HFCS is in over 98% of all the food sold in
America and nearly 21 million Americans have
diabetes with an annual cost to the taxpayers of $132
billion.
Eating junk food causes blood sugar levels to
skyrocket. Excess blood sugar is toxic and therefore
the body is forced to overproduce insulin in order to
shuttle the excess blood sugar (glucose) into fat
cells. This process protects the brain and eyes from
sugar toxicity. Diabetics must constantly check their
blood sugar and self inject insulin if blood sugar levels
are too high in order to prevent diabetic coma or
blindness. Insulin acts like an automatic gate opener
to your fat cells. The primary function of insulin is to
store body fat.
During the late 50's, in response to the growth
of coronary heart disease (CHD), a researcher by the
name of Ancel Keyes forwarded what is referred to as
the lipid hypothesis. The lipid theory was that there
was a direct relationship between the amount of
saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet and the
incidence of CHD. Although there were many health
professionals that disputed this theory, food politics
trumped solid
science and the
low-fat, low-
cholesterol mania
was born.
Four food
companies that had
a vested interest in
the demise of
saturated fats began
promoting and
funding additional
research that
supported the lipid
hypothesis. Those
with opposing views
were afforded little, if
any, publicity and
the nation was
misled into a war
against fat and cholesterol. Our National Institute of
Health and the medical community bought into and
endorsed the low-fat, low-cholesterol movement.
In response to this ill fated notion, the giant food
industry began to produce entire product lines of low-
fat, fat-free food. Americans were advised to eliminate
saturated fat and cholesterol containing foods from
their diets even though nature's perfect food, mother's
milk, contains copious amounts of saturated fat and
cholesterol.
For years, the Medical community has referred
to The Framingham Heart Study as the basis for their
food recommendations. However, the director of the
study, which began in 1948, said, "In Framingham,
Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more
cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the
lower the persons serum cholesterol... we found that
the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most
saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least
and were the most physically active." His statement
certainly didn't support the Keyes lipid hypothesis.
Dr. Mary Enig, a world renowned lipid (fat)
biochemist from Baltimore, MD, clearly states that
"Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but
rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free
radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that
helps heal arterial damage." And, Dr. Walter Willett,
the noted epidemiologist from Harvard, calls it
scandalous that "Not one government agency has
changed its primary food guideline to fit the results of
the 1990's scientific findings which demonstrate that
total fat, including saturated fat, has no relation to
heart disease."
So, eating healthy fat doesn't make you fat,
overeating junk food carbohydrate (sugar) does.
Americans are eating less fat than ever and fat is
essential for the production of Serotonin. Eating
healthy fat (not fried or hydrogenated) with meals
slows the time (transient time) it takes for food to be
converted into blood sugar. Fat doesn't provoke an
insulin response and it is impossible to store fat
without the presence of insulin.
Even today, effective propaganda by the food-
industry has many people, including doctors, believing
that eating saturated fat and cholesterol is the cause
of excess weight gain and coronary heart disease. In
a recent survey, 53% of the doctors polled were still
under the impression that saturated fat was unhealthy.
There are many doctors who know very little about
nutrition because it wasn't incorporated into the
medical curriculum until 1994. It should be noted that
at the most recent convention of the American Medical
Association, over 66% of the doctors in attendance
were either overweight or obese.
This epidemic has given rise to a booming
weight loss industry that promises fast, easy
solutions. Most of these companies offer stimulant
laden products that suppress the appetite. This ill-
conceived approach results only in the temporary loss
of bone, muscle, or water weight and not long term,
successful fat loss. Because Americans are attracted
to the quick fix, they have fallen prey to these diet
scams.
It's time we recognize that it's about depleted
brain chemistry and blaming overweight people for a
lack of discipline or willpower is misguided and wrong.
This has become an important social issue. The food
conglomerates have placed profits ahead of health and
we must address this epidemic before it is too late.
Americans made it a priority to protect the water, air,
and soil and we should consider protecting the most
precious resource we have, the citizenry. It is time to
reverse the obesification of America.
Gary Kaposta
(www.dissidentvoice.org)
Body fat holds
the key to energy
independence