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Is Sugar the Primary Driver of Obesity?
361 sats \ 27 comments \ @Undisciplined 14h HealthAndFitness
There are lots of possible issues with this chart, but it is pretty stark.
A few random thoughts:
  1. It might not be the people eating unhealthy amounts of sugar who cut back on it. I was never obese and I radically cut back on my sugar intake.
  2. Sugar may have been highly correlated with other similar substances that people didn't cut back on. I'm thinking about other refined carbs, primarily.
  3. There may simply be a lag and obesity will start declining as a result of lower sugar consumption.
  4. It does look like the rate of obesity increase decreased slightly (lower slope), so maybe the issue is just that sugar intake is still too high, but the relationship is correct.
What do you think explains this divergence?
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27 sats \ 3 replies \ @Bell_curve 13h
Are you familiar with the research of Gary Taubes?
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10 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 12h
Is he the guy who doesn't think sugar is related to obesity?
I think I saw him on Rogan, but I haven't looked at his work.
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 12h
Yes
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 12h
I'm certainly open to it. As a rule, nutrition science is really bad and I'm never surprised when they get things completely wrong.
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35 sats \ 9 replies \ @030e0dca83 11h
It depends what they identify as sugar. I'd send there all carbs, and my observation shows it correlates as nothing else. Get rid of processed carbs and obesity chart will fall down
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8 sats \ 8 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 9h
I'd restrict it to simple carbs. More complex carbs, especially fiber, don't hit the body the same way.
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31 sats \ 7 replies \ @030e0dca83 9h
I won't to argue about it because I'm not a doctor, I just try to avoid carbs, and this is almost impossible in modern world
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8 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 9h
Well, I am a doctor, so I must be right.
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36 sats \ 5 replies \ @030e0dca83 9h
Nice to meet you, Doctor. Doctor Who?
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8 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 9h
No need to be formal
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @Signal312 7h
That chart just doesn't correspond to what I see in day to day life. The idea that the consumption of sugar peaked in around 1997 and then went down just does not seem plausible. I see way more sugar consumption all around me.
Now, if they're JUST talking table sugar, then maybe. But if so, it's completely blown away by the consumption of sugar in processed foods - which for a lot of people is every day, all the time.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 7h
I've seen figures like this before. IIRC, it's primarily the decline in non-diet soda consumption.
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @Blank 9h freebie
I wouldn't say it's the primary driver, but it does contribute to obesity. I find peoples its the modern lifestyle that is probably the biggest factor to consider. I've struggled with my weight, because I tend to turn to junk food when I am at my most stressed. I can go from being lean to packing on 10-15kg in a short amount of time. In saying that, I have known people who are real fitness enthusiasts, who regularly run marathons and the amount of sugar they get away with eating always blows my mind.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 9h
It definitely matters who's eating the sugar and when they're eating it.
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36 sats \ 2 replies \ @Roll 11h
There are genetic facts, lack of exercices, alchool, junk food... so not sur the 1st is sugar
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined OP 11h
I guess the question would then be why there was such a tight relationship between sugar and obesity for so long.
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42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Roll 11h
because they are adding it in so many transformed food :( as salt
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42 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 13h
Sugar is part of it but also crappy boxed/packaged foods filled with chemicals that slow the bodies ability to metabolize. That’s just a guess, I have no data on that but it makes sense.
And lifestyle and inflation. People are more sedentary than they used to be and picking up fast food instead of cooking isn’t a rare thing anymore. When I was a kid we would get take out once a week on Friday night. That was the only non home cooked meal of the week. There are people now that eat take out three times a day.
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40 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 12h
Yeah, one of the things I'm wondering about is how much people plateaued in an obese state. Maybe they stopped gaining weight, but haven't lost enough to drop out of the category.
Another chart of sugar consumption vs weight or BMI would help.
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39 sats \ 1 reply \ @LibertasBR 13h
I wouldn't say just sugar, but other foods and consumption habits. After all, people may have only associated direct sugar consumption in the survey without considering processed foods in the calculation. We would need other data on the consumption of processed foods and fast food to evaluate this better. The points you mentioned make sense to me with 3 and 4.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 12h
The central problem with all diet and nutrition research, is what the people are doing instead of the thing you're trying to study. There is no ceteris paribus in nutrition.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Gian 10h
yes, sugar and salt
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 11h
Perhaps increased use of sugar substitutes is a factor?
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