Hacker News Reader

Comment by megaduck | Hacker News Reader

From the article: "We need great weight loss drugs that adjust the metabolism to keep weight off without side effects."

Or we could encourage healthier lifestyles. A good start would be introducing requirements for pedestrian footpaths and bike lanes in new communities. Trying to walk or ride a bike in many recently built communities is either impossible or scary.

That's just one idea, there's a lot of others out there. The bottom line is that if we sit on our butts all day and eat high-caloric sugary foods, then we're going to get fat. That's simply the way our biology is wired. I have a hard time imagining that any new wonder-drug is going to change those fundamentals.

View on HN

How about encouraging food producers to stop sticking sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup into EVERYTHING. I'm almost to the point that I feel I could go to the store and look at the ingredients for a container of salt and see sugar/HFCS in there instead of just 'salt.'

"... food producers to stop sticking sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup into EVERYTHING. ..."

That is a sign you are eating the wrong things. Just as I like my gasses simple [0] so I like my food simple. In fact a Scot would recognise my breakfast (Oats) and any Italian, Greek or Frenchman would recognise what I'm having for lunch (vegetables celery tomato cabbage spring onion spices olive oil soy sauce spices as the noodles & meat are gone) ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4383706461/ left over from last night.

As Jamie Oliver was quoted in TheAge, Good Weekend, p20: "There's a new type of poverty and it's f...ing knowledge poverty".

[0] Obscure Zodiac reference: "...The simpler the molecule, the better the drug. So the best drug is oxygen. Only two atoms. The second-best, nitrous oxide—a mere three atoms. The third-best, ethanol—nine. Past that, you’re talking lots of atoms ..." ~ http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Neal_Stephenson#Zodiac_.281988....

> That is a sign you are eating the wrong things.

Really? Do I really need to have HFCS in my whole-grain bread? Or am I 'eating the wrong things?' I'm not talking about removing sugar from donuts or pastries in some attempt to eat junk food and still not get fat. I mean, I'm sure that I could find HFCS in mustard or all things.

This is also not to mention all of the fruit juices/cocktails that are on supermarket shelves that are so loaded with additional sugar or HFCS that I can't even drink them. It would be nice to not have to pay twice the price to get a bottle with 100% juice in it or at the very least have a larger selection of juices that aren't loaded with sugar. It's not even that I'm a huge juice drinker. It's just depressing to see some juice at the grocery store that sounds like an interesting blend of fruit flavors only to realize that the first ingredient on the list is sugar. I mean how many people are actually reading those labels? They are probably buying those bottles of juice thinking that it's somehow more 'healthy' than drinking soda, only to be deceived by the juice companies.

"... his is also not to mention all of the fruit juices/cocktails .."

Squeeze your own so you know what's in it.

"... Do I really need to have HFCS in my whole-grain bread? ..."

Harder, but find a better baker.

"... It's just depressing to see some juice at the grocery store that sounds like an interesting blend of fruit flavors only to realize that the first ingredient on the list is sugar. I mean how many people are actually reading those labels? They are probably buying those bottles of juice thinking that it's somehow more 'healthy' than drinking soda, only to be deceived by the juice companies. ..."

Look I agree. What's not happening is transparency in food processing. That's why I try to remove the processing out of my food. Am I 100% successful, no. But by buying the raw ingredients and cooking them up myself I can attempt to avoid this problem.

Of course the next bit is knowing sovereignty of fruit and vegetables. But that's another problem. I guess as a consumer we can vote with our dollars to make a difference here.

I really think that we need to bring this issue to the fore-front rather than this 'vote with your dollar' stuff. I'm not in favor of government intervention per-se, but eliminating any government subsidies that promote usage of additives could be on the docket. "Vote with your dollar," doesn't really work as a solution unless you reach a critical mass of people that are willing to vote with their dollar. Raising awareness is also a crucial step.

Noodles are hardly a good example of a healthy meal. They consist of pure refined carbohydrates, which are metabolically equivalent to pure sugar. It's not much different from eating a candy bar.

If your Noodles are mostly / only refined carbohydrates you are buying the wrong Noodles. Look calories are not bad, it's ingredients that only contain calories that get you into real trouble.

"... Noodles are hardly a good example of a healthy meal. ..."

But in moderation. Probably twice/week. I'm eating the left-over vegetables only.

Yep, it's pretty frustrating when you're on the go and looking for something to eat that isn't going to spike your blood sugar and put you into a coma in the afternoon. Not too many options here in Canada.

A good start would be introducing requirements for pedestrian footpaths and bike lanes in new communities.

Having footpaths and cycle lanes almost everywhere hasn't helped the UK's obesity rate which is almost on a par with the US.

They built cycle crossings and a cycle lane outside my house a couple of years ago. I've seen two people using them in that time and perhaps 10-20 cyclists total.

Owning a car and driving is too easy. Building some cycle lanes isn't encouraging people to get onto bikes - it just makes life easier for those who've already made the decision (and so don't need convincing). You'd need to make cars less desirable to have the effect you want, but even that ain't easy.. I didn't see people flocking to bikes when oil was $150 a barrel.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com