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Comment by greghinch | Hacker News Reader

The article takes the long winded approach to point out the rational argument about how to combat obesity that's been obvious all along: moderation. Laying the blame on sugar in general is a panacea; the problem more has to do with how efficiently sugar delivery has been engineered. Processed foods have made it so that you can eat a relatively small quantity of matter and get a huge amount of sugar (and fat).

Want to get healthy and lose weight? Cut the processed foods. If it comes in a box, don't buy it. If there are ingredients you have trouble pronouncing, don't buy it. Your body has evolved to know when you've had enough food (slowing down your eating will help too). But those foods that are designed in a lab have sugar and other "bad" stuff in disproportionately high amounts, so by the time you've eaten enough to feel full, you've eaten way too much.

TL;DR: stop eating so much, fatty

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Willpower requires an expenditure of glucose in the brain [1]. When one is used to a high-sugar diet, the blood sugar burns off quickly, despite being slowed by insulin response, and the body craves more, with the brain being glucose-depleted to resist the impulse. This is not to absolve anyone of personal responsibility, but like gambling, it is a losing proposition over time.

The fact is, we're all wired a little differently. Some who drink too much can simple moderate; some find the need to temporarily or permanently quit drinking altogether. Anyone trapped in the "metabolic syndrome" of a sugary diet will probably be more successful doing the latter.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Willpower-Rediscovering-Greatest-Human...

Or instead of not eating boxed food, just do a research how much "bad stuff" in it and divide accordingly to meet your calories and nutrients target for a day.

How the hell do you do that? I find this problem with a lot of diet methods. It's complicated as well as difficult.

Plus, when you're consuming the "bad stuff" it's even more difficult because of their interactions within the body.

If you can manage to research and control "bad stuff" in your diet and that works, go ahead. But why have them in there at all messing everything up?

by "bad stuff" i meant fructose, sugars, fat, etc. (i hope proteins are not blamed)

Americans are lucky to have all of it stated on the packaging, which allows very precise control of nutrients consumption. So if you bought box of Devil Hole (which are delicious!) and read, that one hole comes with 120 calories - eat just one! That simple.

Now... if you can't stop on one, this is completely different issue.

It's as much about habit-forming as anything. If you just stop buying food that comes pre-packaged, you force yourself to make new food-buying habits that will trend towards healthier meals.

Cut the processed foods. If it comes in a box, don't buy it. If there are ingredients you have trouble pronouncing, don't buy it.

I've reduced my diet to the following: apples, canned pineapple, pork steaks, canned corn, and tap water.

The advantage is that none of those contain anything artificial (except the tap water). The disadvantage is that probably no one else would be content eating only those things. But I've been forcing myself, because the alternative is empirically worse.

It's likely I'm just fooling myself. But even still, it's a huge stress relief to not feel bad about we eat.

Where do you get your pork steaks? There's plenty to feel bad about in there.

Where do you get your pork steaks?

Walmart, actually. $1.99/lb. It's all I can afford.

There's plenty to feel bad about in there.

Yeah, I feel bad that an animal had to die for me to live. But genetically my body freaks out if I don't eat meat, and the animal's already dead anyway.

Regarding fat in the pork steak, I'm not so worried about it. I try not to eat the fat, but even still, it seems like there's a decent chance that it's better for you than the additives present in almost all other food. We've been eating meat for millions of years, so I'm betting on evolution to take care of me.

I would be more worried about the amount of medicine residues in the meat than the stuff that's actually "supposed" to be there :P

  > But genetically my body freaks out if
  > I don't eat meat

I'm not sure what you're talking about. How does one's body 'genetically' freak out?

  > and the animal's already dead anyway.

You're still paying for it, which perpetuates the system.

  > We've been eating meat for millions of years

Our genetic ancestors diverged from the great apes 4–8 million years ago. I'm not sure we have good analysis of their diet, but I'm not an anthro-geek, so I might be out of the loop. [Toning it back to thousands of years would be more accurate.]

Personally I would be cautious of anything in a can as well. By it's nature, the act of food preservation usually requires a massive increase in either sugar or salt.

You're right you shouldn't stress about what you eat too much; what's the point of eating healthy if it makes you miserable. But it's worth thinking about why taking the time to eat healthy stresses you out. If it's a matter of not having time, consider what you could do to make time. Your entire existence subsists on the stuff you ingest. I find that fact reason enough to make time to find healthier meals.

This is all just my 2 cents based on personal experience. Certainly don't mean to be telling you exactly what to do. Just want to encourage thoughtful consideration. It's not a switch you flip, it's a journey

Corn is very starchy and low-nutrient. I'd suggest swapping them with something green, like canned peas.

Still, I applaud your approach. I've been on paleo for about a year, lost a bunch of weight, and for a while I was basically eating the same 12 foods on a loop (eggs, bacon, coffee, lamb, shrimp, fish, broccoli, spinach, carrots, raspberries, dark chocolate, almonds).

It's almost impossible to find canned peas without added sugar, sadly.

Thanks for the list of paleo-safe foods!

If it comes in a box, don't buy it.

Personally I think this is pretty extreme/bad advice. Plenty of over-processed foods don't come in boxes, and plenty of perfectly acceptable foods do come in boxes.

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