Germans consume more fat, almost as much sugar, but only 14.7% obese vs USA 35%

sugar lives wrote:

Sugar Kills wrote:

The US is significantly above Germany in sugar consumption and double most of the other European counties. Good fat is just that, good. Sugar is all bad.

take two

And yet:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DukTmmUWoAAxuJD.jpg:large

Do you know what causes non alcholic fatty liver disease?

Fatty liver is not good wrote:

sugar lives wrote:

take two

And yet:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DukTmmUWoAAxuJD.jpg:large

Do you know what causes non alcholic fatty liver disease?

reality check 1 2 3 wrote:

Even if we built more bike paths, Americans would still not use them.

A few things:

1. Cities in Europe were developed before cars were invented. So, European cities are more compact than american cities.

2. America car culture.

3. How popular do you think it would be in America, if we taxed cars at a 100% like they do in Denmark?

I dunno, in some American cities there are tens of thousands of cyclists every day. Americans would and do use them.

Plenty of American cities are dense enough for cycling. Maybe not everyone in the city can bike to work, but most people within a couple miles of their office can. My bike to work is 4 miles and it takes me about 20 minutes. Driving takes just as long because of traffic. I know a lot of people live further from their office than that, but wouldn't you imagine that a significant fraction of the population of most small cities lives within 4 miles from downtown? In addition, since cycling was always a part of my life (or rather my family never owned a car when I grew up), I have always lived somewhat near the densest part of town because it has been a quality of life issue for me. There ARE places to live within a few miles of most downtown areas in the US. If you want to live further out and isolate yourself from your workplace that's a choice you can make, and for some people it's a very reasonable choice.

Make cycling safer in the United States and a lot more people would ride to work and school.

Comparing countries by sugar and fat isn't all that informative. For one thing, average height differs markedly among the countries in the survey. You wouldn't think that x fat grams would mean the same for males averaging 6'1" and 5'5", right?

And you're not counting complex carbohydrates, presumably. That's where Americans really add on beyond their simple sugars. Finally, exercise, including walking, is going to be much greater in most of the world, because Americans don't live in places highly suitable for walking, e.g. suburbs, southern cities, sprawling places, and don't have much public transportation, to and from which you would walk and go up and down stairs. In Germany, which had a much lower obesity rate of just 14%, there are truly separated, one way bike lanes on each side of the street, but off the road, in many places, and people walk to public transportation, and so are fit.

I wish I could agree. While some cities in the US see some cycling to work, it doesn't come close to the Netherlands or the rest of Europe.

I saw it in Portland, OR. There are cyclists there but it only works for some. Portland is still a lot less dense than European cities. And that is probably the most bicycle friendly place I have seen in the US. Most places are a lot worse.

There are two major obstacles why bicycling will never really work in most US cities.

1. Climate, which is a lot more extreme than in Europe.

2. Low density of the cities which have no real core of let say 3-4 miles like most European cities have.

zxcvzxcv wrote: because Americans don't live in places highly suitable for walking, e.g. suburbs, southern cities, sprawling places, and don't have much public transportation

I worked in the big cities in Vietnam, in the fairly prosperous white collar areas. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is skinny. They do almost zero exercise. Nobody bikes. Little walking. They are paranoid of the sun and ride their scooters from right next to where they live to right next to where they work. If they go out for lunch, they ride their scooters down the block when walking would probably be faster.

That's only one example, but I don't think the walking and biking hypothesis for low obesity, which is reasonable, is actually a major factor.

Mercedes Audi wrote:

Also Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, are both near the top in sugar and fat intake, and near the bottom in obesity rates. Ok, Germany i can understand, all their toothpaste is spiked with Testosterone, so that helps keep them lean and muscular, but the disparity is still so shocking i'll have to eat a tub of Hagaan Dazs. Article says it's likely processed foods, didn't even mention lack of exercise.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/05/where-people-around-the-world-eat-the-most-sugar-and-fat/?utm_term=.58a1139441d7

As a frequent visitor to the Netherlands, they are bike crazy and there are bike paths everywhere. They will bike in any weather. They certainly get more exercise than your average North American.

Pho rider wrote:

zxcvzxcv wrote: because Americans don't live in places highly suitable for walking, e.g. suburbs, southern cities, sprawling places, and don't have much public transportation

I worked in the big cities in Vietnam, in the fairly prosperous white collar areas. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is skinny. They do almost zero exercise. Nobody bikes. Little walking. They are paranoid of the sun and ride their scooters from right next to where they live to right next to where they work. If they go out for lunch, they ride their scooters down the block when walking would probably be faster.

That's only one example, but I don't think the walking and biking hypothesis for low obesity, which is reasonable, is actually a major factor.

It's not walking and biking alone.

Healthy food is a major factor too.

American's eat mostly crap and that's why they look crap too.

Yeah, Americans, get this: eat more calories! Yes, more calories per person average! Isn’t that amazing! And you have the highest obesity rates.

Cause. Effect.

You’re welcome.

Moran’s.

The south Pacific’s islanders are actually way more obese. Which is certainly genetic. They are just fat.

American has more fatter people than anywhere the the world. And are actually 2nd in the world, only slight behind Austria in calorific intake. Austrians take better care of themselves, no more complex than that. Americans are typically greedy and lazy by their nature. Hence the fatness.

Interestingly, the US also has more sex offenders than Austria and the South Pacific islands.

Also...(I’m his pretty assistant) wrote:

The south Pacific’s islanders are actually way more obese. Which is certainly genetic. They are just fat.

They are fat because they eat more. Especially lots of fat. They have the highest fat% diet in the world and the highest obesity. They may be genetically predisposed to eat more, but there's no magic genetic trait that makes some people defy thermodynamics and other not.

Gene Ettick wrote:

They are fat because they eat more. Especially lots of fat. They have the highest fat% diet in the world and the highest obesity. They may be genetically predisposed to eat more, but there's no magic genetic trait that makes some people defy thermodynamics and other not.

The it's genetic argument always comes up but I think it's BS.

I also think that actually all the no fat products make people fatter. Because they get lured into the idea that they can eat more of something because there is no fat in it. Not to mention all the chemical poison in there to create these non fat products.

There are very different demographics in Germany than the USA. It's much or homogeneous than than the US.

Gene Ettick wrote:

Also...(I’m his pretty assistant) wrote:

The south Pacific’s islanders are actually way more obese. Which is certainly genetic. They are just fat.

They are fat because they eat more. Especially lots of fat. They have the highest fat% diet in the world and the highest obesity. They may be genetically predisposed to eat more, but there's no magic genetic trait that makes some people defy thermodynamics and other not.

There have been some studies where they took fat south pacific islanders and put them on their ancestral diet of lots of starches (tubers mostly) and they lost weight. If you stay either low fat or low carb, it tends to limit calories and it's hard to get fat. The most tasty food - donuts, cookies, pizza, mac and cheeze, ice cream, ... are both high fat and high carb. Any limit you put on yourself that gets you to think before you eat and avoid junk food will help you limit calories.

Those stats about countries and sugar intake -absolute nonsense!

For example, India is listed at lowest sugar intake per day, with just 5 grams per day. No way! -in India everyone drinks hot, sweet tea/chai all day, automatically loaded with a lot of sugar and condensed milk. In addition, Indians, especially Tamils and Keralites, eat tons of sweet pastries and other sweet carbohydrates.

Those stats are completely misleading. All the countries listed with low amounts of sugar, have the highest rates of diabetes.

Completely misleading stats which don't tell the whole story. Philippines, listed at just 22 grams per day, has skyrocketing rates of type 2 diabetes. Holland is among highest sugar intake in world, yet diabetes is quite low compared to all those countries with low sugar rates. Go figure. Please list all the variables.

Ghost in China

I was surprised at the low sugar intake for India, but realize that there are a billion people in India, many are rural and don't have as much access to sugar as urban folk. Yes type II diabetes is a huge and growing issue in south Asia, a friend from India said it was because of the influx of ultra processed food combined with almost zero exercise (it's hot!), which has already happened to East Indians living in America.

sugar lives wrote:

Sugar Kills wrote:

The US is significantly above Germany in sugar consumption and double most of the other European counties. Good fat is just that, good. Sugar is all bad.

take two

And yet:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DukTmmUWoAAxuJD.jpg:large

That's mostly correlation, not causation. The countries with the most sugar intake also generally have the best health care and are not third world countries, so of course their lifespan will be longer....maybe not their healthspan. Who wants to live 40 more years with diabetic complications and heart disease and co-morbid Alzheimers?

they move more, drive less, and likely less stress