What Drives Obesity - Diets High in Fat? Carbohydrates? Actually, It's Everything - and Fructose Is at the Center

[Caliman73]

4. Not entirely true.

Carbohydrates are absolutely necessary for bodily functions. Glucose, a carbohydrate, is the only fuel source for brain cells.

They are also the most easily converted into fat for storage. Many people in other parts of the world, eat a diet higher in carbohydrates, in the form of rice or potatoes, and vegetables, and do not have the levels of obesity that we have in the United States. If carbohydrates were the primary cause, then we would be seeing the same pattern play out all over the world, especially in places where carbohydrates make up the majority of calories consumed.

The problem is that the food that we are sold for convenience, and the schedules we are conditioned to keep, and the layout and design of many of our living spaces (cities) are such that we overeat and are not active enough. Processed foods have a combination of fat, sugar, and salt that is for all intents and purposes, "addicting". For many people, the diet in the United States contains ingredients that actually work to shut down the Leptin cycle, which is the hormonal trigger for satiety. We don't feel "full" like other people, who eat a more natural diet or get more activity, would so we overeat and the cycle repeats.

The above is a very simplistic explanation of a complex process that involves what we eat, our psychology, and our levels of activity.

For many people, "cutting carbs" or cutting calories, simply doesn't work because the body's internal processes have been damaged.