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Re: Super Size Me

12.104.14.100

I too am looking forward to seeing this film. I have read a bit on health and obesity in the US, and the factors are many -- some intuitively obvious, some not. A few axamples:

Portion sizes have increased due to resistence to pricing pressures
Proliferation of "family style" chains (ie Fridays, 99, Applebee's)--portions are huge and the food unhealthy.
Two parents working leaves less time for healthy prepared meals
The advertising game has become so expensive and critical to food companies' success.

The above are "obvious" to many, but what may not be obvious:

The development in the late 70's of High Fructose Corn Syrup, which enables companies to make foods very tasty for very cheap. The corn industry is one of the most heavily subsidized one by our gov't.

If you look at charts of obesity levels in this country, the ramp up corresponds very closely with the development and use of HFCS. This product is insidious, and most people don't realize it. I worked for a juice manufacturer for 6 years and all I heard was "sugar is sugar" regardless of whether it comes from fruits or HFCS. Well that is not technically correct. HFCS interferes with the body's ability to metabolize sugars effectively.

If you are interested in this topic, I'd recommend a book called "Fat Land" by Greg Critser and another by Kelly Brownell called "Food Fight". Both are interesting, with Brownell's being more comprehansive, but Critser's really delving into the HFCS and food subsidies thing.



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  • Re: Super Size Me - jackrandom 05:11:56 06/10/04 (0)


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