Is corn making us fat?

124

Replies

  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    It's been proven by studies that when the economy is in bad shape, people actually get more overweight. Sounds weird right? But the truth is that when the money is tight and food is expensive, people buy cheap. Cheap = processed, low quality foods. People buy less produce, more "boxed" stuff, less juice and more fruit "drinks", etc.

    O rly? Did obesity run rampant during the Great Depression?

    I don't know about the economy in general, but having done a lot of nutrition counseling in low income communities, the poor definitely have a tougher time eating healthy for a variety of reasons.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    We do not eat corn in any way shape or form at my house because of corn allergies. This has been true for the past 20 years. We do not have an over skinny issue at our house.
    ^ LOL
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    It's been proven by studies that when the economy is in bad shape, people actually get more overweight. Sounds weird right? But the truth is that when the money is tight and food is expensive, people buy cheap. Cheap = processed, low quality foods. People buy less produce, more "boxed" stuff, less juice and more fruit "drinks", etc.

    O rly? Did obesity run rampant during the Great Depression?

    I don't know about the economy in general, but having done a lot of nutrition counseling in low income communities, the poor definitely have a tougher time eating healthy for a variety of reasons.

    That they do, however they can opt for healthier foods which tend to be more expensive than calorically dense "junk" foods but choose not to. So is it simply a product of having less money that leads to obesity or combined with not forgoing let's say cable/cell pones etc in favor of healthier items, lack of effort to cook meals and trying to be more active? I suppose you can make a case that they also lack access aka the so called "food deserts" in inner cities, but caloric balance will still govern weight gain or loss.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Until your diet consists of corn only, I don't think there is a very good argument here.
  • ToughTulip
    ToughTulip Posts: 1,118 Member
    Alarmist posts like this make me giggle.
    Glad to be a Food/Culinary Science major. I study food processing and all these "evil" foods every day.
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
    Many things make us fat mainly overeating and zero physical activity probably the main reason. And yes there are many contributing factors such as a cheese burger is 1.00 and a healthy salad will cost you 4 dollars the list goes on and on. Junk food is cheap so ppl buy it. Especially people with less income. And theres the ignorant (I was one of them) did not really realize what a 2000 or 2500 calorie diet was or even how to go about it. If anything Ignorance makes us fat. At least it did me.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Alarmist posts like this make me giggle.
    Glad to be a Food/Culinary Science major. I study food processing and all these "evil" foods every day.

    how U doin?

    :love:
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    We do not eat corn in any way shape or form at my house because of corn allergies. This has been true for the past 20 years. We do not have an over skinny issue at our house.

    lol
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I'm convinced. I'm giving up corn.

    There's no corn in corn tortillas or cornbread or corn on the cob is there? I mean, that's just the name, right?
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I do think that we are missing out on some micro-nutrients by eating corn-fed beef instead of grass-fed, but there is a lot more farmers going back to feeding their cattle grass so it's available in the market for people who choose it. But corn alone is not responsible for obesity.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I do think that we are missing out on some micro-nutrients by eating corn-fed beef instead of grass-fed, but there is a lot more farmers going back to feeding their cattle grass so it's available in the market for people who choose it. But corn alone is not responsible for obesity.

    Grass fed beef is not available everywhere. I've checked every store within a wide area of my home and couldn't find it. The internet is the only place to get it. And it's darn expensive.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Couldn't we just make up the difference by eating grass?

    I had a brownie recipe somewhere around here.........
  • c8linmarie
    c8linmarie Posts: 358 Member
    EDIT: Corn DID use my manparts for something and it was unpleasant. But that was a while back.


    I remember that incident very vividly! :wink:
  • SarahAFerguson
    SarahAFerguson Posts: 250 Member
    We do not eat corn in any way shape or form at my house because of corn allergies. This has been true for the past 20 years. We do not have an over skinny issue at our house.

    Same here. Anyone who thinks they have cut corn out of their diet do a search on hidden sources of corn. It is in virtually every processed food. Very hard to avoid.
  • hiker359
    hiker359 Posts: 577 Member
    We do not eat corn in any way shape or form at my house because of corn allergies. This has been true for the past 20 years. We do not have an over skinny issue at our house.

    Same here. Anyone who thinks they have cut corn out of their diet do a search on hidden sources of corn. It is in virtually every processed food. Very hard to avoid.

    Very easy to avoid if you don't eat processed foods. Shop the perimeter of the store and buy grass fed beef (when possible). I went shopping yesterday and nothing I bought had corn in it....I did put some corn starch in my fajita seasoning for dinner last night, but only as a thickening agent.

    Anywho, I don't think it's corn that's making us fat, but superfluous quantities of processed foods. Learn to cook, buy fresh or frozen fruits and veggies and things will start moving in the right direction.
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
    Watch King Corn the documentary. Its just crazy

    http://www.kingcorn.net/the-film/trailer/
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    I'd say too much food and too little movement is making us fat.

    A number of civilizations owe their survival to corn. It is not in and of itself a bad thing - far from it.
  • her4g63
    her4g63 Posts: 284 Member
    Paleo/primal = ftw.
  • Jay_Jay_
    Jay_Jay_ Posts: 194 Member
    Corn is making us fat. End of story. Do a tiny bit of research on the subject and it's overwhelmingly obvious. Look at corn use and weight gain in the 60's and 70's when corn syrups started replacing natural sugar. Look at the weight gain of the nation since "Low fat, high sugar" became the big weight loss craze. (Funny that all the low fat programs always came with, "Exercise required, active healthy lifestyle to lose weight", etc etc. heh I lost over 150lbs sitting on my *kitten* eating bacon and steak.) In closing, denying it is like denying the evolution theory.
    I'd say too much food and too little movement is making us fat.

    A number of civilizations owe their survival to corn. It is not in and of itself a bad thing - far from it.

    There are SO many studies out there that disprove this notion. The amount of food we eat has not really increased that much at all for the average american. Neither has the amount of exercise we get. Aside from that, exercise is not all that important in weight loss (not talking about toning, bulking, etc.). Some say 10%, but i'd give it 5% at best. What has changed, is our diets. What we eat, not how much of it we eat.
  • natalie412
    natalie412 Posts: 1,039 Member
    Ummm I think we are fat because we eat too much and move too little.....

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