Real Reasons for Obesity

Because this is an interview (as opposed to an academic paper that's couched in more scientific language), I think there is an element of oversimplification at the beginning, but it's important to read through to the end. What he is saying is that due to our overconsumption of processed carbs and sugars, we have become fat, but our brains and even our bodies don't recognize that the calories stored in our fat cells are accessible for energy. Therefore, even though we are fat, we are constantly hungry. He also discusses this theory in conjunction with insulin and Type II diabetes. In a way, I understand it. While I've never experienced this constant hunger and was never more than moderately overweight (around a 26 BMI after an injury), my husband who is overweight and diabetic and makes jokes ("fat cells never go away, they just shrink"), says he is constantly hungry and that when I can just stop eating something because I'm full, he tells me "You don't understand how a fat person thinks/feels." For example, I wear a FItbit HR, and it kind of predicts when I'll be hungry -- if the calories burned are more than I've consumed, say after exercise, I do feel quite hungry. But if I sit around all day and I've eaten what I've burned, I'm not that hungry. However, my husband can be sedentary all day and yet feel much hungrier than I do even if I'm active, and even if he's eaten much more than I have. I think this article captures the reason for that insatiability of the overweight-obese person. Ludwig's solution is to stop eating some of those foods that fuel that craving/hunger -- processed carbs, sugars, etc.