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Should junk food be taxed?
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First, there is as much of a commonly-understood definition of what is "junk food" as there is of the term "assault weapon" (in other words, there is no commonly-understood definition). Second, taxation just means more money going into government coffers, and we all know how sensibly they spend it. Third, "junk food" doesn't cause obesity or diabetes, sugar doesn't cause obesity or diabetes. Diabetes (specifically Type II diabetes) is a metabolic syndrome with multiple risk factors, chief among them being obesity. And, obesity is caused by nothing other than chronically excessive caloric intake.
Given all of that, let's just say we can all agree on what a definition of "junk food" actually is. Obviously it would include some calorically-dense, nutritionally-sparse food items, but probably not others. So, the substitution effect would set it. Yes, making something cost more does result in that something being consumed less.
But people will eat, and people will want to eat things that taste good - and so as certain (likely prepackaged, mass-produced foods) might get slapped with taxes (because they're "junk food"), people will just substitute other things. Sales of donut makers and home deep-friers would soar. People would learn how to bake cookies, cake, etc. more (I already am pretty handy with baking stuff like this - it's actually pretty easy).
I also think the idea that taxation has decreased the rates of smoking in the US is quite overblown. I think more than anything, social approbrium, the increasing popularity of bans on indoor smoking, etc., and also education about the dangers of smoking - these have had a much greater effect than taxation.
Finally, taxation, when taken to a high enough level, can incentivize black markets. It's already happening for tobacco (New York has a bustling business in illegal and smuggled cigarettes due to their punishingly high tax rates). You want to see it happen for "junk food"? Try taxing donuts five bucks a pop and see what happens, as an example. You might see "bake-easies" pop up across the US. Which would be kind of funny, actually.
I am now picturing prohibition era nip joints, just serving chocolate muffins, fried chicken, and smashed kneecaps when you try to dine and dash.
That's a very strange combination of hilarious and sad.6 -
Don't forget how we always comment in "sugar is addictive" threads about how no one steals money from their mom's wallet to get a donut fix... But if we start taxing these things, that might become a reality!1
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If you want to motivate people to make "better choises", I would rather give them a price reduction on "healthy food" than a tax on "unhealthy food". Some people nearly can't pay foor food, let alone healthy food.
For example; in my country 1kg of premade frozen fries is cheaper than 1 kg of plain uncooked potatos.4 -
cmriverside wrote: »I guess that doesn't answer.
heh. Sure, tax 'em! I"m not buying them anyway. Grrr.
In My opinion the problem with that is, once you open the door on taxes i/e cigs and booze, it also opens the door to start taxing just about anything. Food is already charged sales tax, I assume this tax to be above the normal sales tax.
And sooner or later they will tax something that is near and dear to you.
And the additional tax money always somehow gets used somewhere else in a general fund and the schools still get screwed.
What should happen is to start charging sales tax on all Internet sales, Can you imagine the amount of money that would be gained by every state to be used where they need it the most ?
It would also level the playing field a bit for local small businesses who have to compete with the no sales tax internet sellers.
Anyway just a thought.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »Yes, i'd certainly like to see some kind of "sugar" tax, but not to the extent that we would create "prohibition" conditions.
This isn't something to be taken lightly but otoh neither is a 30% obesity rate.
Not enough is being done to help people control their weight, overeating is a hugely popular hobby.
why in the world do you want the government trying to regulate weight?????? And there is absolutely nothing wrong with sugar when consumed in moderation...
Because the government pays over 50% of healthcare costs and that percentage is rising. Obesity ialong with smoking ate the biggest controllable health risks.
Agree nothing wrong with sugar in modreatiom, just like nothing wrong with booze in moderation and there is tax on that above.the typical sales tax.
not sure how the flawed/unconstitutional right for the government to pay for healthcare costs somehow turns into a right for the government to regulate everyone's weight..
that is a ridiculous argument.
Don't think the government paying for health care has been declared unconstitutional. MedI care and Medicaid have been around for years.
please tell me what section of the constitution provides the government the authority to pay for healthcare costs?
Sure right after you show us where medicare and Medicaid plus insurance for government employees is unconstitutional2 -
Crazyartgrrl wrote: »Taxes were not designed to manipulate behavior. Their purpose is to create revenue for government functions (roads, defense, etc) Creating an additional tax for "junk" food seems illegal or at least, contrary to the original "spirit" of taxes.
Originally taxes were designed to collect revenue. Now they are social engineering. Do you take a mortgage interest tax deduction. Thank the home builders, realtors and banking industry for that. It is giving an incentive for buying houses as an example. Same with energy tax credits when you upgrade a furnace or water heater.1 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.1 -
queenliz99 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
@kristen6350 would have to confirm but I took her comment to mean that it didn't matter the individual components of what she was eating, nor the individual macros. That everything in her meal would slip by the "junk food" tax but she could easily end up overweight from over consuming calories. Junk food, carbs, etc wouldn't make a difference, it is too many calories that cause weight gain, and obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, not consumption of one food or a particular macro.
This is how I understood what she had said. Chipotle is a calorie bomb if not careful. She said nothing about carbs.
She DID say something about carbs: "not because I was binging on carbs"0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
It doesn't matter. The point of her post wasn't the carbs and whether or not it was a "carb binge". The point is that none of the things in the burrito would be considered junk food, yet could most definitely be eaten in high enough calorie content to make a person obese which would increase his or her risk factor for diabetes.
She used the word "carb binge" as a null hypothesis.1 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
@kristen6350 would have to confirm but I took her comment to mean that it didn't matter the individual components of what she was eating, nor the individual macros. That everything in her meal would slip by the "junk food" tax but she could easily end up overweight from over consuming calories. Junk food, carbs, etc wouldn't make a difference, it is too many calories that cause weight gain, and obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, not consumption of one food or a particular macro.
This is how I understood what she had said. Chipotle is a calorie bomb if not careful. She said nothing about carbs.
She DID say something about carbs: "not because I was binging on carbs"
But the crux of her reply was too many calories not the carbs0 -
queenliz99 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
@kristen6350 would have to confirm but I took her comment to mean that it didn't matter the individual components of what she was eating, nor the individual macros. That everything in her meal would slip by the "junk food" tax but she could easily end up overweight from over consuming calories. Junk food, carbs, etc wouldn't make a difference, it is too many calories that cause weight gain, and obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, not consumption of one food or a particular macro.
This is how I understood what she had said. Chipotle is a calorie bomb if not careful. She said nothing about carbs.
She DID say something about carbs: "not because I was binging on carbs"
But the crux of her reply was too many calories not the carbs
Then why would she have specifically called out carbs rather than binging in general?0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
It doesn't matter. The point of her post wasn't the carbs and whether or not it was a "carb binge". The point is that none of the things in the burrito would be considered junk food, yet could most definitely be eaten in high enough calorie content to make a person obese which would increase his or her risk factor for diabetes.
She used the word "carb binge" as a null hypothesis.
As I pointed out, it wasn't "null" at all. If that was really the intent, then she provided evidence to defeat her own point.0 -
Let it go, Elsa.13
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midwesterner85 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
@kristen6350 would have to confirm but I took her comment to mean that it didn't matter the individual components of what she was eating, nor the individual macros. That everything in her meal would slip by the "junk food" tax but she could easily end up overweight from over consuming calories. Junk food, carbs, etc wouldn't make a difference, it is too many calories that cause weight gain, and obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, not consumption of one food or a particular macro.
This is how I understood what she had said. Chipotle is a calorie bomb if not careful. She said nothing about carbs.
She DID say something about carbs: "not because I was binging on carbs"
But the crux of her reply was too many calories not the carbs
Then why would she have specifically called out carbs rather than binging in general?
What's the topic of this thread? Your bingeing on carbs? I forget5 -
Packerjohn wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »
30 years ago, it was fat that was the bad thing to eat and there are still many organizations that feel that way. What would it do to your current food budget if fat was taxed at 500%? Would that be fair?
I would protest to high heaven.
I don't doubt it. Why is it OK to do to other people for the way they eat but not to you for the way you eat?
I do not care how anyone eats as long as it is the way they want to eat. It is more about getting a free ride tax wise.
Actually I do not understand why people put up with sin taxes unless they are on public health services so they do not pay for medical services.
The people who want sin taxes are the people who don't sin that way. Prohibitionists weren't drinkers; they wanted drinkers to stop drinking. Sin taxes are about trying to force a behavior modification onto other people and hopefully making some extra money on the side while they are doing it.
Going after other people's sins is taking a big chance since the next sin that people go after may be your own.
Everyone pays for health services, either in socialized medicine or taxes for things like Medicare and Medicaid in the US. If we want a healthier population, it needs to be done through encouragement and making healthy living more convenient and cheaper, not through financial punishment for certain choices.
How did the US reduce smoking? Education and higher taxes on tobacco in combination
I'd add - stricter penalties and better enforcement of laws that punish stores that sell cigarettes to minors. I started smoking at age 11. I could buy smokes most places back then (early 1990's before the lawsuits) without getting carded (or I could always hit up a cigarette vending machine - yes, youngsters, that was a thing). By the time I was 18 I got carded all the time.
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midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
I wasn't aware that binges are now being defined by carb count. So if I stuff myself to the point of wanting to vomit with plain chicken breast, that's fine, but if it's with rice, then it's a binge? What's the cutoff for number of carbs that's allowed before it's considered a binge?3 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
I wasn't aware that binges are now being defined by carb count. So if I stuff myself to the point of wanting to vomit with plain chicken breast, that's fine, but if it's with rice, then it's a binge? What's the cutoff for number of carbs that's allowed before it's considered a binge?
"binging on carbs" would be a binge of carbs. Binging on plain chicken breast would not be considered "binging on carbs." As to the number of carbs considered a binge, I've already said it is subjective... that is the comment you just quoted.1 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
It doesn't matter. The point of her post wasn't the carbs and whether or not it was a "carb binge". The point is that none of the things in the burrito would be considered junk food, yet could most definitely be eaten in high enough calorie content to make a person obese which would increase his or her risk factor for diabetes.
She used the word "carb binge" as a null hypothesis.
As I pointed out, it wasn't "null" at all. If that was really the intent, then she provided evidence to defeat her own point.
How is saying that she would gain weight, not because she binged on carbs, but because she consumed too many calories, defeating her own point?3 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »kristen6350 wrote: »Well, since junk food doesn't make people fat, too much food does, I don't see why it would help.
Trust me, too much of anything will make one gain weight.
Nailed it!!
I mean, I can go to Chipolte and down a 1,200 calorie burrito stuffed with "healthy food" for lunch, plus a 500 calorie breakfast of eggs and veggies, then a 500 calorie dinner of grilled chicken and veggies EVERY DAY of my life. That's 2,200 calories a day. 300 calories over what my body needs. All of that extra food made me fat, but all of it is considered healthy. There wasn't one chip, cookie, candy, etc in that whole day. But guess what? I'm 40lbs overweight because I ate too much food and didn't burn off the extra 300 calories a day. I didn't eat junk, but I'm fat and I'm at risk of diabetes. Not because I was binging on carbs, because I ate too many calories.
A Chipotle burrito is anything but low carb. Unless you get a salad instead of a burrito, skip the rice, skip the beans... then it can be considered low carb.
Did she say it was low carb, or that she was low carb? I'm trying to understand why you are qualifying her statement, which was meant to support her stance (which I agree with, btw) that it isn't junk food that makes people fat, it is too many calories in general, regardless of their source.
"not because I was binging on carbs" after describing a meal that was a carb binge. I know she got rice and/or beans in her burrito for this, as the tortilla itself isn't quite a binge level of carbs and 1,200 calories shows that it had to have included at least beans (all other available ingredients even with the highest calorie meat still don't add up to 1,200 unless adding at least beans).
How is a single meal, even at 70-80% carbs, a "binge", especially in context of the other hypothetical meals described?
That is where it becomes subjective. I would see a single food item with more than 100g of carbs to be a "carb binge." There was a time in my life when it wouldn't be considered a "binge" until 800g of carbs, so definitely subjective... that can't be argued.
I wasn't aware that binges are now being defined by carb count. So if I stuff myself to the point of wanting to vomit with plain chicken breast, that's fine, but if it's with rice, then it's a binge? What's the cutoff for number of carbs that's allowed before it's considered a binge?
"binging on carbs" would be a binge of carbs. Binging on plain chicken breast would not be considered "binging on carbs." As to the number of carbs considered a binge, I've already said it is subjective... that is the comment you just quoted.
So, you're picking at words and derailing the debate for entertainment?8 -
NorthCascades wrote: »caroldavison332 wrote: »no. we pay too much in taxes already and it won't dissuade people from eating it. Look what they pay for cigarettes.
Every time they raise the tax on cigarettes, teen smoking goes down. You make a good argument.
Well teens buying them may go down, but smoking is another thing...
Where there is a WILL there is a WAY... My moto as a teen
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