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PaperclipPerfector  25d ago (text post)   2848 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 27, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Seed oil consumption tracks obesity because it is used in so many processed foods.

What's bad about processed foods? Does the act of processing a food introduce sin into the food that causes obesity?

Talk of hyper-processed foods causing obesity seems very hand-wavy to me.

What, specifically, is causing the problem? Is it seed oils? Is it additives? Is it hyper-palatability (press D to doubt). Is it ease of use?

Of all those factors, I'd say seed oils feels like the most likely candidate, low confidence.

Yes, it's hyper-palatability. Processed stuff simply tastes better and can be eaten mindlessly. To eat an apple mindlessly you have to mindfully wash it, core it and slice it. You can't eat an orange mindlessly at all. You can eat apple- and orange-flavored candy mindlessly and it's much more calorie-dense.

Well, first of all, I think it works like all restrictions— it makes it hard to just eat anything without thinking about it, reading labels, etc. This is important because America is stuffed full of convenience foods and they’re available just about everywhere you go. If you can’t eat processed foods, or seed oils, then you’re not going to be able to buy chips at the gas station, go through the drive through, get a pizza at the grocery store, etc.

Second I think there is something to hyper-palatable foods being a reasonable hypothesis as most processed foods have more intense flavors than anything in nature. The cheesyist natural cheese is not as intense as something like Cheetos. The sweetest fruits pale in flavor intensity compared to fruit flavored candies.

Third, processed foods often remove the things that allow your systems to feel full for example engineering mouthfeel (https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2023/11/07/mouthfeel-of-food-determines-whether-people-go-back-for-seconds/) to induce purchases. Now the article was about hamburgers, but mouthfeel is just one aspect of the engineering of food to induce people to eat it. Now, once your diet reaches a certain point with foods engineered both to induce eating, and to perhaps keep you from feeling full, becoming at least overweight is pretty much a done deal.

What's bad about processed foods? Does the act of processing a food introduce sin into the food that causes obesity?

Talk of hyper-processed foods causing obesity seems very hand-wavy to me.

I literally explained the proposed mechanism in the next sentence:

The majority of technical diets that major in the minors just track with "create a restriction that prevents you from eating at a convenience store or fast food restaurant;" this prevents most people from eating mindlessly and serves as an effective calorie stopper.

Most Americans/Westerners aren't getting fat off of home cooking, even though one can quite easily make high calorie foods at home. Most people are getting fat off of fast food, takeout, and grocery store junk food, not high calorie home cooking.

The sin being introduced is mindless availability of calories. I would bet that consumption of seed oils tracks obesity less closely than percentage of meals eaten outside the home.

Yes, it introduces "sins". To process food is to remove healthy, valuable parts and introduce cheap, unhealthy parts, even straight up waste that not even animals can live on.

Watch this: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5QOTBreQaIk

Can you summarize the video?

I pretty much already did.

Glad I didn't watch a 57 minute video that can be summarized in one sentence.

Lol this is rude but I love it because I really hate when people link long videos as if I’m gonna watch them.

He did ask what's bad about processed foods. The video answers the question. He can scan through it or ask an LLM if he doesn't want to watch it. Asking me for a summary is some lazy Gen Z behavior IMO...

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