Overeating

I echo what Giraffe said - food is more than functional. We include food in a lot of life events, from birthday cakes to 'drinking away our sorrows'.

Food is a sensory thing from the texture and taste to the way the ingredients affect our bodies afterwards. Sugar and caffeine for a high or a rush, alcohol to numb us.

Yes, it's important to look at balancing energy input (food volumes) with our energy output, but food has a lot more meaning to us than that. Within our bodies, food does more than just provide energy, too.

The nutritional content of raw foods such as vegetables is not what it used to be compared with just a few decades ago (due to modern farming methods), and we have bodies that are asking for a top up of these nutrients, but we do not have brains capable of decoding the signals. We may reach for sugar thinking it's a sugar craving (as an example) when actually our bodies are asking for micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Sometimes a poor diet will give us a side effect that is addictive, making us think it's a nutrient craving, too. An illness may change our appetite or cravings, as well.

It's a complex bigger picture, especially when you add in the effects of our childhood experiences, memories & associations throughout life, food advertising, peers, stress, illness, lack of time to prepare meals, and so on (like some of what Plastic said).

I don't believe we're more likely to be obese if we're autistic, although I don't know this for sure. I suspect even if the figures looked that way, that it would be more complex than that underneath anyway. E.g. I maintain my weight between a certain range because I hate the feeling of being so skinny I feel fragile or when I'm bigger and my skin and body senses change as a result and drive me mad. I'm only able to keep between this weight range thanks to putting in years of effort learning about nutrition in general and also specifically to my needs. I suspect most people (autistic or not) do not have the time or motivation to invest that kind of effort. Even me, really - I didn't have a choice - my health depended on it in the beginning.

I believe there are some big changes that us, as a society, could push for (e.g. stop using sugar and salt as cheap flavour enhancers, basic nutrition education in schools, improved farming methods). But I think they need to be done all together and with an individualised approach, whether that's self-led (like I did) or via support.

The answer is much simpler, in my opinion. It's all to do with our sedentary modern lifestyles (we are 50% less active than our ancestors).

On the topic of junk food - I think it would be great if there was a tax on it, and no/lower tax on nutritious foods. I loved what Jamie Oliver was doing. He was educating kids AND government.

AND people need to choose to make these changes. 

AND they're more likely to make changes when they're educated about them, they can afford them, they're not emotionally attached to the old ways, they're not physically limited from making the changes (e.g. unable to cook from scratch, reliant on fast food).

(I used 'junk food' and 'fast food' separately because some food can be prepared quickly and be nutritious, whereas some is just junk.)

On the topic of junk food - I think it would be great if there was a tax on it, and no/lower tax on nutritious foods. I loved what Jamie Oliver was doing. He was educating kids AND government.

AND people need to choose to make these changes. 

AND they're more likely to make changes when they're educated about them, they can afford them, they're not emotionally attached to the old ways, they're not physically limited from making the changes (e.g. unable to cook from scratch, reliant on fast food).

(I used 'junk food' and 'fast food' separately because some food can be prepared quickly and be nutritious, whereas some is just junk.)

Turtle said:

vegetables, nuts, seeds. salad, lean meat or fish etc etc.

I had a fillet steak burger with sesame seed bun - does that count? 

The diet of an athlete is usually a healthy balanced one ; cooking fresh food from scratch, lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds. salad, lean meat or fish etc etc.

I'm pretty sure it is not a diet based on junk food. 

Turtle said:

No I'm just pointing out that a lot of adulterated food is harmful to the body, takes longer for the body to break down and is generally bad for your health compared

Zero proof - all based on 20 years of high-power marketing from the organic industry.

I'm seriously ill - ulcerative pan-colitis - what I eat is incredibly important - I have a nutritionist working with me - the first thing she said was ignore all the marketing lies - we work with facts.      I eat pragmatically - I eat mostly like an Olympic athlete - but I also treat myself to relieve the boredom.

My symptoms are mostly affected by stress.

JustMe said:

A basic McDonald's burger had 6.6g of sugar and 1.2g of salt.

That's the tomato sauce.

JustMe said:

Muller Lite yogurts, low fat - great - but full of sugar! I'd class that as junk food too! 

That's all down to a political battle years ago where claiming that fat was bad - but that gives flavour - so food had tons of sugar and salt crammed in instead to give some flavour.

No I'm just pointing out that a lot of adulterated food is harmful to the body, takes longer for the body to break down and is generally bad for your health compared to fresh, local or organic food which will be much more beneficial to the body.

You are not surely suggesting that there is no difference if you eat junk food everyday or a healthy balanced diet ? 

There's most definitely such a thing as junk food! Any food that gives you calories but very little nutrition is junk food. Plain and simple. And adding a bit of lettuce does not make a McDonald's burger any healthier. Most pre-made food is usually higher in calories, fat, sugar and salt. A basic McDonald's burger had 6.6g of sugar and 1.2g of salt. That's not good, no matter how you look at it. Adding lettuce doesn't make it any better either. The same ingredients, made by the same outlet, arranged differently on a plate, would still be bad. Similar ingredients, home made, on a plate or in a burger bun would be much better. Less fat, less salt, less sugar. Even shop bought,  pre-made, 'healthy' food is often crammed with sugar and/or salt in order to add flavour. Muller Lite yogurts, low fat - great - but full of sugar! I'd class that as junk food too! 

And they got a free meat ration with all the bugs and weevils in the biscuits too. 

i watched some videos on hard tac after i wondered what pirates and sailors ate on long voyages... its like a cracker bread thing that was so hard they pretty much had to punch it to break bits off. it lasted months or years or whatever and had decent enough nutrition to get them by but its longevity was due to the fact it has no flavourings or sugar or anything in it at all to improve its flavour as anything to add taste or flavour would be adding things that would go stale or rotten and thus kill the longevity of the food. so it must have been very bland.

You seem to try to make out that 'food' has some special properties - it hasn't - it's just chemistry.    Burger buns do go green - like every other bread - but their chemistry is such that it takes longer than a hand-made 'artisan' bread which is polluted with all sorts of random bacteria and yeasts.

I love a good burger - I'm not really bothered with McD or any cheapo versions without salad and where the 'meat' is MRM with added rusk and fillers to lower the cost for the retailer - but remember-  directly it goes down your throat, it gets dumped into concentrated acid in your stomach - that's going to break down almost anything into its chemical components.

If you're into food, look at Youtube videos of military MRE rations - that will demonstrate the clever chemistry in making long-life food that still tastes good - an army marches on its stomach!  .

I'm not doubting some companies go to those lengths but all the flour is bleached like most white bread and they add preservatives to the products too .It doesn't explain though if you leave the product out at home and it still doesn't go off and how would the body break such food down ? I mean have you tasted a burger bun from some of those places ? It's like eating soggy cardboard. All the bread products in those fast food places are horrible. They sell a very similar, long-life burger bun in the supermarkets and is disgusting. It does actually taste like it is weeks old, which it probably is.  

Turtle said:

We both know this is untrue.

You're wrong - The world is full of bacteria which makes food go mouldy - but some places keep the right bits of production clean to stop the bacteria getting into the product - it hugely extends shelf-life along with sealing them in plastic packaging full of nitrogen.

Other companies actively want the product to spoil quickly - it's all about the target market.

I worked in a very famous bakery. I can't begin to tell you of the horrors I've seen there. And the clever ways they went about concealing their bad practices from H&S.

^ its always reported that many fast food places the food and equipment are full of *** lol because the staff dont wash their hands after going toilet... or porbably ever to be honest... and they probably flush with the seat open and thus get poo particles flung all over their entire body.

I am exactly the same. worked in a Hovis factory and it was just as revolting as working in a slaughter house. Worked in a wetherspoons kitchen and macdonals and will never eat at any of their locations because of some of the people working for them shouldn't be touching food. lack of hygiene and basic food safety.     

aye, which is why the dumbest of people are always the types that advocate for a plant based diet lmao

Plastic said:

t's because the production is so clean that bacteria is excluded - the bun will dessicate before it goes green.    

We both know this is untrue. It is because of all the additives. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, if you bake good local, organic  ingredients, it is meant to be enjoyed there and then, not tomorrow or the next day or next week.

That is why you still have queues of people lining up in France and other countries for fresh bread in the morning. If anything was filthy in those places they wouldn't survive. 

Caelus said:

the most nutrition comes from meat based food

Yes - meat gives us the energy to power a big brain - which uses 20% of everything we eat.

Turtle said:

why does your beloved, fast food burger bun never seem to go off ?

It's because the production is so clean that bacteria is excluded - the bun will dessicate before it goes green.    

Most bread production is filthy (my friend used to service food production machinery - there's lots of things he will and won't eat because he's seen the factories.)

but yet plant based food barely has any nutritional value at all.... and any trace of nutrition in it gets immediately flushed because plant based food isnt natural for humans to eat and contain lectins and other stuff that are designed to inflame your bowels and force you to poop out the food pretty fast, of which theyd probably also claim thats fiber or something, but yet this process of forced expulsion makes it so nothing you eat can be properly digested and absorbed on time so you end up becoming malnourished of which is why many vegans look like the walking dead.

the most nutrition comes from meat based food lol

Plastic said:

It's all a scam for 4ssholes like Jamie Oliver who was trying to get a contract to 'supply' meals to schools - just like the Obamas did in the US.     It's all a massive scam.

Any and all human progress to you seems like one big conspiracy theory to hoodwink you and your fixed mindset.

Jamie Oliver was pointing out the fact that we were feeding our kids with cheap, mass-produced, manufactured,fast-food  crap with zero nutritional value and how the politicians viewed it as nothing wrong. 

Tell me this, why does your beloved, fast food burger bun never seem to go off ? Is it because of its natural ingredients ?