For much of his life, 32-year-old Michael Smith had a war going on in his head.
After a big meal, he knew he should be full. But an inexplicable hunger would drive him to pick up the fork again.
Cravings for fried chicken or gummy bears overwhelmed him, fueling late-night DoorDash orders that — despite their bounty of fat and sugar — never satisfied him.
He recalls waking up on the couch, half-eaten takeout in his lap, feeling sluggish and out of control.
“It was like I was food drunk,” recalls Smith, who lives in Boston. “I had a moment I looked at myself in the mirror. I was around 380 pounds, and I said, ‘OK, something has got to give.’ ”
Smith is among the 42% of U.S. adults living with obesity, a misunderstood and stubbornly hard-to-manage condition that doctors have only recently begun to call a disease. Its root causes have been debated for decades, with studies suggesting everything from genes to lifestyle to a shifting food supply loaded with carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods. Solutions have long targeted self-discipline and a simple “eat less, move more” strategy with remarkably grim results.
maybe all the processed food? doesnt seem to be a problem in cultures where the food is fresh and organic!
but then why would the government want you to eat healthy! to many of you on the planet now!
Could it be the chemical flavoring, coloring, texture, flavor additives, the artificial sweeteners, the upside down government FDA food pyramid we lived with as nutritional gospel for over 50 years, or relentless subliminal tv and internet advertising, or the additional expense of good food over bad food, or is it because they don’t teach home economics in school anymore?