Scientists Discover Fat People Have Been Lying to Them
98 replies, posted
[QUOTE]The next time a headline about diet and disease catches your eye, check the fine print of the study.
If it is based on a food questionnaire — and there's a good chance it will be — then the conclusions should be handled with caution.
'We're talking about hundreds if not thousands of papers published every year.' - David Allison, University of Alabama at Birmingham
That's because people don't tell the truth, not even to scientists.
Scientists know this. Research has proven it. It's been an awkward problem in nutrition science for more than 40 years.
And that's long enough, according to an international group of nutrition researchers. They've launched a campaign to end the use of one of the most common research tools in nutrition science.
"All of these studies, if they are based on self-report estimates of energy intake, really don't contain scientifically meaningful information," said David Allison, a prominent obesity researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and lead author on a report signed by 45 scientists from around the world.
This matters, the expert group warned, because the flawed data could result in public health policies that are not science-based, but built on a "house of cards," Allison said.
"We're talking about hundreds if not thousands of papers published every year."
Asking who ate what, and when
Is a high-fat diet linked to breast cancer? Do fruit and vegetables protect against Alzheimer's disease? How much of obesity can be explained by eating too many calories?
To get those answers, scientists need to gather data about who ate what, and when. So they ask research subjects to self-report, to think back, sometimes over months and years, and fill in a detailed food questionnaire about what they ate.
Other studies ask people to keep food diaries. And sometimes the researchers do random spot checks, calling subjects and asking them to remember everything they've eaten for the last 24 hours.
'The correct answer is that, on average, obese people eat more than non-obese people. The wrong result was found and that confused the field for many years by relying on self-report.'- David Allison
But because humans are very bad at admitting or remembering what they ate, all the self-reported methods have shown evidence of bias.
For years, scientists were puzzled by paradoxical findings that obese subjects were eating fewer calories than people of normal weight.
"That was completely wrong," Allison said. "The correct answer is that, on average, obese people eat more than non-obese people. The wrong result was found and that confused the field for many years by relying on self-report."
There's also a tendency for research subjects to tilt their dietary recall towards healthier behaviour.
What about a recent study concluding that Americans are eating fewer calories? It was based on self-reported data.
"We can't say they're wrong, they could be right. We don't know and, frankly, they don't know. And no one can know because we don't have the legitimate information," Allison said.
He admits the group is taking a controversial stand that has sparked mixed reaction from the nutrition science community.
'A refreshing point of view'
"It varies a lot with who you ask," Allison said. "Much of the scientific community applauds us and says it's a refreshing point of view."
"And as you might expect, some individuals who have based much of their research career and program on the use of these methods say we can't abandon them because in part we don't have anything better."
Marian Neuhouser of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, who has done some of the research that has exposed the bias in self-reported data, agrees the data is flawed. But she says if researchers perform a backup biomarker study they can correct for some of those biases.
Biomarker studies using urinalysis are accepted methods of accurately measuring energy intake. But that requires research subjects to be brought into a lab for a urine test. Researchers say that's too expensive and impractical for large-population studies.
Considering the obesity epidemic and the level of chronic disease, surprisingly little work is being done to improve methods, said Ross Prentice, a professor of biostatistics at the Hutchinson Centre.
Technical solutions being considered include chin-mounted "chew monitors," or wrist monitors that measure hand-to-mouth movements. Some have suggested using smart phones to take photographs of food.
Allison prefers a biologically based approach, perhaps a test of breath or urine for products of digestion, which does not depend on the honour system and the fallibility of human memory.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diet-research-built-on-a-house-of-cards-1.2968704[/url]
"I eat [B]healthy[/B] but I'm still fat!"
[QUOTE=Aman;47207352]I eat [B]healthy[/B] but I'm still fat![/QUOTE]
Twinkies are healthy, right?
maybe if food didn't taste so fucking good fat people wouldn't exist
fat people are just better at eating things than everyone else
This is why some people think dieting and exercise doesn't work.
The truth is that it does. It's just that fat people underestimate how much they eat, and think they exercise more than they actually do.
[QUOTE=Deng;47207443]This is why some people think dieting and exercise doesn't work.
The truth is that it does. It's just that fat people underestimate how much they eat, and think they exercise more than they actually do.[/QUOTE]
Diet works, but people confuse [I]diet[/I] with [I]dieting.[/I] The first is how you eat all the time, the latter is changing what you eat to shave off a few pounds. The reason it's so hard to commit to dieting is because it's always seen as temporary, rather than a permanent lifestyle change. Makes relapse more likely and far more common.
[QUOTE=woolio1;47207469]Diet works, but people confuse [I]diet[/I] with [I]dieting.[/I] The first is how you eat all the time, the latter is changing what you eat to shave off a few pounds. The reason it's so hard to commit to dieting is because it's always seen as temporary, rather than a permanent lifestyle change. Makes relapse more likely and far more common.[/QUOTE]
that or people diet... but pick really retarded fad diets like subway diets / gluten free diets / pure vegan diets but either don't do it correctly or totally miss why it works or what the point of it is.
Radically changing your diet probably is the wrong way to go unless you really dedicate yourself to getting abs / really thin. Just try to find a normal diet that works.
I've lost almost 100 lbs over the last 5 years or so. All it's taken is not eating as much food as often and doing minimal exercise like walking, and working in jobs that requires some manual labour aspect.
[QUOTE=J!NX;47207520]that or people diet... but pick really retarded fad diets like subway diets / gluten free diets / pure vegan diets but either don't do it correctly or totally miss why it works or what the point of it is.
Radically changing your diet probably is the wrong way to go unless you really dedicate yourself to getting abs / really thin. Just try to find a normal diet that works.[/QUOTE]
It really just comes down to how many calories they consume
Fat people who lie about eating food don't make sense to me. You can lie to a scientist but your body knows.
I posted this just to show everyone it isn't "muh genetics". Sometimes fat people just rustle my jimmies.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("meme shit" - OvB))[/highlight]
I guess this is just one weird thing fat people do that scientists hate!!
[QUOTE=woolio1;47207401]Twinkies are healthy, right?[/QUOTE]
It's the same color as a banana, so it has to be.
[QUOTE=Aman;47207352]I eat [B]healthy[/B] but I'm still fat![/QUOTE]
Ummmmm excuse me?! I drink nothing but water and eat dried berries in the forest but I'm still 350lbs! It's just genetics! #thinprivledge
[QUOTE=Bleach Qeef;47207628]I posted this just to show everyone it isn't "muh genetics". Sometimes fat people just rustle my jimmies.[/QUOTE]
Yeah sure if your fat and realize that it's unhealthy but still don't do anything its not that bad but making excuses why you are and not taking responsability is pathetic
[QUOTE=woolio1;47207401]Twinkies are healthy, right?[/QUOTE]
One Twinkie has 135 calories per cake, so they're not exactly a huge source of calories, but then again morbidly obese people aren't going to feel satisfied with only 7 boxes.
[QUOTE=J!NX;47207520]that or people diet... but pick really retarded fad diets like subway diets / gluten free diets / pure vegan diets but either don't do it correctly or totally miss why it works or what the point of it is.
Radically changing your diet probably is the wrong way to go unless you really dedicate yourself to getting abs / really thin. Just try to find a normal diet that works.[/QUOTE]
Eating less high-calorie, low-fiber foods and eating more low-calorie, high-fiber foods is an interesting concept. Salads, root vegetables, beans, grains, that sort of thing. You still have the freedom to eat the junk food, but you're never really hungry enough to crave it.
[editline]24th February 2015[/editline]
[QUOTE=Quark:;47207713]One Twinkie has 135 calories per cake, so they're not exactly a huge source of calories, but then again morbidly obese people aren't going to feel satisfied with only 7 boxes.[/QUOTE]
Problem with Twinkies is that they're loaded with sugar, which does this really neat thing where it short-circuits the endorphin receptors in your brain, and they're not filling at all. So you don't just stop at one Twinkie, you eat the entire box. Same thing for all the really high-sugar, low-fiber foods.
I eat a healthy amount** of food.
**health amount for a Hippopotamus.
That's why science put a chip in my brain.
One night I'm driving down an empty stretch of highway, suddenly a bright light hits me. The next thing I know scientists are constantly monitoring my eating habits.
[QUOTE=woolio1;47207720]Eating less high-calorie, low-fiber foods and eating more low-calorie, high-fiber foods is an interesting concept. Salads, root vegetables, beans, grains, that sort of thing. You still have the freedom to eat the junk food, but you're never really hungry enough to crave it.
[editline]24th February 2015[/editline]
Problem with Twinkies is that they're loaded with sugar, which does this really neat thing where it short-circuits the endorphin receptors in your brain, and they're not filling at all. So you don't just stop at one Twinkie, you eat the entire box. Same thing for all the really high-sugar, low-fiber foods.[/QUOTE]
High bean diet would probably be where I would go, to be honest, if I wanted to diet
[QUOTE=bobsynergy;47207681]Ummmmm excuse me?! I drink nothing but water and eat dried berries in the forest but I'm still 350lbs! It's just genetics! #thinprivledge[/QUOTE]
Remember: It's not that being fat runs in your family, it's that [B][I]nothing[/I][/B] runs in your family.
Healthy people tend to see themselves as eating roughly the correct amount of food, obese people tend to see themselves as eating less food than healthy people. This is in a sepf reporting situation, of course.
[QUOTE=Bradyns;47207745]I eat a healthy amount** of food.
**health amount for a Hippopotamus.[/QUOTE]
You get fat no matter if you eat a healthy amount of food or not if you don't exercise
[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;47208421]You get fat no matter if you eat a healthy amount of food or not if you don't exercise[/QUOTE]
I disagree with this. I eat an unhealthy amount of food and don't exercise, and I'm certainly not fat.
[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;47208421]You get fat no matter if you eat a healthy amount of food or not if you don't exercise[/QUOTE]
Nah brah, cut your calories by 500+ and watch your ass shrink. Keeping amount of physical exercise the same I can fluctulate 10-25lbs in a matter of weeks by changing my calorie intake by 500-2000 calories. Exercise simply adds a larger net loss of total calories burned.
[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;47208421]You get fat no matter if you eat a healthy amount of food or not if you don't exercise[/QUOTE]
So you're saying if your caloric intake is equal to your expenditure, you can make body fat out of thin air?
Shit. Better get a prize for that idea.
I like to think being fat is like smoking. Some smart people smoke, know what they are doing, have the willpower to quit but just don't want to. Some people are dumb and think it's everyone else's fault when really they are just ignorant to themselves.
Fat people are nature's answer to a famine. They can't even run away when you go to cook them.
In seriousness, if you're looking to shape up lifestyle changes are mandatory. And if you're trying I salute you because that takes effort. And you know when you're trying with exercise because trying is doing. Keep trying.
How to exercise, you might ask? Put on some music you like and flail around like an idiot for 30 minutes. Repeat. Refine your flailing.
Fat people are compulsive liars, what else is new.
I really could give less of a shit that you're obese, but the only time I'll go out of my way to give a piece of my mind is when someone tries to excuse their self-destructive behavior as something "out of their control."
I have a friend who's fairly overweight. She often complains about not having an appetite and not being able to eat, sometimes for days. I want to believe it but it doesn't make any sense to me...
if only food wasnt so good at the cost of being terrible for you and loaded with salt. this country is not doing enough to educate kids about eating healthy along with providing good quality healthy foods in cafeterias. my school has fucking cheeseburgers, fries, pizza, chicken sandwiches and all that. guess what people buy? only the unhealthy shit because it tastes better than the healthy alternative. I would actually love if they had salad more often in my school, salad is fucking great with a little ranch on it.
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