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News & ArtsWednesday, October 14, 2009
Savage Love Savage Love Letter of the Day
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Dan, get with the program! You should have let Fat Admirer Troubled in on the good news: a little pudge doesn't reduce your lifespan—it extends it. If her boyfriend's natural body weight is slender, and he munches junk food for her pleasure from time to time, he's not going to become so fat that he starts having mobility problems or a strained cardiovascular system. He's just gonna go a little soft. Which apparently correlates to a longer life. On the other hand, gaining and losing weight in a yo-yo pattern is terrible for you.I hope she gives him high-quality fatty foods, though, since the preservatives, hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup in processed junk will really poison you. I suggest the bakery section of her local Whole Foods. It will be stocked with decadent baked goods and sticky sweets that are made from actual butter, sugar, and cream.
Claire
Thanks for the note, Claire, but I don't know about Whole Foods. Heavy-and-healthy or morbidly-obese-and-flatlining, FAT's boyfriend might need quality healthcare someday... and so might want to patronize a grocery chain that isn't run by a douchebag—a reusable douchebag, of course—who's working against health care reform and tossing around charges of "socialism."
2
Why does it have to be a grocery chain/supermarket? Is there a fatwa against independent bakeries in "the land of liberty and freedom"?
3
Independent bakeries aren't more apt to be healthy in terms of avoiding over-processed flour and sugar. Being indie does not automatically mean being better.
5
Hate to tell you, but butter, sugar, and cream are really really bad for you too.
Pretty much the only things you can eat in large quantities without hurting yourself are fruits and vegetables. Mainly vegetables.
Sorry.
Pretty much the only things you can eat in large quantities without hurting yourself are fruits and vegetables. Mainly vegetables.
Sorry.
7
6, yawn all you want, but there is some reason to think that a reduced-calorie diet WILL significantly extend your lifespan, at least according to the latest nyt magazine. the letter-writer is talking out of her (no doubt rapidly spreading) ass.
8
Butter and sugar are not healthier than hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup. They are all equally bad for you.
9
The study that the linked article refers to finds that 'slightly overweight' is less unhealthy than 'skinny' (BMI less than 18.5 otherwise known as 'underweight'). Both are less healthy than 'Normal'. The headline is misleading, but the quotes from the study's author are clear:
'...Kuriyama stated explicitly that he was in no way encouraging people to overeat in any way.
"It's better that thin people try to gain normal weight, but we doubt it's good for people of normal physique to put on more fat," he said.'
Dan was right the first time. Don't pretend "gaining" isn't bad for you, weigh the risk against the pleasure and do it anyway if it makes you happy!
'...Kuriyama stated explicitly that he was in no way encouraging people to overeat in any way.
"It's better that thin people try to gain normal weight, but we doubt it's good for people of normal physique to put on more fat," he said.'
Dan was right the first time. Don't pretend "gaining" isn't bad for you, weigh the risk against the pleasure and do it anyway if it makes you happy!
10
9, Exactly, the article says is that being slightly overweight is better than being underweight, but neither are as good as being a normal weight.
12
What about my fetish for making my wife run with scissors, smoke and sitting too close to the t.v. while viewing it?
13
11, Sugar and high fructose corn syrup a virtually identical in chemical structure, and butter is hydrogenated fats. Look at the saturated fat content in butter. You know what is saturating it? hydrogen. It's just occurs naturally, but it's no better for you.
14
You know, way back in the Dark Ages I had a double-major in journalism and chemistry. Neither proved very useful to me in the long run, but I do know enough to say that Rob is absolutely correct on this one.
16
Table sugar= sucrose, which is a fructose-glucose dimer. Slightly different, but still different than high-fructose corn syrup. And when you partially hydrogenate oils, you end up with a certain proportion of the cis-double bonds on the unsaturated fatty acids rearranging into the more energetically favorable trans- position. Hence the trans-fats in cheap-o margarine. Butter's got small amounts of trans-fats that occur naturally. I don't know that HFCs and margarine are any worse than sugar and butter, but they aren't the same thing, and I think it's reasonable to assume they could have different effects on the body.
17
@13/14
Yeah, this pre-med with years of bio and chem knows that you're right, but, hey. What do, like, education and science and stuff like that matter? *yawn*
There was a GREAT quote in a recent Time:
"While the far right gets a lot of crap about not believing in science, the left isn't crazy about it either. Only instead of rejecting facts that conflict with the bible, it ignores anything that conflicts with hippie myths about the perfection of nature." -- Joel Stein
Yeah, this pre-med with years of bio and chem knows that you're right, but, hey. What do, like, education and science and stuff like that matter? *yawn*
There was a GREAT quote in a recent Time:
"While the far right gets a lot of crap about not believing in science, the left isn't crazy about it either. Only instead of rejecting facts that conflict with the bible, it ignores anything that conflicts with hippie myths about the perfection of nature." -- Joel Stein
18
@16
If anything, sucrose is worse for you than fructose, because of that easily-hydrolyzed glucose. Quick spikes in blood glucose contribute to insulin resistance. It's wise to avoid both, but there's no reason to think that corn syrup is worse.
Saturated fat and trans-fat are both bad for you. Butter contains both. High-quality margarine doesn't contain trans-fat these days, and will often contain less saturated fat (particularly tub margarine, which can get away with being softer; softer generally means less-saturated) than butter. Again, best to avoid both. Liquid oils are healthier.
I can't say it any better than Stein did. Hippie myths about the perfection of nature. Bah.
If anything, sucrose is worse for you than fructose, because of that easily-hydrolyzed glucose. Quick spikes in blood glucose contribute to insulin resistance. It's wise to avoid both, but there's no reason to think that corn syrup is worse.
Saturated fat and trans-fat are both bad for you. Butter contains both. High-quality margarine doesn't contain trans-fat these days, and will often contain less saturated fat (particularly tub margarine, which can get away with being softer; softer generally means less-saturated) than butter. Again, best to avoid both. Liquid oils are healthier.
I can't say it any better than Stein did. Hippie myths about the perfection of nature. Bah.
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