Westerners "programmed to eat junk food?"

[TylerDurden]

Sounds dodgy, but here's a recent Daily Telegraph article on junk food:-


Westerners 'programmed to eat junk food'
Westerners are genetically programmed to drink alcohol and eat unhealthy foods, according to DNA analysis.
Stephen Adams

By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent

"Scientists at Aberdeen University have discovered that those of European origin are more likely to have genes which urge them to gorge on fatty foods, beer and wine, than Asians.

Dr Alasdair MacKenzie explained that the genes controlled the strength of a "switch" that helped determine appetite.

He said: "The switch controls the areas of the brain which allows us to select which foods we would like to eat and if it is turned on too strongly we are more likely to crave fatty foods and alcohol."

He went on: "The fact that the weaker switch is found more frequently in Asians compared to Europeans suggests they are less inclined to select such options."

Dr MacKenzie believed the fact that Europeans in the past had to survive through long cold winter by relying on brewed drinks and fat-rich foods, meant they became genetically predisposed through natural selection to like them.

He said: "These results give us a glimpse into early European life where brewing and dairy produce were important sources of calories during the winter months.

"Thus, a preference for food with a higher fat and alcohol content would have been important for survival.

"The negative effects of fat and alcohol we see today would not have mattered so much then as life expectancies were between 30 to 40 years."

However, Dr MacKenzie said that those of Asian origin who moved to Western countries were not immune from obesity or heavy drinking habits, and that physiology was only a small part of the picture.

Galanin is a brain chemical called a neuropeptide, which previous research has identified as crucial to determining appetite for carbohydrate and fat-rich food."

The study is published in the Journal of Neuropsychopharmocology

[wodgina]

Asians don't seem to be as overweight as westerners although overweight is considered normal now.

I wear hi-visibility mining shirts and they are made for fat people. They fit me at the shoulders but in the waist area is a huge amount of material.

[goodsamaritan]

Being an "Asian" I'll give my 2 cents:

#1 - Humans are fativores.  We just love fat.  And we will get it in any form possible.  Whether it is good fat or bad fat.  And since the cholesterol scam has filipinos running scared from animal fat, they eat: french fries, vegetable cooking oil and fry most of their food... munch on fried peanuts and fried corn grits, and lust after pork cracklings.

#2 - Filipinos invented their own various alcoholic beverages even before westerners / spaniards came to our islands.  The spaniards were in fact dismayed at how alcoholic Filipinos were in the early 16th century when they first arrived.  Drinking alcohol and eating fatty meats is a tradition.

My 2 cents is FAT + CARBS = heightened metabolism

People love feeling warm.  It burns up toxins.  It speeds up healing.
Just this morning I gave my son ripe graviola and blendered avocado with raw wild honey because he was fighting a cold and it warmed him up... a Fat + Carb combo thing.

Calling it all "junk food" is a point of view.  People need fat + carb combo from time to time, if it is raw paleo then it is just healthier.

[eveheart]

Genes or no genes, I think people in my country are brainwashed to eat junk food, by which I mean highly-processed food, engineered food, and fast food. When I decided to eliminate the SAD foods, my weight started reducing. Before, I was very careful to eat a low fat diet. Now on RVAF, I eat plenty of raw fats. I feel satisfied, healthy. I agree with GS, eating enough fat and carbs, along with meat, has increased my metabolism.