Affluence, science, progress, and consumer guidelines, i.e., the food pyramid. The question now is how to reverse the obesity epidemic, the very expensive obesity epidemic. Unfortunately not a good outcome.
This is not the first time humans screwed around with the food supply. Agriculture was as big if not a bigger but slower transformation. Archeological evidence shows that humans changed a lot, getting smaller and having a smaller brain. Before that there was fire and cooking which reduced the size of the digestive track, the longer track no longer needed since cooking did a lot of predigesting.
The problem with the lack of will paradigm is that it needs knowledge. When infants are obese it cannot be blamed on their lack of will power, they eat whatever they get fed and parents normally want the best for them. It’s fair to conclude that the parents are not informed well enough to avoid the dangers of industrial food.
I ran across a cartoonish version of the subject, very informative and devoid of technobabble. Perfect for lay audiences. It recommends eating pretty much what I’m eating and losing weight but I might include some of the items of the Mediterranean diet that I used to enjoy like paella and tortilla española.
10,000 Years Ago We Stopped Eating This And It Was a Huge Mistake
The Captain
- Paella: There are as many versions as there are cooks! Make sure to rinse the rice!
- Tortilla española: My version, I boil the potatoes in salted water (not olive oil) in their skin, not too much, let them cool, peel and slice. In a large skillet fry onions lightly, add the potatoes, add the eggs. Season with salt and a touch of black pepper.