Welcome to the Who Made Us Fat post. I am a child of the 1960’s. I never remember seeing anyone that was obese. I do remember when Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut restaurants started appearing in every city. We rarely visited any of these places to eat as our mother made a meal at home for all of us children.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2008 report, there are 1.5 billion people who are overweight. I am sure this number may now be closer to 2 billion. There are over 300 million obese women and over 200 million obese men.
In 1971, a man who was raised on a 160 acre farm in Indiana began a chain of events that has impacted the waistlines of billions of people in the world today. Earl Butz was the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary from 1971-1976. Read on to learn more about Who Made Us Fat. I also have a powerful documentary film you can access.
When he began serving in the cabinet position, America had been involved in combat operations in Vietnam for over 6 years. Food inflation was a serious problem in America. People were having a hard time making ends meet.
2 Diets
Secretary Butz encouraged farmers to either increase the amount of food they produced or get out of the agriculture industry. Farmers began producing more crops and a large surplus of corn was now available.
Scientists in Japan were discovering a way to make a sweetener out of corn at just about the same time as this increase in corn production was in full swing in America. The new sweetener is known as high fructose corn syrup.
Jacques Peretti is a BBC reporter that produced a documentary about how the food, sugar and fast food industries have taken the high fructose corn syrup and added it to foods and beverages that people eat. You will learn much about how corporations have placed increased profits above public health. You can watch the movie on the link below.
There is hope for you if you are overweight or obese as you read this article. I have a page documenting the foods I eat on a daily basis to keep myself fit and at my ideal weight since 2001 below.
I do not drink anything except pure distilled water and one decaf green tea each morning. You can read about how doing 7 minutes of weight-bearing exercises each day will help your body burn fat on my page below:
7 Minute Workout
Be aware that I am not a licensed medical provider and my FDA disclaimer is found on the bottom right of all my websites pages. I have had excellent results with fitness & wellness and promote products & services that I believe in. By taking effective action and using common sense, I am prescription free and living an abundant life of wellness.
Your Partner in Success!
Daniel Parsons
Great post Daniel. It is so the time for people to wake up and smell the coffee. Take responsibility for your own health. Yes corporations hoodwinked us, however there is enough information out there for people to start seeing the light.
Hello Wade,
That BBC video was informative and opened my eyes. Corporations involved in the food and beverage industry are starting to make changes to the foods they are offering the public now. The marketers realize that they will be left behind with the public’s move towards healthier choices. A couple of examples in North America are the rapid growth of Whole Foods and Trader Joes. These stores specialize in healthy foods.
There is definitely no way that others make you fat but you yourself. It’s all up to you to decide how healthy you are.
Hello Harry,
I appreciate your comment and realize that this is a controversial issue. The uneducated and lower income class suffer the most with obesity and other lifestyle related diseases. I have not even mentioned genetically modified foods yet. The GMO ( genetically modified organisms ) issue will no doubt open the door to more light on how important it is for us to get nutrition into our bodies to remain healthy. I know many people that have moved to grow their own fruits and vegetables. If they cannot due to lack of land, people will only buy from certified organic farmers that also only use heirloom seeds.
It is scary just how the public has been conned all in the name of the might buck. Kudos to you for only drinking water, do you not struggle without having anything sweet to drink Daniel?
Hi Daniel,
My husband and I were saying almost the exact same thing yesterday! We both cannot remember seeing many overweight people at school or work. If there was, they were the odd one out and often ridiculed by the bullies. We, like you, live a naturally healthy life…and are not overweight. We eat healthy foods because in our opinion they taste better than junk food!
Exactly, healthy foods taste better, they look better, they’re better for you – they’re better! Young people today are out of touch with where food actually comes from. This must change. It requires proper education, at home and in the schools.
Hello Elena,
You are right. The phytonutrients in plant based foods have vital life force energy. The best diet is a colorful one. I remember how I felt when I still ate animal products. My body went through a detox process when I went to a vegan diet. I have abundant energy now.
Hi Daniel,
Very interesting piece of history. I guess it is no news that corporations have sold out our health for their profit.
My healthy choice is to stay away from processed foods as much as possible, even the organic labeled ones are not to be trusted. One day corn syrup is very healthy and the next we find out it’s quite unhealthy. Not to mention all the other so called healthy ingredients.
Thanks for the 7 minute work out videos on your website!
Hello Mariella,
I agree that avoiding processed foods is smart to ensure our health. If it has a nutrition label, beware!
Hey Daniel, I am impressed with your work and research. Healthy food is a way to a healthy life. A person who eats healthy stays healthy.
Hello Zebulon,
It doesn’t take that much longer to fix a healthy bowl of oatmeal on the stove top here this morning. If I want to be fat and sick, I could go out and buy expensive donuts loaded with sugar and fat.