Should people be responsible for their own health?

Should people be responsible for their own health?

  • Yes

    Votes: 18 78.3%

  • No

    Votes: 1 4.3%

  • Other answer (explain in thread)

    Votes: 4 17.4%
  • Total voters
    23
F

francois

Schwat?
Registered Senior Member
I was thinking about the causes of obesity in America, and how a big cause is the food choice. For example, Mexicans aren't fat, but the instant they cross into America, they become fat, perhaps more than any other ethnic group. In the 80s Americans were thin and resembled normal human beings. What the hell happened?

A big thing that happened is food corporations. Scientifically, it's probably correct to say that food corporations caused Americans to get fat. But even so, doesn't a person have the capacity to not eat a Big Mac? Though it's true that McDonald's made America fat, I think it's stupid and shameful to blame them for it.

What do you think?
 
People shouldn't blame anyone else for what they put in their own mouths. The choice is there, I don't know why some people would put the blame on McDonalds etc for making you fat, when there's plenty other options available to them. Sure, fast food is conveniant, fast, easy and cheap, but is it really worth it? I think not.
 
yes, people should be responsible for their own health.

HOWEVER

the sad truth is that, right now, it is cheaper and easier to eat "fast food" than to make home cooked meals...

take myself for instance - full time student + full time worker. Right there, bam 8 hours gone from my day for work, and an average of 5 hours gone for school. Assume 1 hour used up commuting to/from work/school/et al. Factor in at least 6 hours for sleep.

So, right off the bat, I've lost almost 20 hours out of my day. That leaves 4 hours for "everything else".

Assuming 3 meals a day, I probably take about half an hour to eat (allowing for proper chewing of food and the like), so 1.5 hours gone. Assume another half an hour a day is taken up using the restroom. That leaves me two hours left for everything... and you can bet I don't wish to spend those two hours cooking... and that's assuming I have NO homework, NO housework (laundry, etc), don't take a shower, et al.

So, you can see how for someone like me... eating a nutritious, home cooked meal is all but out of the question.

I'm married, but my wife's schedule is much the same... full time worker, full time student.

Our only real respite are the days we either don't work or don't have class... and those are far between and VERY rarely on the same days (between the two of us).

So, yeah, eating healthy... it's fucking hard. AND all that is before you factor in the expense of healthy food (have you looked at the price of fruit/veggies lately? Holy hell!)
 
Eating healthy with little time and little money is easy.
Eat lots of raw fruit and lots of raw vegetables. No cooking time. If bought in season, it is cheap. Sure, if you want to eat McDonald's, do so, if you like the taste of cardboard! However, those raw fruit and vege in between cuts appetite, and improves health.

In times when money and time are short, I am capable of throwing some potatoes in a microwave to cook them, and adding a handful of raw tomato, lettuce, cabbage, capsicum, cucumber, or whatever. The supermarket where I buy these also sells cheap rotisserie chicken.

Healthy, cheap, and quick!
 
Skeptical said:
Eating healthy with little time and little money is easy.
Eat lots of raw fruit and lots of raw vegetables. No cooking time. If bought in season, it is cheap. Sure, if you want to eat McDonald's, do so, if you like the taste of cardboard! However, those raw fruit and vege in between cuts appetite, and improves health.

In times when money and time are short, I am capable of throwing some potatoes in a microwave to cook them, and adding a handful of raw tomato, lettuce, cabbage, capsicum, cucumber, or whatever. The supermarket where I buy these also sells cheap rotisserie chicken.

Healthy, cheap, and quick!
Click to expand...

I used to do just that (the raw veggie thing) - lately, though, even if I wash the veggies/fruits, I have problems if I don't remove the skin - my throat gets tight and it becomes difficult to swallow, my breathing becomes labored, and I feel extremely sick to my stomach.

I figure it's probably a pesticide or some other SHIT they spray on our fruits/veggies these days... I don't have this problem with ANY kind of "root" veggie (since, obviously, the root is sub-terrain and thus not covered in whatever they put on em)... I KNOW it's something on the skin and not IN the skin because if I buy organically grown, "chemical free" produce, I dont' have a problem with it.

Thing is, "organic" produce is like, triple the price around here...

:shrug:
 
Kitty

In spite of all the adverse publicity given to conventional fruit and vegetables by the multi-billion dollar organic food consortiums, there is way too little pesticide to cause that problem, in western countries.

In fact, believe it or not, organic food contains more pesticides, as long as we include natural pesticides in the total. All plants produce natural insecticides to protect them from insect attack. They make more when attacked by insects. Since organic vegetables are not protected against insect attack by insecticide sprays, they make a lot more natural insecticide. On rare occasions, there is so much natural insecticide in organic food that consumers get ill.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v841306xm2842105/

On even rarer occasions, natural insecticides can kill. For example, cucurbitacin in zucchinis and in bitter gourd.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Can-bitter-gourd-kill-Docs-say-no/Article1-570026.aspx#
 
It's difficult. Although people aren't forced to eat such unhealthy foods, the influences inherant in this society to consume fast food are profound. As stated before, fast food is considerably cheaper to purchase and is far more convienient to consume (for obvious reasons) than that of healthier choices. That combined with the fact that fast food is extremely common, does not help the situation.
 
Skeptical said:
Kitty

In spite of all the adverse publicity given to conventional fruit and vegetables by the multi-billion dollar organic food consortiums, there is way too little pesticide to cause that problem, in western countries.

In fact, believe it or not, organic food contains more pesticides, as long as we include natural pesticides in the total. All plants produce natural insecticides to protect them from insect attack. They make more when attacked by insects. Since organic vegetables are not protected against insect attack by insecticide sprays, they make a lot more natural insecticide. On rare occasions, there is so much natural insecticide in organic food that consumers get ill.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v841306xm2842105/

On even rarer occasions, natural insecticides can kill. For example, cucurbitacin in zucchinis and in bitter gourd.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Can-bitter-gourd-kill-Docs-say-no/Article1-570026.aspx#
Click to expand...

:shrug:

Dunno then - all I know is that I get really sick when I eat a majority of grocery-store fresh produce... but I'm just fine with backyard-grown stuff (my grandfather grew tomatoes, cukes, eggplant, strawberries, and a fair bit of other stuff in his back yard... RIP Loulou...)

I hope to get my allergies re-tested once I get health insurance of some form (going on 5 years without it now... ugh) so maybe that'll yield some insight?
 
USS Athens said:
It's difficult. Although people aren't forced to eat such unhealthy foods, the influences inherant in this society to consume fast food are profound. As stated before, fast food is considerably cheaper to purchase and is far more convienient to consume (for obvious reasons) than that of healthier choices. That combined with the fact that fast food is extremely common, does not help the situation.
Click to expand...

Its like going into a bar and blaming the bartender. At some point people need to start taking some personal responsibility. A small bag of doritos is .50 but an apple is probably around the same price.

Going on the thread title alone...some things are not just simply a matter of what a person eats or if they execrsive or not. So you cant just say "well you ate a cheeseburger so now your in the hospital".
 
Last edited:
francois said:
I was thinking about the causes of obesity in America, and how a big cause is the food choice. For example, Mexicans aren't fat, but the instant they cross into America, they become fat, perhaps more than any other ethnic group. In the 80s Americans were thin and resembled normal human beings. What the hell happened?

A big thing that happened is food corporations. Scientifically, it's probably correct to say that food corporations caused Americans to get fat. But even so, doesn't a person have the capacity to not eat a Big Mac? Though it's true that McDonald's made America fat, I think it's stupid and shameful to blame them for it.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

Capitalism makes sure to squez whatever it can out of whoever it can. In the food industry, it much resembles the tabaco industry. Make thier product look harmless and amazing, get someone addicted, keep them coming back for more. Anarcho-Communists are not only healthier for the earth and liberty, but also for their diet :p
 
Businesses that sell foods in America are woefully inadequate and wholesome with anything nutritious but sell mostly junk foods to make a fast buck. I'd say that

Americans are responsible for what they eat but the American business should provide good wholesome foods instead of all of the slop they now sell. If you can't

find good food anywhere your stuck with what they are selling you and that's a very big problem when it comes to being able to choose to eat a good healthy diet

and the trash that businesses sell you. Its all about making a dollar today, not trying to provide Americans with anything that resembles quality, only

quantity! :mad:
 
cosmictraveler said:
Businesses that sell foods in America are woefully inadequate and wholesome with anything nutritious but sell mostly junk foods to make a fast buck. I'd say that

Americans are responsible for what they eat but the American business should provide good wholesome foods instead of all of the slop they now sell. If you can't

find good food anywhere your stuck with what they are selling you and that's a very big problem when it comes to being able to choose to eat a good healthy diet

and the trash that businesses sell you. Its all about making a dollar today, not trying to provide Americans with anything that resembles quality, only

quantity! :mad:
Click to expand...

C.A.P.I.T.A.L.I.S.M. It has infected every part of out lives. Food, jobs, government. When communists like me say capitalism kills. were quite serious
 
Anarcho Union said:
C.A.P.I.T.A.L.I.S.M. It has infected every part of out lives. Food, jobs, government. When communists like me say capitalism kills. were quite serious
Click to expand...

Actually greed is the bigger problem for they could serve up very high quality

foods bur refuse toi do so because they can make more money selling crap

than selling something of quality. :(
 
cosmictraveler said:
Actually greed is the bigger problem for they could serve up very high quality

foods bur refuse toi do so because they can make more money selling crap

than selling something of quality. :(
Click to expand...

Exactly. The very ideals of capitalism. It doesnt matter the quality or purpose of the product or idea. As long as it makes money it is consedered to be of value.
 
Anarcho Union said:
Exactly. The very ideals of capitalism. It doesnt matter the quality or purpose of the product or idea. As long as it makes money it is consedered to be of value.
Click to expand...

No, the ideals of capitalism isn't to make the most money by selling junk but

providing the market with useful things that everyone can use or needs.

Useful things means healthy foods not just junk foods and that's where

businesses of today have gone wrong. They seem to believe they should only

make profits anyway they can and not to try to provide Americans with

quality , useful items any longer.
 
Yes. No one made you eat that pile of ooze and cholesterol.

Skeptical said:
Eating healthy with little time and little money is easy.
Eat lots of raw fruit and lots of raw vegetables. No cooking time. If bought in season, it is cheap. Sure, if you want to eat McDonald's, do so, if you like the taste of cardboard! However, those raw fruit and vege in between cuts appetite, and improves health.

In times when money and time are short, I am capable of throwing some potatoes in a microwave to cook them, and adding a handful of raw tomato, lettuce, cabbage, capsicum, cucumber, or whatever. The supermarket where I buy these also sells cheap rotisserie chicken.

Healthy, cheap, and quick!
Click to expand...

Poo to raw food. I'm already lean as shit. If I started eating that diet I'd probably actually die.
 
Yes. Most people aren't fat and unhealthy because there is some big brother or societal conspiracy against them. They're fat and unhealthy because they choose to do the things that are fattening and unhealthy.
 
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