Diet Drinks Make Some Overweight People Eat More Calories (Video)

4/18/2014
Updated:
4/18/2014

How Can Someone Be Both ‘Stuffed and Starved’?

You already know that far too many Americans are overweight or, worse, obese. More than one-third of us fit the last definition, and that number is expected to jump to 42 percent of Americans by 2030.

But here’s something you may not know: A whole lot of those people are hungry.

That’s right: They are literally not getting enough to eat. And they are definitely not getting enough healthy foods—full of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like fiber and protein. It’s a paradoxical phenomenon that writer and activist Raj Patel has aptly named “stuffed and starved.” We look at very overweight people and immediately think they’re eating too much, instead of wondering what kind of food they have access to and what that food might be doing to their bodies and health.

Patel, who wrote a best-selling book of the same name, says “stuffed and starved” is a fairly recent phenomenon. Throughout most of human history, being overweight meant you were rich—that you could afford to eat well—but now it often means you are anything but.

“The irony is that in rich, developed countries like the U.S., if you’re poor you’re more likely to be overweight,” explains Patel.

 

A Place at the Table: Hungry and Heavy
Via: TakePart.com

This article was originally published on www.takepart.com. Read the original here.

 Image of overweight diet danger via Shutterstock

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