Obesity and Diabetes in Texas (and the United States) have been steadily climbing since we have been keeping records. Statistics show a slight decrease between 2016 and 2017, but trends show this is a normal occurrence that happens just before it jumps up to continue its climb. Most of the states with the higher amounts of obesity and diabetes are in the bible belt which consist of the states between Texas and Florida and upwards to Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia. According to WalletHub.com, McAllen, TX metro area has the ranking of 3rd ‘fattest’ city in America. McAllen, TX came in first in the highest percentage of obesity with San Antonio, TX coming in 5th. Not only is there a lack of effort to spread information about how to eat healthfully, it seems to me that bias and belief in the political arena stunts our ability to move forward on the subject. It is my belief that certain industries are making so much money that it effects how health information is provided to us. While I do believe variety is good for us, it seems to me that there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that plant-based eating is healthiest in our situation of having food-at-will. We do not need to eat to survive in our part of the world, and my opinion is this overconsumption of calorie-dense over-nutrition is showing in our statistical data.
A large portion of the diet in South Texas is made up of carbohydrates, which is a good thing. But the major problem is the type of carbohydrate and what we top it all off with. Mexican food and homestyle food make up a lot of our diets here in the south. Rice and beans, mashed potatoes, but what is in our gravy? What is in our rice and beans? What is in our chips, tortillas, and on our potato wedges? These items would be considered on the healthy side of our diet and yet most of the time they are infused with things like high fructose corn syrup, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, animal fats, along with preservatives. While processed sugars have health concerns, according to the American Diabetes Association, it is mostly attributed to the fact the processed sugar is high in calories and low in nutrition. It is easy to over consume and when you overconsume, your calories increase which in the long term will cause weight gain. But biologically, glucose is our bodies main energy source.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is sugar artificially made from corn syrup. According to the Organic Consumers Association, it can increase your triglyceride and LDL levels. The author of this article, Dr. Mercola, said “it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar, and, because most fructose is consumed in liquid form, it’s negative metabolic effects are significantly magnified.” This product is artificially procured; therefore, it should not be added to our diet at all.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the number one killer in America and the people most at risk are the ones who have diabetes, are overweight or obese, have a poor diet, no physical activity, and use alcohol excessively. Harvard’s school of health says that when you eat a lot of salt, your body holds onto fluid to dilute the sodium causing your body to work harder. This can lead to high blood pressure. There really is no need to add salt to your diet if you are eating the right kinds of the right amount of food. Most grains and vegetable have small amounts of sodium naturally.
The American Heart Association says that trans-fats cause your LDL cholesterol levels to rise, and your HDL cholesterol levels to fall. The consumption of trans-fats also increases your chances of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. But I am under the impression that free-fatty acids are also detriment to our health. We do not need cholesterol added to our diets because our bodies create it on their own. According to University of Medical School in Austria, a study done in 1999 showed that free fatty acids caused our body to inefficiently transport glucose (phosphorylation). Also, another study done the same year by Hospital das Clinicas in São Paulo, Brazil, showed that lowering elevated plasma free fatty acids reduced insulin resistance and improved oral glucose tolerance in nondiabetics and people with type 2 diabetes. Once again, in most vegetables and grains there are small amounts of fats already in them and as long as you are eating the correct number of calories of these healthy, starchy foods, you will get the right number of macronutrients. Without the need to worry about your sodium, your protein, your fats, your cholesterol. It is my impression that complex carbohydrates are a perfect package of macronutrients for our body and when consumed with leafy greens and plenty of water we can reverse many of the dietary problems we see today.
I was not surprised by much when taking on this project because I have been researching nutrition for a while in my free time; However, taking this class has confirmed some of my thoughts on nutrition because it has given me insight as to how the body works at a microscopic level. Especially learning about how our body creates and uses energy and the bonds between all the chemicals is so interesting. I think our ability to adapt is quite fascinating but when looked at closely there are things that our bodies apparently like and don’t like. There won’t be too much I will be changing in my current diet unless science says otherwise. I would like to see more change in the political arena. I think that in order for us to see dietary change we have to change the mind of people first, because we can’t rely on governments and corporations to make conscious decisions for its people. We could start with better nutrition in our schools, maybe even nutrition classes. Life is an experiment, and I will continue to live it.
Works Cited
- McCann, Adam, et al. “2018’s Fattest Cities in America.” WalletHub, Evolution Finance, Inc, 14 Mar. 2018, wallethub.com/edu/fattest-cities-in-america/10532/#erin-eatough.
- “State Briefs.” The State of Obesity, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018, stateofobesity.org/states/tx/.
- “Diabetes Myths.” American Diabetes Association, American Diabetes Association, 20 Aug. 2018, www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/myths/.
- Mercola, Joseph. “How High Fructose Corn Syrup Damages Your Body.” Organic Consumers Association | Campaigning for Health, Justice, Sustainability, Peace, and Democracy, Organic Consumers Association, 10 July 2007, www.organicconsumers.org/news/how- high-fructose-corn-syrup-damages-your-body.
- “Health Risks and Disease Related to Salt and Sodium.” The Nutrition Source, The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 6 July 2016, www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt- and-sodium/sodium-health-risks-and-disease/.
- “Trans Fats.” About Heart Attacks, American Heart Association, Inc, Mar. 2017, www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/trans-fat.
- Heart Disease Facts & Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Nov. 2017, www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm.
- Santomauro, A T, et al. “Overnight Lowering of Free Fatty Acids with Acipimox Improves Insulin Resistance and Glucose Tolerance in Obese Diabetic and Nondiabetic Subjects.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 1999, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/0010480616.
- Roden, M, et al. “Rapid Impairment of Skeletal Muscle Glucose Transport/Phosphorylation by Free Fatty Acids in Humans.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 1999, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10334314.
