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Comment by choilive | Hacker News Reader

Humans are now so prosperous that we are dying of having too much food. A fate our ancestors could have only dreamed of.

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That's one possible cause. It could also be that our diets have changed to make us more prone to obesity, perhaps people consume more processed foods than before. The article alludes to this when it says eating badly is a major cause of obesity.

I don't think there is enough information quite yet to jump to the positive conclusion of greater abundance causing obesity.

Sort of splitting semantic hairs, no? Can’t become obese without eating at a caloric surplus, whether your diet is fresh veg or high fructose corn syrup.

While consuming more than you burn will lead to weight gain regardless of what you eat, I think modern foods are more likely to cause this because of the addictiveness of their high sugar levels, and also the fact that each item contains a LOT of calories… it would be much harder to get fat binge-eating celery than it would be for Doritos.

There is less than 1g of sugar in a serving of Doritos

"serving"

What size is a "serving", and how does it compare to what people actually in practice eat?

Paul glanced at Halleck, took in the defensive positions of his guards, looked at the banker until the man lowered the water flagon. He said: "Once, on Caladan, I saw the body of a drowned fisherman recovered. He --"

"Drowned?" It was the stillsuit manufacturer's daughter.

Paul hesitated, then: "Yes. Immersed in water until dead. Drowned."

"What an interesting way to die," she murmured.

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