The government’s obesity strategy is long overdue

This is a very, very tricky topic. One thing which nutrition scientists seem agreed on is that there’s no ‘right’ diet and certainly no diet that suits everyone. And weight gain can be ascribed in no little part to the efficiency of the metabolism.

The different efficiencies of metabolism of individuals is indeed a major factor, coupled with the amount of physical activity. The proportion of people with inefficient metabolism, who can eat as much as they want, declines with age. Sadly, some have died after taking ‘uncoupler’ drugs such as 2,4 DNP to reduce the efficiency of their metabolism and promote weight loss.

Those who have to take long-term corticosteroid treatment often struggle with weight gain, even if they are able to discontinue treatment.

There seems little doubt that food has now replaced the smoking habit. Unfortunately one adversarial habit has replaced the other,

The physical damage caused by ingesting more than ones system can metabolically burn is probably equally as bad, if not worse than inhaling tobacco smoke, characterised by a long list of health problems such as diabetes, weight gain, high cholesterol, heart disease and gallstones – all of which have a detrimental effect on a persons psyche and self esteem.

The psychological effects are perhaps even more disconcerting as the link between sugar and addictive eating can lead to mental health problems.

Sugar induces a short term rush of dopamine followed by a sugar crash when the body tries to compensate and return your blood glucose levels back to normal by triggering more insulin. This in turn can bring about in some a craving for more sugar, leading to a vicious cycle of binge eating which, once established is very hard to overcome.

Food is also used as a coping mechanism in times of stress when the adrenal glands are triggered to work overtime pumping out cortisol and adrenaline at an alarming rate. Some individuals are better able to cope in the short term with this, but again an adrenal ‘high’ can induce an addiction.

The advent of the supermarket, constant TV food programmes and media advertising all add to the country’s obsession with food, a great comforter in times of trauma or any other deeply disturbing experience, often relating to a difficult social, physical emotional and intellectual development as a child.

As Ian makes a valid point, it is a tricky subject and there is no ‘right diet’. Evading the ‘naughty but nice’ food that tastes so good is hard to avoid during stressful times. The only universal solution, as far as I can make out, is to eat smaller portions, cut down (not out) on your consumption of sugar, salt and fatty foods, eat raw foods such as salads and fresh fruit, which retain their nutritional vitamins and minerals, but go easy on the fresh fruit due to its sugar content.

The modern trend towards an overindulgent lifestyle unfortunately is a luxury enjoyed by the fortunate few these days, but as old age approaches and the impending health problems associated with it start to show, either you take stock and change your eating and drinking habits or face up to the inevitable consequences.

This seems logical. Individual metabolisms work differently when converting food and extracting the nutrients. The better converters get more value from their food which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Age is also significant in all of this, as, of course, is society and diet within it. It is a subject that should be compulsory in school so that students begin adult life with thoughts about why fast food should be moderated and proper meal times are important for health.

The proportion of obese people has increased significantly over the last 60 years which suggests strongly there are factors at work that we could control rather than something inherent and uncontrollable in the make up of the general population.
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/time-think-differently/trends-healthy-behaviours-obesity

I wonder if, apart from normal diet, the doubling in alcohol intake is significant?

I suggest following the advice from the NHS: https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/cs_meat_hormone-out21_en.pdf