Young people in the USA are not healthy. 4 in 10 have IR... and half those are NOT fat

(PJ) #1

This does not surprise me but it ought to cause alarm in anybody concerned for the future of our country (ref the USA here but this likely applies to many others as well). I saw something earlier this morning about how the average testosterone in a young man is now what it used to be in a man of 67, which is a separate thing, but kind of on the same line: we are culturally harming people food-wise so that even when they are young, a shocking number of them are not actually healthy – even though “they aren’t fat” so they look like they’re ok from the outside.

Among 6247 young adults 18 to 44 years of age, the prevalence of IR was 44.8% (95% CI: 42.0%-47.6%) in 2007-2010 and 40.3% (95% CI: 36.4%-44.2%) in 2015-2018 (P for trend = 0.07). There was a modest association of HOMA-IR with higher body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, total lean fat mass, and total and localized fat mass (all Ps < 0.001). Participants with IR had a higher prevalence of hypertension [31.3% (95% CI: 29.2%-33.5%) vs 14.7% (95% CI: 13.2%-16.2%)], hypercholesterolemia [16.0% (95% CI: 12.4%-19.5%) vs 7.0% (95% CI: 5.8%-8.5%)], obesity [56.6% (95% CI: 53.9%-59.3%) vs 14.7% (95% CI: 13.0%-16.5%)], and poor physical activity levels [18.3% (95% CI: 16.4%-20.2%) vs 11.7% (95%CI: 10.3–13.1%)] compared to participants without IR (all Ps < 0.05). Conclusions Four-in-10 young American adults have IR, which occurs in a cluster with cardiometabolic risk factors. Nearly half of young adults with IR are nonobese.

(Old Baconian) #2

Dr. Robert Lustig, in several of his more recent lectures on metabolic disease, says that there are actually more TOFI’s (“thin on the outside, fat on the inside”) than metabolically ill obese. He also points out that a large percentage of obese people are metabolically healthy (MHO—“metabolically healthy obese”), which is a strong indication that obesity may be caused by whatever causes metabolic disease, but certainly does not cause metabolic disease. I feel this is an important point to remember, since we are all so accustomed to linking obesity with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

(PJ) #3

Yeah. Well, when I went in for heart surgery it was a birth defect (3% of population has it) and after a week of tests, the surgical team said I had veins cleaner than most teens and every blood test showed me as almost surreally healthy – if you don’t count that I weighed about 560# and was dying of heart failure! All those years of keto and supplements, I assumed, although to be fair I’ve had a robust immune system all my life.

I’m about 350# now if keto, 370 when not. Eating keto is fine but does not seem to result in weight loss at this point for some reason – possibly because I am fully in menopause now. I go off and on, lowcarb but not always ketogenic (mostly due to some beans in my chili con carne), back to keto when a burst of hope strikes me again, eventually sliding out of it when it does not seem to have anywhere near the effect (or any at all) that it used to.

Still working on recovering from full-body atrophy after the years of house-room-bed bound life and I admit not working nearly as hard as the ideal in my head. But my only medication is diuretic for the new heart valve that leaks a little as a norm. And I keep trying to take myself off that but sadly I need it. Maybe if I get to vastly more exercise I will need less.

Everyone I know over 35 has a whole big list of health issues. Including some I used to have and don’t now, like severe asthma, severe allergies, severe acid reflux – ditching grain proteins utterly for a few weeks fixed that like magic for me. Most adults I know are on at least one ongoing medication or are missing some organ. I’m actually astounded by how poor the health of the people all around me are. Even the pretty young people.

Though it just makes my eyes roll when people insist of course they have (insert long list of health ills here), they’re 40, they’re getting old. omg! I would hope to be a lot healthier than that even when much older.

To be fair: I’m in Oklahoma. Poor health / obesity is so common here, even in the parades the pageantry girls have rolls in their spandex, it’s shocking. In my California upbringing world if you weren’t fit you did not even think of trying out for something like that and you’d never be allowed in it if you were fat. Seeing 12-14 year old fat girls in the local parades blew my mind. Sometimes I have had reason to sit near the entrance of a public place – pool, walmart, etc. – and just people watch, and I am astounded by the average fatness of the people here. I say this as someone super morbidly obese mind you. But in California I was unusually huge. Here, I’m just huge. Maybe my genetics fit more here and that’s related – a lot of celt+native mix here, both seem to get pretty fat from the modern food supply.

(Old Baconian) #4

I lost 80 pounds (36 kg) effortlessly and have remained at approximately 220 pounds (100 kg) ever since. If I had done keto for weight loss, I’d be fighting my body to lose another 80, but as it is, my goal was to reverse Type II diabetes. That was a success; my bloodwork is normal, with no sign of diabetes. My blood pressure and heart rate also dropped back to the normal range, my HDL went up, and my trigs went down. LDL is at the top of the normal range, but given what I’ve learned since, who cares?

You see it in Connecticut, too. I find myself saying, “He/she could really use keto,” and then I look at myself and think, “Oh! Maybe they are already keto!” But judging from what I see at the grocery store, probably not. . . . (sigh).

(PJ) #5

Yeah. I am sometimes amused by thinking that if someone looked in my basket and said hmmn, beef, cheese, eggs, veggies – wow look at all that saturated fat, no wonder she’s huge! – heh. I have avoided getting a couple t-shirts I liked because they were related to health and I felt my size made me more harm than help to the social effort.

I continue to be truly astounded though that people have no idea their food relates to their health except in some vague, intangible way that is almost abstract. My next door neighbor tells me the doc told him he is prediabetic. I said oh, so are you eating lowcarb now? I have lots of recipes! He looks confused. What is that? he says. Like Atkins? – yes it’s true, his doctor said NOT A SINGLE WORD ABOUT carbohydrates after telling him essentially he had a toxic overload of carbohydrates growing disease. Oy!

(Butter Withaspoon) #6

This is what makes me so sad too. I know many people in their 20s and 30s who have some big health issues or who don’t feel very good. Hey! I used to be one of them at around 30 although no fatness on my body. The list of symptoms I wrote back then is obviously (to me now) connected to metabolic ill health. I feel so sad for people who I don’t know well enough to chat about diet to. It’s a tragedy!

(Doug) #7

Well said. :slightly_smiling_face:

#8

I believe that was one of the motivations for trying to learn about the ‘why’ of carnivore/ketogenic eating. Several years ago, I would have been one of the first to be saying ‘Of course, you still need to eat fresh green veg, get your fiber in, choose seed oils, etc’. Even on low carb I thought this. But if someone challenged me and said ‘why?’ I would probably have to defer to ‘Because, that’s what the experts say. Everyone knows it’s good for you.’

Now, if I need to explain my diet to someone, I feel I can justify it, or at least challenge them to show me where I’m going ‘wrong’. Knowledge is power, perhaps. It is certainly liberating.

#9

I talk about Hungary but the young isn’t as healthy and informed as can be here either. Faaaaaar from it.

Doctors here basically always talk about low-carb in that case but my relative with diabetes has a b book about changed views and that diabetics are encouranged to eat more and more carbs as decades passed. I have no idea if there is true somewhere, it’s just a book to me, a very silly one at that but she owns that. 55% carbs, I read something like that there as they thought someone with diabetes and a bit higher energy need must eat way over the usual 150-160g. I don’t know about other countries, it’s basically always 150-160g for people with diabetes. Not this or less, exactly that, spread out during the day.
At least my relative eats way less added sugar since the doctor told her things, it’s something… She doesn’t follow the book but she doesn’t even track like crazy everything. More like nothing at all, actually, it was some food item change and continuing eating too much to have any chance to lose fat. And at that level even I would lose fat quickly - on the right diet.

Why people don’t know about low-carb? I didn’t know about it either, I needed some serious research and thinking and wanting to change as a health-conscious and curious person. Before I only knew HCHF as very nearly everyone ate like that. Maybe I knew the existence of HCLF but I would never go there.

Quite sad that even now when science is way better than before, we actually know important things about eating… There are lots of personal factors, misinformation and mysteries but we do have some facts and experiences. And poor people don’t even have any idea that they may try something else (not anything, that would be dangerous, just something okay looking), let’s see what the body says. if poor body is still in good shape enough to react properly. It happened to me. My body immediately loved lower-carb. Not keto, that took time but 80g net carbs. It was the easiest change ever and cool! Knew immediately I must keep that. And that I can’t even avoid keeping that, it was just too good! :smiley:
And I was a bit sad that no one ever said me it’s an option before. And most people don’t care about their health as much as I do. They aren’t curious as much and willing to try unusual things. They would need more help…

And it’s just food. I saw young healthy people complaining about a tiny walk…

I have good genes and felt pretty healthy after decades on HCHF + overeating. But mentally it messed with me. And it’s possible that it would have caused problems later. I want to feel right and healthy way beyond 100 years old… Now I know high-carb isn’t for my body and I am glad I changed my woe around 35. But my poor body couldn’t tell me I need to lower my carbs when the only thing it knew was HCHF and it seemed to work well enough. I had no idea it could be better. (I don’t even remember why I started to searched for a better woe… Probably the paleo hype here in Hungary :D)

(Jane) #10

Yes, the dietary advice on diabetes has definitely changed over the decades. Almost 30 years ago my stepson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and the advice was to cut all sugar and severely limit the carbs. It wasn’t going to heal him, but would reduce the amount of insulin he woud need to take and slow the damage.

Now they just implant an insulin pump and tell them to eat whatever they want.

I’m not sure if the same dietary advice applies to type 2 over the decades, but I would guess it would follow the same trend.

#11

So the book talked about some other country where that’s really a trend…

I looked up the current advice, yep, it’s the same as decades ago. Many meals, lots of grains (just wholemeal), some fruits, carbs spread out and quick carbs eaten in the “right” amount and time… Nothing seemed to change. If I could find my favorite cookbook with amazing long poetic texts about certain dishes, I would look up the dietary advice for diabetics more than a century ago… They surely didn’t track that time. I remember some cool advice, they really went for seriously low-carb with some dishes, almonds as flour and lots of eggs… But they could do it as they didn’t fear fat and cholesterol back then.

(Jane) #12

I found this when I searched for the history of deitary guidelines for diabetics and it sounds about right for the US:

When in history did those with diabetes switch from following low carbohydrate to a more liberal intake of carbohydrates?

Up until the 1970s a lower carbohydrate high fat diet was promoted to manage diabetes. In 1980 the first set of Dietary Guidelines for Americans was published. These guidelines encouraged Americans to follow an eating plan that was lower in fat to reduce the risk of chronic health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. For many individuals, following a lower-fat diet resulted in greater carbohydrate intake. In the last 15 years (or so) many individuals have started to go back to a lower carbohydrate diet to control blood glucose levels and to help with weight loss.

(PJ) #13

It boggles my mind.

My respiratory specialist was seriously angry when I told him how going off grain foods in 3 weeks cured every symptom I had. Go figure.

My friend when I told her about my acid reflux going away when I stopped eating carbs/grains, told her doctor, who scoffed, “Ha-ha, you think it’s better to eat STEAK?! OMG!” – so she agreed to go on a daily drug for the rest of her freaking life.

At this point I’m starting to consider the medical system as dangerous as it is helpful. Big help if I break a bone. Dangerous as hell if I just want to avoid getting something – or getting worse.

(Old Baconian) #14

These are good points, but the problem is not so much the medical system per se as it is the fact that schemers injected fraudulent data into the general thinking. Had people been able to halt Keys and his cronies in their tracks, we’d all be better off.

But Keys was relentless in opposing anyone who disagreed with him, and people who follow his thinking have been in charge of the system ever since. It didn’t help that Crisco Oil put the American Heart Association on the map in 1948 with a major donation, because the AHA has been touting their product ever since (as documented by Nina Teicholz). And around the time Keys was blaming Eisenhower’s heart attacks on saturated fat, the sugar industry was paying Walter Willet and others to bad-mouth fat as a way to take the heat off sugar (as reported by Gary Taubes).

(Denise) #15

oops, wrong area for my reply

(Denise) #16

My whole life I was called skinny, or told “oh Denise, you are thin, but I did have some obvious fat, and even cellulite. I never have weighed over 140 lbs, I’m 5’2”, and 68 years old, 69 in December. I was diagnosed with T2 Diabetes, Jan. 20, 2021. I firmly believe, because of the opportunity for me to search the internet for truth, that I was most likely Insulin Resistant for literally years.

Long story short, I’ve been on what some would call a strict Keto diet for almost a year now, and went from 7.4 Hba1c down to 6.2 and checked my own glucose 2 and 3 times a day for months. Now only once in awhile, but I don’t go off my keto except with a very, occasional glass of chardonnay with dinner. Then I check to make sure it hasn’t effected my sugar level, and it never has.

I had a potluck invitation and went, after that, where I couldn’t resist just “trying” some mashed potatoes, and too, much fruit in a salad, my number jumped up! I never did that again. I stick to my “under 30 carbs” but can go up to 50 with no issue.

I’ve gone from 136 down to 117 but strangely enough, most of that weight had to come from around my organs since it wasn’t showing up in my “outside” measurements for months. So I love the article and feel it is right on. I wish the folks I talk to would listen but even if they do, they don’t follow through. Also, because I freely admit I have T2, they use that as an excuse. They say “you have to eat that way, and I don’t have diabetes”. They just won’t even read the info which I point them to videos etc.

I do think so much about young ones growing up without this life-saving knowledge ;( Denisestrong text

#17

Not really a separate thing! While theirs absolutely a war on masculinity, having low test starts a whole bunch of problems that snowball into the things that screw us up. No motivation, no drive to do anything, loss of positive outlook, weight gain etc.

That’s why I like my testosterone at the nice healthy level of 2-3 18yo’s :grin:

(Old Baconian) #18

When I read this, Ellen G. White’s assertion that eating meat causes “fleshy lusts” came to mind. She was probably not wrong about that, but she should have looked for a better solution than vegetarianism to deal with the problem of rowdy frontiersmen.

#19

Does it make lusts come on? Or does vegetarianism wipe out the drive we’re supposed to have to keep the species alive :thinking:

I’ll take wanting to screw a fire hydrant over that any day!

(Old Baconian) #20

Let’s just say that the fact that testosterone is made out of cholesterol is one reason I will not be taking a statin!