Question

Describe the dramatic increase in the rate of obesity and explain why it increased so dramatically. What is the significance of sugar, fat, and salt? How can their significance be applied to the food industry and its customers/consumers?

Describe in detail the chemically altered process that occurs in the brain when people eat foods that are high in sugar, fat, and salt. Include relevant concepts, their corresponding definitions, and the relationships between them in your explanation

Answer 1

At an individual level, a combination of excessive food energy intake and a lack of physical activity is thought to explain most cases of obesity. A limited number of cases are due primarily to genetics, medical reasons, or psychiatric illness.In contrast, increasing rates of obesity at a societal level are felt to be due to an easily accessible and palatable diet, increased reliance on cars, and mechanized manufacturing.

A 2006 review identified ten other possible contributors to the recent increase of obesity:

(1) insufficient sleep,

(2) endocrine disruptors (environmental pollutants that interfere with lipid metabolism),

(3) decreased variability in ambient temperature,

(4) decreased rates of smoking, because smoking suppresses appetite,

(5) increased use of medications that can cause weight gain (e.g., atypical antipsychotics),

(6) proportional increases in ethnic and age groups that tend to be heavier,

(7) pregnancy at a later age (which may cause susceptibility to obesity in children),

(8) epigenetic risk factors passed on generationally,

(9) natural selection for higher BMI, and

(10) assortative mating leading to increased concentration of obesity risk factors

Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis and depression.

More than one-third (36.5%) of U.S. adults have obesity.The prevalence of obesity was 8.9% among 2- to 5-year-olds compared with 17.5% of 6- to 11-year-olds and 20.5% of 12- to 19-year-olds.

Causes od dramatic obesity increase:

• One in five children in the United States are currently overweight and many of them will struggle with their weight for a lifetime.Increasingly, children are spending hours watching television, playing video games and surfing websites. While parents might feel reassured that their children are safe at home, these sedentary activities build up excess fat increasing obesity.
• As the amount of money Amercans spend on fast food goes up, so does the number of people who are obese. For many, stopping through the drive-through on the way home from work to pick up a box of greasy chicken, fries and a large soft drink is a way of life. Fast food companies entice children to consume their meals with appealing toys, setting the stage for a lifelong habit of eating unhealthy fast food.
• There is a direct correlation between obesity and the method of transportation people choose. In the United States, people rely heavily on their cars. Countries who do not rely heavily on cars for everyday transportation have lower rates of obesity. For example, in Sweden, 62 percent of people walk or bicycle and only 9 percent of the population is obese. A similar scenario is played out in Latvia, the Netherlands and several other countries where people rely on their bodies to get around. In the United States, only 12 percent of people use active means to get around, and the obesity rate is 33 percent.

Technological innovations—including vacuum packing, improved preservatives, deep freezing, artificial flavors and microwaves—have enabled food manufacturers to cook food centrally and ship it to consumers for rapid consumption.

Before World War II, Americans ate massive amounts of potatoes, largely baked, boiled or mashed. They were generally consumed at home. French fries were rare, both at home and in restaurants, because the preparation of French fries requires significant peeling, cutting and cooking. Without expensive machinery, these activities take a lot of time. In the postwar period, a number of innovations allowed the centralization of French fry production. French fries are now typically peeled, cut and cooked in a few central locations using sophisticated new technologies. They are then frozen at 40 degrees and shipped to the point of consumption, where they are quickly reheated either in a deep fryer (in a fast food restaurant), in an oven or even a microwave (at home). Today, the French fry is the dominant form of potato and America’s favorite vegetable. This change shows up in consumption data. From 1977 to 1995, total potato consumption increased by about 30 percent, accounted for almost exclusively by increased consumption of potato chips and French fries.

Sugar,Fats and Salt:

Fats, sugars and salt are essential to our diet. Without them, our body would not function properly -- but one must limit the consumption of these nutrients.Foods that contain natural sugars are fruits, honey, vegetables and dairy products. Fats sources include red meat, white meat, nuts, vegetables and dairy products.

Fats

Fats provide your body with energy to carry out daily activities. They also serve as carriers to the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Fat deposited in your body acts as an insulator preventing loss of heat. Fats from fish help lower your blood cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins and triglycerides. These fats also increase the amount of good cholesterol, or high-density lipoproteins, in your body. The recommended daily amount of fats for men is 95 grams and 70 grams for women.

Sugar

Since sugar is a carbohydrate, it acts as the main source of energy to your body. Simple sugar acts as an immediate source of energy when metabolized. Complex sugars are able to provide your body with long-lasting energy as opposed to simple sugars. Your body breaks down any sugars you consume into simple sugars so that it can absorb them. Excess sugars are also converted and stored as glycogen in your liver and muscles. Glycogen is broken down to glucose to produce energy when primary sources are scarce. Sugars also enhance the flavor of different foods and drinks. Try not to exceed the recommended daily allowance of 90 grams of sugar for women and 120 grams for men.

Salt

Salt contains sodium, an ingredient that helps in controlling blood pressure and volume. It also facilitates the proper functioning of your nerves and muscles by stimulating contraction. In addition, it helps in preventing your muscles from cramping. Salt also aids in water retention in your body, which helps to maintain electrolyte balance. MedLine Plus recommends that you limit your daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams per day.

According to the Mayo Clinic, excess sugar in your diet provides calories with minimal nutritional value. It results in tooth decay, increased level of triglycerides and weight gain. Try to choose your sugars from complex carbohydrates and avoid refined carbohydrates. High intake of salts may lead to high blood pressure or serious buildup of fluids in vessels resulting into kidney failure or congestive heart failure. Avoid the saltshaker by removing it from your dining table; doing this will significantly reduce the amount of salt you consume daily. Eating saturated and trans fats increases your risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases. Instead, eat healthy fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. They include omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fats.

Effect of sugar,salt and ats on brain:

Over eating can trigger the release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter in the brain. This internal chemical reward, in turn, increases the likelihood that the associated action will eventually become habitual through positive reinforcement conditioning. If activated by overeating, these neurochemical patterns can make the behavior tough to shake

Scientists have a relatively new name for such cravings: hedonic hunger, a powerful desire for food in the absence of any need for it; the yearning we experience when our stomach is full but our brain is still ravenous.The major hormones and neural connections responsible for metabolic hunger is regulated by the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that contains nerve cells that both trigger the production of and are exquisitely sensitive to a suite of disparate hormones.As with so many biological mechanisms, these chemical signals form an interlocking web of checks and balances. Whenever people eat more calories than they immediately need, some of the excess is stored in fat cells found throughout the body. Once these cells begin to grow in size, they start churning out higher levels of a hormone called leptin, which travels through the blood to the brain, telling the hypothalamus to send out yet another flurry of hormones that reduce appetite and increase cellular activity to burn off the extra calories—bringing everything back into balance.Similarly, whenever cells in the stomach and intestine detect the presence of food, they secrete various hormones, such as cholecystokinin and peptide YY, which work to suppress hunger either by journeying to the hypothalamus or by acting directly on the vagus nerve, a long, meandering bundle of nerve cells that link the brain, heart and gut. In contrast, ghrelin, a hormone released from the stomach when it is empty and blood glucose (sugar) levels are low, has the opposite effect on the hypothalamus, stimulating hunger.

There is a second biological pathway—one that underlies the process of eating for pleasure. Many of the same hormones that operate in metabolic hunger appear to be involved in this second pathway, but the end result is activation of a completely different brain region, known as the reward circuit. It turns out that extremely sweet or fatty foods captivate the brain's reward circuit in much the same way that cocaine and gambling do.the brain begins responding to fatty and sugary foods even before they enter our mouth. Merely seeing a desirable item excites the reward circuit. As soon as such a dish touches the tongue, taste buds send signals to various regions of the brain, which in turn responds by spewing the neurochemical dopamine. The result is an intense feeling of pleasure. Frequently overeating highly palatable foods saturates the brain with so much dopamine that it eventually adapts by desensitizing itself, reducing the number of cellular receptors that recognize and respond to the neurochemical. Consequently, the brains of overeaters demand a lot more sugar and fat to reach the same threshold of pleasure as they once experienced with smaller amounts of the foods.Under normal conditions, leptin and insulin (which become abundant once extra calories are consumed) suppress the release of dopamine and reduce the sense of pleasure as a meal continues.Recent studies suggests that the brain stops responding to these hormones as the amount of fatty tissue in the body increases.Thus, continued eating keeps the brain awash in dopamine even as the threshold for pleasure keeps going up.