On Sat, 21 Jun 1997, Keith wrote:

> Yeah.  Look around at the 80, 90, 100+ year old people.  See very many
> obese people?  According to macrobiotic theory, we eat fatty foods (or
> overeat) to comfort ourselves from the stress of the world.  Today's
> world has more stress sources in our society, hence I can totally
> understand why, psychologically speaking, we have more obesity.

There are no data to support the premise that obesity is a result
of overeating of fatty foods or any other kinds of foods.  While
the stress of modern life may be a factor in obesity, there is no
evidence that that factor operates by causing people to overeat.
Large-scale studies show that obese people do not eat more than
others; in fact, they probably eat a bit less.  There are also no
data to support the premise that food fats cause obesity.
Indeed, if that were so it would be impossible for obese people
to lose weight without drastically reducing dietary fat.  Since
obese people obviously *do* lose weight without such reductions,
I think we have to question the accuracy of "macrobiotic theory"
on these points.

Todd Moody
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