PhDs Who Think We're All Stupid

This column falls under the heading of “PhDs who feel we’re ALL stupid” or “Who actually funds this crap?”  My comments are in italics.

An editorial authored by University of Cincinnati (UC) diabetes researchers published in the Feb. 7, 2012, issue of the journal Cell Metabolism sheds light on the biological factors contributing to rising rates of obesity and discusses strategies to reduce body weight.

I see this as a way for people who work at the University of Cincinnati to justify their pay by wasting time complicating a simple issue.  Their goal seems to be to get everyone confused about obesity by providing absolute nonsense from worthless research in a study.  This will enable them to get more money to fund more idiotic studies.  What a way to make a living. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, about one-third of U.S. adults are obese, a number that continues to climb.

Well, gee, who is at fault here?  Are there roaming bands of food thugs forcing people to overeat? 

“Please don’t hurt me.”

“Hey, if you don’t eat the entire chocolate cake I have you’re not getting out of this alive.”

“Oh no, a food thug has me!”

"While we don't usually think of it this way, body weight is regulated. How much we weigh is influenced by a number of biological systems, and this is part of what makes it so hard for people to lose weight and keep it off," says Randy Seeley, PhD, Donald C. Harrison Endowed Chair, director of the Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center.

“Huh?  I’m not a PhD but even I know how much we weigh is influenced by what we eat and how much we exercise or don’t exercise.  Did Randy Seeley, PhD ever watch an episode of “The Biggest Loser?”

"To understand the obesity epidemic, we must figure out how our environment alters these biological systems to encourage weight gain."

Are they trying to say that having fast food restaurants everywhere is what causes people to be fat, who wouldn't be fat, except for having fast food restaurants everywhere?  Gyms are everywhere also.  Why doesn't that cause people to be normal weight? 

Seeley says a big part of the environment that encourages weight gain is the availability and consumption of calorically dense, high-fat foods - in particular, what we eat can alter the brain regions that regulate body weight.

You eat too much fast food and your brain changes?  Maybe a PSA campaign should be waged that states “Eating too much junk foot makes you fat and stupid."  I'm wondering how much junk food was eaten by the people who did this study. 

"Evolutionary speaking, we are designed to want to eat foods that are high in fat and gain weight because it made it easier to survive times when food was not available," he continues. "However, that is no longer a real concern since food is almost always available, but we still have a biological desire to eat these calorically dense foods. So, how do we intervene and change this drive?"

Wow, if you’re fat you’re a victim of having caveman genetics?  I think the bigger question here is if this was true then why isn’t EVERYBODY obese?  Where does the evolutionary biological desire go for people who have normal weight?  Are such people caveman genetic deprived?  If you want to know how to intervene and change this evolutionary biological desire just go see Jenny Craig or Weightwatchers as I'm sure they know all about it.

Seeley says there are several key points in successful therapeutic interventions for the population facing social, financial and health consequences of obesity.

Being fat has social, financial AND health consequences? 

"Why didn't you pay your rent?"

"I had to score some chocolate covered peanuts and Doritos.  I think I need to get to junk food rehab or something."

"Oh it's terrible to watch a person's caveman genetics control them."

"As we understand the molecular interaction between what we eat and these brain circuits that regulate our body weight, we can design interventions that reduce the body weight that our bodies defend. This will mean that people trying to lose weight would be able to work with their biology rather than trying to use will power to overcome their biology that pushes them back to their obese state.”

When I read stuff like this I wonder if there is a course you take to earn a PhD titled “As a PhD you can write anything, no matter how stupid it sounds and people will believe it because you’ve labeled it as a study.”  This is the kind of drivel that justifies obese people feeling helpless and believing they’re victims.  After reading this a fat person might think they're not responsible for their obesity.  They'll simply blame their their genetics and feel there's nothing they can do.  If people want to lose weight they need to not read stupid studies and start watching “Biggest Loser” then alter their lives accordingly. 

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