Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
How humankind unwittingly joined an experiment on antibiotics and weight gain.
By Pagan Kennedy, New York Times Sunday Review/Opinion, March 8/9, 2014
IF you walk into a farm-supply store today, you’re likely to find a bag of antibiotic powder that claims to boost the growth of poultry and livestock. That’s because decades of agricultural research has shown that antibiotics seem to flip a switch in young animals’ bodies, helping them pack on pounds. Manufacturers brag about the miraculous effects of feeding antibiotics to chicks and nursing calves. Dusty agricultural journals attest to the ways in which the drugs can act like a kind of superfood to produce cheap meat.
But what if that meat is us? Recently, a group of medical investigators have begun to wonder whether antibiotics might cause the same growth promotion in humans. New evidence shows that America’s obesity epidemic may be connected to our high consumption of these drugs. But before we get to those findings, it’s helpful to start at the beginning, in 1948, when the wonder drugs were new — and big was beautiful [....]
Comments
Antibiotics have spread around the world since their discovery; there is nothing American about them. But you don't see grotesque American-style obesity in other countries, at least not to the same extent.
by Lurker on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 6:32pm
The U.S.(and Mexico) are just way ahead, a lot of other countries have been catching up in an escalating fashion:
Wikipedia: Epidemiology of Obesity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_obesity
I'm no expert, just have a habit of checking out articles with headlines like this one
Obesity epidemic becomes worldwide phenomenon
New Scientist, 08 January 2014
or this one:
Spain packs on kilos in obesity epidemic (March, 2013; More than half of Spaniards are now overweight according to a major new study published on Thursday)
over the last 5 or so years.
Here's a simple chart comparing 1980 and 2008:
Source: U.S. and Mexico: Fat and Fatter, July 16, 2013
by artappraiser on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 7:15pm
And actually, very recent news suggests the U.S. may be on a trajectory of reversing:
by artappraiser on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 7:23pm
There is a trend to have meatless meals once or twice a week. People who can afford it are buying organic raised meats for their families. Going vegan helps with weight loss.
by trkingmomoe on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 7:42pm
And I was thinking how many animals eaten in Africa are probably still mostly raised the old-fashioned way, except in urban areas with supermarkets, of course. Don't know about Asia, but then much of their cuisine is low meat percentage.
The NYT article also suggests increased breast feeding may be having an impact. It's strange, but I think now how my mom always said that I, the oldest, didn't have a weight problem like the other kids because she breast fed me the longest. And back then I would think that she was being silly, like: where the heck did she get that idea (maybe Dr. Spock?) The formula followed by cows' milk = the antibiotics?
My personal anecdotals on the U.S. as an old lady, maybe worth nothing: over the years, seems to me more and more lower working class type parents seem much more conscious about giving junk to baby to eat to make him/her stop crying. Even before Michelle Obama's campaign. Pacifiers seem to have made a big comeback over recent years, for one.
by artappraiser on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 8:10pm
The article wasn't dealing with traces of antibiotics that may or may not be ingested from animals. It was concerned with the effects of antibiotics as drugs which we take to fight human diseases.
by Lurker on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 8:52pm
You're right about the article, but with me, you're dealing with a true believer in the total antibiotic load we're subjected to doing a lot of damage. That's why I found the article interesting, as a matter of fact. I'm not convinced by it in totality, it's just an interesting theory that may prove to have some legs in the future in a way the author isn't aware of.
by artappraiser on Sun, 03/09/2014 - 8:58pm