But once you pay farmers to grow corn, they have to sell it somewhere. Hence HFCS, and corn oil, and corn gas, and ofc corn corn, and... The then-head of NIH Francis Collins was once asked what single thing Americans could do to be healthier - he said to eat better, especially less sugar, and Congress could remove the farming subsidies, or at least expand them from beyond corn & soybean to include fruits & vegetables. They laughed in his face. Ain't nobody got time for 'dat!

The single worst part of it all is that those subsidies were put into place when a huge fraction of aspiring volunteer soldiers were turned away in WWII due to "malnutrition". Thus the campaign was born to literally fatten up America. It worked!!! And it will continue to work... forever, bc once you create a voting block, ending it or even redirecting (towards a healthier end for us all, but lower profits for Monsanto in the short term) seems next to impossible. It actually is a good argument against socialism, at least in the USA where the government is so enormously susceptible to special interest groups (although there are even better arguments against capitalism so I don't mean to say that it PROVES that socialism is bad, just that it is one example of its misuse, when the government is in charge of something and also the government is stupid; and before anyone says it, yes this situation is an argument against both at the same time:-P).

An excellent documentary about it, most of what I'm saying here is from part 4: https://www.hbo.com/the-weight-of-the-nation/season-1. I know, filmmakers can be... uninformed some(MANY MANY)times, but this was done as a joint venture between the FDA and NIH, so this is highly credentialed. Also trigger warning; it will make you very very sad watching this, bc facts in this era of end-stage capitalism tend to do that, so if you do not want to see things like mothers feeding their 300 pound 10-year old an enormous meal of pasta - literally killing them right before your eyes, slowly and painfully - then... well, I did warn you at least.

Whole grains are pretty good for you, nowhere near as bad as something like white bread. That’s like corn on the cob vs HFCS.

It's impossible to stop obesity without destroying the entire sugar industry.

Flat out false, and I wish people would stop saying that. Including the part about grains.

Do you know what the fittest, lowest body fat, endurance athletes consume in mega doses? Sugar and carbs.

Is it an ideal diet? Not at all. But it's fuel, and it works when you need it to.

People are fat because they aren't justifying their caloric intake. They just shovel it in, even when they've exceeded the 1800 calories needed to just sit on their ass all day.

There is no obesity if you're active (excluding actual medical reasons like thyroid dysfunction or perscribed steroids).

Blaming "the industry" is as lazy as not wanting to be active.

Grain consumption, in case you weren't aware, is a keystone trait among the healthiest people in the world ("Blue Zones"). Grain consumption is also high in vegans, who happen to also have low (healthy) BMI.

I had a hard time arguing against Sam's Club muffins for breakfast.

For less than $6, I can have nine 710 calorie muffins. But the cost to my health to eat that much pure sugar with extremely little nutrition and like zero protein?

But that'd breakfast for 9 days for less than $7 (including tax.)

People who say eating healthy is cheaper if you're willing to spend the time have never been to Sam's Club.

It's not impossible, it just requires incentive. I've dropped 30 pounds this year by eating better (and much less) despite having a basket full of Hostess products sitting on the shelf and 2 liter bottles of sodas in the fridge. We just need to WANT to stop pigging out at every meal. For me, it was my cholesterol going through the roof of the skyscraper at my check-up this year (I was over 800! I think 150 is supposed to be the highest you go without being in danger) and generally being uncomfortable after every meal. Groceries get a lot cheaper when you're only eating half as much, and allows me to afford buying better quality foods.