The obesity conspiracy

The year is 1950, and the Western World is recovering from the second World War and the austerity that people had suffered was still in place. As part of the push towards recovery there was a decision taken that any measures necessary to encourage higher production from agriculture should be taken. New crops, development of better pesticides and fertilizers and changes in farming practice were all implemented, highlighted in the United States by the official “fenceline to fenceline” policy of maximising the cultivated area of farmland. Part of this shift was a significant increase in the cultivation of corn crops, and therein lies a fundamental problem. For years the food and soft drink industry had been at the mercy of sugar prices, subject to the vagaries of the futures markets and financial speculation, but this was about to end. Corn produces an interesting by-product, corn syrup, a substance that is sweeter than sugar, and considerably cheaper.

This was an incredible boon, particularly for the soft drink industry, but there was an issue. Sugar breaks done into sucrose, a sugar that provides food for the body and breaks down easily into the bodies fuel glucose. Corn syrup however breaks down into fructose, sometimes known as fruit sugar, which has a far greater tendency to be converted by the body into fat, and particularly intra-abdominal fat, the hidden secret in the obesity epidemic. Now, given that corn syrup is sweeter than sugar you might expect that this problem was reduced by the need for lower quantities, but what is interesting is that rather than using less corn syrup, drinks manufacturers actually use more, having to adjust the flavours of drinks to artificially reduce their sweetness. Why would this be the case?

The answer comes, not from food science as you might expect, but from sociology and psychology. Research was conducted into the habits and tendencies of consumers and it was found that there was a link between increased levels of fructose sugars and the release of endorphins in the brain, pleasure chemicals that create a feeling of euphoria. This led to a shift in the way in which soft drinks were marketed, with a greater emphasis on fun and enjoyment, but that was not all. As the consequence of higher corn syrup consumption were beginning to be seen in rising obesity rates it was found that not only was corn syrup mildly addictive, but that obesity was linked to depression, and the euphoric effect of fructose alleviated some of the symptoms of depression. So, a growing obesity problem tended to lead to higher consumption of “comfort” drinks, which in turn led to an increase in fructose consumption, creating a vicious circle of increasing morbidity.

An interesting side story was the discovery that increased obesity and increased fructose consumption there is a greater tendency towards both mental and physical lethargy, creating a far more coercive and biddable population, less prone to protest and insurrection. This was in large part the reason for governments of all political stripes being very reticent to legislate against drinks manufacturers and the use of fructose. Indeed, there was almost no research data released into the increasing obesity epidemic until the 1980's despite the problem being widely researched since the 1960's. The earlier data was classified and suppressed by the FDA and the CDC in America, and similar research projects in Europe were funded by American corporate interest, and persuaded not to release their findings.

All in all, a classic case of the modification of society to meet the unofficial needs of the elite. Ask yourself why the elite have been largely unaffected by obesity, and why the poorest members of society are the most heavily affected.