Rami, while I do appreciate the fact that biochemistry is complex, it seems to me there are too many people looking for “reasons” why everyone is fat and not enough people looking for adequate solutions.

Why don’t diets help? Because (i) people don’t follow them despite their self-reported compliance, (ii) diets are usually stupid and force the body into starvation-survival mode wherein the moment the diet is relaxed every excess calorie is stored as fat, and (iii) people don’t exercise to the degree they self-report so they over-estimate their daily calorific requirement. Add to this the fact all fad diets leave people deficient in key micro-nutrients and you’ve got 99% of the answer to the obesity problem.

Here’s the thing: I live in the modern world. I’m exposed to plastics etc. on a daily basis. But… I eat a scientifically valid diet with lots of vegetables, fish, etc. so my macro and micro nutrient intake is optimal. I exercise strenuously six days per week. And guess what? I weighed 182lbs at the age of 30 with a 9% body fat and at 61 I now weigh 178lbs (due to age-related muscle loss) with 10% body fat. And the people I know who follow the same sort of regimen as I do, have experienced the same results.

But you know what? It takes willpower to get to the gym when I’m tired or just feeling “off.” Yet I go anyway. It takes ingrained habit not to buy anything from McSlop or Kentucky Fried Cancer or Three Twins IceCream. Furthermore, I prioritize my health, which means being disciplined with work. I leave on time so I can go to the gym, or I go before I get to the office in the morning. I walk at lunchtime rather than sit swiping my phone to update my InstaChat account. I don’t watch TV so I have more hours in the day in which to do healthy things instead of sitting slumped on the sofa. These are all choices, and choices make a much bigger difference than plastic bottles etc. And because I live a healthy lifestyle, I don’t need the various medications that do indeed further contribute to obesity. My medications are simple: a multi-vitamin each day. And that’s it.

But if I believed my physiological state was largely independent of my choices, as per your article, I’d be as fat as everyone else too.

We’re too busy finding reasons for people to sit on the sofa and tell themselves “it’s not my fault I’m fat” which is why today 86% of US citizens are overweight. We’re sending the wrong messages and getting the predictable results.