When i was last living in Uruguay my weight was between 175 and 185 lbs. After three years living in the US i’d gained 40lbs to average something between 220 and 225. In both places i spent a lot of time in front of a computer, but also i walk a lot in both places. The only difference i could see is that in California i ate more burritos, something which for the most part isn’t available here. Gaba had the same weight gain problems. Beyond the two of us, you look at millions of mexican immigrants who also have weight gain when moving to the US, and they didn’t change their burrito eating habits.
The thing i realized over time is that in the US you eat much more food which is processed. Here in Uruguay you can’t buy pre-made pasta sauce, you get the tomatoes, vegetables, and make the sauce yourself. If you want to add surgar, you do it, if you don’t, you don’t. I started to wonder what it was in the processed food which makes it so unhealthy.
One of the things i think is associated with the difference is the abundance of High Fructose Corn Syrup. The corn lobby wants us to believe that it’s all good to eat so much corn syrup, but i don’t believe them.
There’s a great documentary which i’m hoping to see about the evil’s of the corn industry, King Corn.
Now that i’m living in a part of the world where they use real sugar and don’t fill the supermarkets with prepackaged crap, maybe that’ll help me take off those 40lbs. I’ll call it the ‘leave the US diet’.
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
“King Corn” is worth tracking down—it’s historical, folkloric, and has a surprisingly light touch given that the insanity of the US agricultural/industrial complex has so many people hopping mad.
December 4th, 2007
HFCS is the topic of many debates recently but in actuality it is no more bad for you than actual table sugar is. The thing to remember when consuming foods containing HFCS and all sugars is to eat them in moderation. But do not place the blame solely on HFCS.
December 4th, 2007
Burritos are not popular in most of Mexico – only in parts of northern Mexico. Chihuahua, some places in Sonora and Tijuana.
A mexican burrito from these areas only contains meat, rice, and beans. It is also about 1/2 the size of a typical SF Mission burrito. A typical SF ‘super’ burrito with meat, cheese, rice, beans, sour cream and avocado is approaching 1200 calories.
If you do the math, over 3 years… if your diet remained constant otherwise, you would only have to eat one monster SF burrito per week to gain OVER 40 pounds.
Sadly, the same thing happened to me. Too many burritos and beers at the zeitgeist.
December 4th, 2007
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