What's Making You Fat?

How’s this for a weighty statistic: Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) are now overweight, according to a new study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This means that despite the 33 billion dollars spent on diet products each year, the only thing getting lighter is our wallet.

Although some scientists say there are folks who are genetically inclined to be heavier than others, the magnitude of the obesity epidemic and the speed with which it exploded in recent years means there’s more to the problem than a fat gene.

“When things change that quickly, something in the environment is influencing the equation,” according to Donald Hensrud, M.D., associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

There’s no hard data to point the finger at any particular cause, though experts have bushels of theories: reduced physical activity, enormous portions, skyrocketing soda consumption, on-demand fast food, gulp-and-go dining and fat-free products loaded with sugar. Still, it all boils down to calories, calories, calories.

The solution is clearly to cut calories. But which calories to cut? Conventional wisdom says cut the fat. Wrong! Gobble all the fat you want, they say, it’s the carbs that have to go. Cut the fat? Cut the carbs? Whew! It’s enough to make your head whirl like a diet shake in a blender. Here’s the skinny on what’s making America fat and the bottom line on how to slim down.