There is great evidence (past, present) that fat accumulation is controlled ONLY by insulin, so my question is

Question

in the centuries before refined sugars and processed foods, what foods were making obese people's insulin bounce up and down?

example:

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/1400040787/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9427387-4535867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191200052&sr=8-1

(I'm asking in anthro because this deals with records of the past, and ostensibly the Health category would yield "establishment" answers)

Answer 1

It has to do with genetics, environment, hormones, autoimmunity and quality of diet.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what the book you referred to had anything to do with past peoples.  

I have a few questions.  Where are you getting evidence of insulin levels bouncing up and down, and in what centuries are you referring to, and in what places?  Can you give some examples of specific people you are curious about?  Insulin resistance, obesity and diabetes prevalence vary a lot between different ethnic groups, so to just generally say 'obese people', that's a bit vague.  

Also, what do you mean by processed foods?  The adoption of domestication brought lots of 'processed' foods into these new farmers' lives and brought with it plenty of health problems.  Or do you mean the sort of mass-produced Western-style food that giant factories push out?

Answer 3

People who eat more than they burn get fat.  You can get fat by eating too much protein and fat.  That will not cause an increase in insulin.  Most people who get fat do eat carbohydrates because that is typically where you get most of the calories in most peoples diets.  When it comes to loosing weights there is no such thing as bad calories.  It is ONLY calories in verses calories out.  Anything else is just selling books.

Answer 4

The only thing I can tell you is that thru history people had to live near fresh water and ,most likely, ate a lot of fresh fish.

I have always loved seafood and I had never had a problem with blood sugar.  Now that I am older, I am trying to cut out red meat and add more fish.  Most people thru history had very little food to live on.  The only people who had weight were the wealthy and large people were considered attactive.

People did not live very long until recently.  My grandmother lived to be 80 but my mother only until 68.  I blame transfats for her early death but I could be wrong.  My father lived to be 93.  He ate oatmeal, sardines, bananas, wheat bread, and made his own red wine(boy did it smell).  He also had a cabinet full of vitamins.  Good luck.

Answer 5

Yes, but the biology category would yield coherent answers. This is not my area and I am not a functional biologist, but the biology section is full of molecular cell people who understand the minutia of body mechanisms. The definition of functional biology.

Answer 6

Well, I think that many people who were fat and became diabetic simply died in the past.  They had no way of truly knowing what was going on with the person, so nothing could be done to treat them.  

I don't think we can pin down past evidence beyond the discovery of insulin and tests for blood sugar levels however.  How can we say that a fat person was not simply fat because they ate more then they burned?