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Talking Economics with an Overeating Glutton


Two years ago, I wrote an entry about why discussing economics with an overspender is frustrating. Now, I was looking at certain fat people who say really dumb things about economics. Just recently, I was looking at a certain fat idiot (fortunately, he only has 1K+ followers) who posted on Facebook that not only will the parliamentary system cause the Philippines to become a dictatorship, but he also says that changing economic provisions will cause the Philippines to collapse and the country to fall into the hands of foreigners. I won't name the person out to avoid getting personal. However, the person is apparently very fat and he blames capitalism day in and day out. The person even says that businessmen do nothing and it's the employers that do everything. Has that fat slob ever heard that businesses are run by bosses and that if the bosses do screw up, they're the ones who are the most answerable? The employees are the cogs and the boss runs the cogs.

I was looking at why people can become unusually fat. Apparently, all the guy does is overeat and live a sedentary lifestyle. Sure, fat shaming is wrong and maybe the fat person next to me is making a conscious effort to lose weight. I've met some fat people who are working to lose weight, even if they're still fat. However, said fat person is still able to fit in a car, not have to take an extra seat on the plane, and is starting to have less trouble finding new clothes. I'm glad that some fat people are actually working hard to save their health. One fat person I knew lost some pounds. She may still be considered chubby but she's definitely living life well with her husband and children. She was already striving for weight loss even before she became a family woman.

When I look at the videos of people overeating and being fat influencers, economics is overlooked aside from health. I'll give a few examples of how economics is ignored by being overweight:
  1. One huge hamburger may cost around PHP 270.00 up to PHP 480.00 from Army Navy. It's already costly for me to buy the PHP 480.00. How much more if a person decides to keep gobbling up several burgers. For example, to buy at least 10 of these burgers, it would cost around PHP 2,700.00 to PHP 4,800.00 to overfeed one's self. Make it a hundred and it will be even more expensive. 
  2. Some of them may actually be living off handouts when they shouldn't. Handouts are only reserved for people who are incapable of work. For example, I've read people who have been afflicted by some disease such as neurofibromatosis get handouts due to how discrimination may hit them. Some old people live on handouts because they get too old to work. However, for people who demand handouts even when they're healthy is another thing. How can an overeating glutton who relies on a welfare state know about economics? 
  3. If a person happens to be in the same position as Mao Zedong or Kim Jong Un, they would definitely not know anything about economics. I heard that Mao wasn't just a dirty pig with his hygiene but also his diet. Mao's obsession with the unhealthy Sichuan-style pork belly was just one thing. Can you expect Mao to know about economics if the guy ate a lot and Madame Mao was probably even worse than Imelda Romualdez-Marcos? Maybe, Mao overate while the Great Leap Forward was carried out? 
  4. In overeating, they don't even think of future expenses that they will have as a result of several health issues. Some people may be hooked to oxygen 24/7 as a result of overeating

When people eat too much and move too little I read this one from the MD Anderson Cancer Center which explains a lot about unusually fat people: 
So, what happens to your body when you overeat?
  • Overeating causes the stomach to expand beyond its normal size to adjust to the large amount of food. The expanded stomach pushes against other organs, making you uncomfortable. This discomfort can take the form of feeling tired, sluggish or drowsy. Your clothes also may feel tight, too.
  • Eating too much food requires your organs to work harder. They secrete extra hormones and enzymes to break the food down.
  • To break down food, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid. If you overeat, this acid may back up into the esophagus resulting in heartburn. Consuming too much food that is high in fat, like pizza and cheeseburgers, may make you more susceptible to heartburn.
  • Your stomach may also produce gas, leaving you with an uncomfortable full feeling. 
  • Your metabolism may speed up as it tries to burn off those extra calories. You may experience a temporary feeling of being hot, sweaty or even dizzy.
What are the long-term effects of overeating? 
When you eat, your body uses some of the calories you consume for energy. The rest are stored as fat. Consuming more calories than you burn may cause you to become overweight or obese. This increases your risk for cancer and other chronic health problems.

Overeating -- especially unhealthy foods -- can take its toll on your digestive system. Digestive enzymes are only available in limited quantity, so the larger the amount of food you eat, the longer it takes to digest. If you overeat frequently, over time, this slowed digestive process means the food you eat will remain in the stomach for a longer period of time and be more likely to turn into fat.

Overeating can even impact your sleep. Your circadian clock, which controls your sleep cycles, causes your sleep and hunger hormone levels to rise and fall throughout the day. Overeating can upset this rhythm, making it hard for you to sleep through the night.

And if that's not all, I'm not surprised at the correlation between people who are overweight and the way it affects their minds. I guess that explains why people who aren't that fat can think better than those who are really that fat. Being obese also harms brain health. Researchers may still be trying to find out how and why it happens. However, a bit of simple science proves that if less blood is carried from the brain, it can affect brain health. The heart pumps blood throughout the whole body. If the heart can't do its job properly because of it being clogged by fat--can you expect it to bring the required amount of blood to the brain?

Then again don't overeating gluttons care more about feelings than facts? For them, their precious feelings are so hurt. Well bad news, the facts are that several fat influencers are dying way too soon as a result of their actions. Some people die and it's not their fault. For example, a health-conscious person may be gone too soon but that was something beyond their control. Maybe, it's the environment they live in that caused them to go away so soon than their health habits. They never cared about the economics and only cared about their feelings. 

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