It can be in someone's genes to store more fat when eating an average diet, (i.e. not all fat people are gluttons, some just eat a normal amount and they still get fat due to metabolism), but I don't think there is anyone who can still get fat on an almost-starvation diet. It just defies the laws of thermodynamics.
At some point of deprivation, the body does start eating itself. I'm not saying everyone has to look skeletal like the liberation of Auschwitz, but I can't totally believe there are still so many fat people, either.
Especially when living in communal groups, wouldn't there be a lot of social pressure not to take more than your fair share? To be fair they should have food rationing.
One thing that I do believe could happen is people go into starvation mode when the food is very scarce, but then if they suddenly come upon a big stockpile and start eating more, then they could get fatter than they were before the starvation period. It's like when you crash diet, you screw up your metabolism, so that you rebound to a higher weight when you start eating normally again. Your body is like "hey there might be another famine coming, so let's store as much fat as possible". It's actually a survival mechanism.
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tobisama (34)
8 years ago
"i.e. not all fat people are gluttons, some just eat a normal amount and they still get fat due to metabolism"
I disagree, practically all the fat people that I have met have one thing in common: they eat a lot!....the metabolism thing in most of the cases is just an excuse.
I still haven't found a really fat person eating a normal diet.
And one more thing, usually what people call "normal amount of food" is still more than needed in many countries.
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Popcorn Kernel (2368)
8 years ago
Yes, most Americans (and other westernized countries) eat more than their absolute minimum caloric needs, but I mean normal diet in the sense that most average people who eat that same amount do not become fat.
i.e. normal= eating the same amount that an average weight person eats. (not always a huge amount)
I don't really want to get into a debate about what causes weight gain and stuff, especially in our real world where food is plentiful in most first world countries. It was more an observation about the show universe where food is very very scarce and they need to do a lot of physical work to obtain the food.
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