Being fat makes one lazy - study

South Africa was the third-fattest country in the world.

South Africa was the third-fattest country in the world.

Published Apr 10, 2014

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Durban - South Africans are getting fat because we are lazy.

New research indicates it’s the other way around.

A study published this week by UCLA neuroscientist Dr Aaron Blaisdell showed diets that fattened rats also led to elevated levels of laziness, and were “highly likely” to prompt the same reaction in people.

The findings, which focused on diets low in fat and rich in refined carbohydrates, may have particularly alarming implications.

South Africa was the third-fattest country in the world, with 61 percent of citizens weighing in as overweight or obese, research by pharmaceutical company Glaxo-Smith Klein showed. This trend had previously been linked to the cheap overabundance of refined carbohydrates such as pap, white bread and potatoes that made up the diets of many lower-income citizens.

“Carbohydrates are a cheap way of getting full,” said Andrea Jenkins, a licensed dietician in Cape Town. “If it’s a processed carbohydrate, it’s going to give you a quick release, but (then), you’re going to slump more than in the beginning.”

Over time, Jenkins said, the consumption of glutinous carbohydrates such as wheat and barley could build up to toxic amounts and slow down the digestive system. When carbs were stored as fat, they collected around the abdomen, an area that had been linked to increased levels of heart disease. - The Mercury

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