Being overweight increases incidence of cancer

I don't think resorting to Chinese herbs is the way to go, with all due respect Fili.

I'm not advertising and unfortunately this web-site is not mine=) But i bought some things there and thought that it would help somebody else

Fair enough!

Those of you who know me of old will guess that I agree with janeainsworth. There is no scientific evidence that any of them work.
There is a common misconception that herbal medicines are "natural" and therefore "harmless". Not true.
Herbal medicines can contain unknown contaminants - heavy metals, bacteria etc. Also some of the "herbal" material used is not safe.
I would not trust any of them.
Remember that in China, not so long ago, there was contaminated/adulterated baby milk being sold with tragic consequences:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal
It is an enormous country with an economy that has been developing very, very rapidly and regulation is inevitably going to be patchy.
I somehow don't think that either in China or when they arrive the UK every herbal product is checked for safety. If you buy something on the Internet, it is likely to be even more unreliable.

The regulating agency, the MHRA regularly publish warnings about harmful and contaminated Chinese medicines, such as this one, a common ingredient that is "nephrotoxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic" in other words it can damage your kidneys and cause cancer.

https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/illegal-herbal-remedies-containing-aristolochia-vigilance-needed

Very recently Hepatitis A outbreaks in Australia have been caused by frozen berries imported from China. What was really galling were berries from China were also in brands the public thought were grown in Australia. In all about five brands were recalled. I wouldn't buy anything edible from China.

Yes Faye my son's family were worried about this as they all consumed this product. They have concluded the health risks of these berries outweigh any benefits!

Yuk! Wonder what was used as fertiliser? Doesn't bear thinking about.

Best bet: lack of toilets and hand washing facilities for those picking berries...

How long does it take for a delicious moment sin to register in the bod? If it's been two days can you safely assume you got away with it?

Chinese herbal remedies have been blamed for very serious kidney and liver damage.
I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. The effects were accumulative and disastrous for those involved. There was a TV programme about it a couple of years ago, very scary watching.

Faye my family were concerned too as they can't get fresh berries where they live - you would think though, with the size of Australia, that berries could be grown in cooler climates down south.
I thought Australian were quite protectionist about their farmers and did not import a lot of food so I was very surprised to see the link on FB. I think they got away with it by saying they were 'packed in Australia'.

jings I think the delicious moment takes a little while to catch up. I have had many delicious moments over the cold winter and it has all caught up with me now.

I think it is not the odd treat (e.g. once a week) that causes weight gain. It's the everyday ones.

Politicians being interviewed were put on the spot rosequartz, they were told this wasn't good enough. It really is hard to find berries grown in Australia, more often there is imported fruit and vegetables in the supermarkets. People also don't realise imports from New Zealand can contain food from anywhere in the world. Honey from Turkey which was previously banned now gets through via NZ.

Late last year I was buying the most delicious nectarines and peaches direct from a grower for a $1 a kilo. This fruit was rejected for export to Japan as it was too large. Ten kilometres down the road the local supermarket sells tasteless nectarines and peaches. The exported fruit probably won't be so delicious either, fruit never is after being refridgerated.

I don't agree, jess. I have treats every day and I'm not overweight. It's the how much rather than the what that's significant, I think.

I conclude your daily treats are moderate in size then bags - not a whole packet of chocolate digestives / a huge portion of cake with generous dollop of cream / 3 scoops of ice cream?

A whole packet of chocolate digestives isn't a 'treat', it's a binge!

I agree with thatbags, but I suppose I'm lucky in that I don't much care for sweet things and my idea of a treat is a small(ish!) piece of cheese.

Exactly, jess and ana. As I said, it's quantity that matters. I think we need to stop worrying and fussing about the details of what we eat so much and think about how much. I saw some statistics recently (possibly from Max Roser but I can't remember the source) showing that on average people eat a great deal more now than they did a hundred and two hundred years ago.

It's not cool to want sugar nowadays but when I am really hungry I want something sweet first. I always have. I think this is my body telling me what I need, not that I'm addicted to sugar.

Some people can eat more than others for sure. If you are tall, very active, have high proportion of lean muscle to fat, young, and so on you need more food. If you are smaller, past the menopause, don't move much and tend to put on weight easily then you need less.

It's hard, but that's life.

You only put on weight if you eat more than your body needs. If you eat a little bit more than you need to, you'll put on a little extra weight. If you eat a lot more than your body needs, you'll put on a lot of weight.

So people who are overweight (unless they have a metabolic disorder) are, quite simply, eating more than their body needs in relation to their height, age, activity levels, etc.. You may not be eating all that much, but for you it is too much.

Isn't a daily treat an oxymoron?
I mean if you have something every day it's a normal part of your diet.
<pedant moment>

janea,

The "my body telling me" thing worked with salt too. When I was breastfeeding Minibags I wanted to eat crisps every day, so I did. I presumed it was my body telling me I needed the salt (one doesn't eat crisps for any other reason, right? ) and, sure enough, when I stopped BF I didn't want crisps any more. I can (and do) go months, years, without wanting a crisp now.

It was DD1 who first used the "my body is telling me" phrase, when she was about thirteen and I commented that she was drinking a lot of orange juice and asked if she really needed it. It was a short orange juice phase she had so I guess she was right.

Husband was starting to pile on the weight so decided to take action - he has a good breakfast, medium sized helping of main course at lunch. Fruit for afters, then nothing more until the next day. Though he does like a beer or a fruit cordial in the evening, and maybe one square of chocolate..
I don't know how he does it, but it has worked.

Janeainsworth there is a great big marketing machine telling us that we "deserve" "treats" all the time.
In most offices these days there is a non-stop confectionary fest. (Staff bringing in cakes, biscuits, sweets because of birthdays, holidays etc etc. Managers dishing them out in meetings. Charity bake-offs etc). If you buy a sandwich there is a smorgasbord of confectionery displayed before you, right up to the moment you pay. Pastries are deliberately displayed without wrapping to tempt you in petrol stations and supermarkets.
And sitting at home in the evening - it's easy to get in the habit of "treats" like chocolate and wine.
I sat on a 2 hour, mid afternoon, train journey during which a mother and child consumed 5 snacks EACH.

Yes jess. My teacher DD has that contend with - loads of tempting cake and biscuits readily available in the staff room.

They must have similar goodies in NHS staff rooms. I was stuck behind two broad beamed chubby nurses waddling walking side by side in a hospital corridor recently and had to ask them to move so I could overtake them.

lol