By Mukaila Kareem
Human beings have always struggled to understand complex systems. When events involve many interacting forces, the brain naturally looks for a simple explanation. Complexity feels uncomfortable. It is difficult to explain and difficult to control. Inevitably, the mind is wired to search for a single cause that can make the story easier to understand. Once a culprit is identified, the story becomes emotionally satisfying. A complicated problem suddenly becomes simple. Instead of many interacting factors, the narrative now has a villain. Someone, often unable to defend themselves, or something is held responsible. This tendency is deeply human, because the mind demands a cause even when the true cause is not yet clear.
Modern nutrition debates show this pattern clearly. As metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes have increased, the search for a culprit has intensified. Different camps have identified different villains. Sugar and fat are equally blamed and condemned depending on the diet divide. Carbohydrates are labeled toxic and seed oils are vilified. Each group believes it has discovered the true cause of the problem. Yet the human body is not a simple machine reacting to a single nutrient.
Metabolism is a dynamic system involving energy intake, movement, circulation, oxidation, and the constant removal of heat and waste. When this system becomes strained, many different nutrients can appear harmful. The body is responding to overall metabolic pressure, but the debate focuses on individual foods. When nutrients are not blamed, the blame often shifts to people themselves. Individuals struggling with weight are sometimes accused of laziness, gluttony, or lack of discipline. What should be a biological discussion about metabolism becomes a moral judgment about character. Shame easily replaces understanding.
This pattern is not new. Throughout history, human societies have tried to explain events they could not fully understand. In many traditional communities, repeated illness or unexplained deaths were sometimes attributed to spiritual forces or witchcraft. In Nigeria’s Yoruba and Igbo cultures, concepts such as “Abiku” or “Ogbanje” emerged as ways of explaining the heartbreaking pattern of repeated childhood deaths. Without knowledge of infection, genetics, or infant disease, communities created narratives that made sense within their understanding of the world.
Modern societies are more technologically advanced, but the psychological pattern remains similar. When the causes of metabolic disease are difficult to see, the mind again searches for a clear villain. Instead of spirits or witchcraft, the blame may fall on sugar, fat, carbohydrates, or the moral character of the individual. The form of the explanation changes, but the human instinct to simplify complex problems by invoking the blame game remains the same.
People living with obesity are often described as gluttonous or morally weak. But what they are actually experiencing is the physics of a body trying to compensate and stay alive. To attribute a single nutrient for the illness of a whole body is serious oversimplification. Clearly, the human body is not a courtroom where a single nutrient stands trial. It is a living system responding to pressure, adjusting its processes in real time to manage what it receives and what it can safely handle. When food is taken in, it is processed, circulated, and transformed. Movement increases the pace of this internal activity, helping the body use what it receives. At the same time, heat and waste must continuously leave the body to maintain balance.
When this flow is understood, the focus shifts away from blaming sugar, fat, or carbohydrates, and from judging individuals. It turns instead to understanding how the system becomes overwhelmed in the first place. Complex systems do not fail because of one simple cause. They become strained when multiple processes interact over time. To make sense of such systems, we need patience, observation, and a willingness to move beyond easy answers. Blame may be satisfying, but it does not solve the problem.
Mukaila Kareem, a doctor of physiotherapy and physical therapy advocate, writes from the USA and can be reached via makkareem5@gmail.com
