Hard truths about our soft bodies

[GraceW]

No Sers know this already, but it amazes me how so many people continue to look for the complicated answer.

It’s as if we’re micro-focusing on less daunting and less damning culprits to distract ourselves from the one that’s most fearsome and difficult to change, which is the sheer volume of food that many Americans are accustomed to consuming.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/op ... d=tw-share&

[jw]

Thanks for posting, Grace -- maybe the rest of the country is catching up with No-S!

[oolala53]

I would amend it to the sheer volume of DENSE food= protein, fat, starchy items.

Scientists with money for research was one of my favorite points.
[quote]The examination of how and why we overeat is like some full-employment scheme for physicians, nutritionists, scientists and professors, who have looked at the roles of alcohol, of additives, of peer pressure, of bribes. [/quote]

Cultivate appropriate hunger. Put food on a plate a few times a day. Eat it. Where's my honorary doctorate?

I posit that the subtle reason the Italians don't serve large portions is that, contrary to popular belief, they don't value overeating. It's an aberration of loving food to overeat it to them, as it is to the French. It's entertainment and a sign of the good life to Americans. And freedom. And wealth. Or it starts that way and then it becomes... just a habit.

[leafy_greens]

This weekend SO and I went on a trip and could not find a healthy restaurant. We ate at a pancake house and had to split a meal because his omlette came with a "side" of 3 pancakes! And a large scoop of butter. I just ate the pancakes as my meal off his plate. I would estimate 90% of the population in this area was obese, along with their kids. It was such a sad thing to see. There is no need for such large portions in this country, but I place the responsibility with the individuals and educating themselves. If people demand healthier food, then it will be served, but that's not what the majority wants. I guess the majority is ok with being obese.

[oolala53]

Yes, we surely don't need all the food we get when we eat out. But the great thing about No S is that we don't HAVE to find healthy restaurants. Though I prefer ones with better food. And I eat so well on my own that I don't feel as pressured to eat well when I'm out. I just like to.

Keep at it, leafy. I took myself out for a 2-pancake breakfast with sausage a few weeks ago. One of the pancakes is in the freezer. I knew I had had plenty after one and I would feel stuffed if I ate the second, but couldn't leave it! So light and fluffy! but I think I'm ready to put it in the compost bin.

And those lunch and dinner entrees are a lot cheaper when they turn into two or three meals with the leftovers!

[leafy_greens]

Yes, we surely don't need all the food we get when we eat out. But the great thing about No S is that we don't HAVE to find healthy restaurants. Though I prefer ones with better food. And I eat so well on my own that I don't feel as pressured to eat well when I'm out. I just like to.

Oh, we certainly don't have to find healthy restaurants to follow No S. But most people are so accustomed to eating last-supper-style food (more than one plate, too) at every meal, to obtain a level of satiety, because they are eating tasteless, cheap garbage. Not sure why this is accepted in our society.

[oolala53]

One problem is that it's not actually tasteless (though ironically not taste-ful, either.) It's actually intensely flavored, either salty or sweet in a way that masks the real flavor of the food. (Actually a combination.) This has been found to increase intake, and that makes money because it's cheaper to add a little more food and charge more. Costs the same to wash the dish, etc.

I posit that the reason it's acceptable is a subtle poverty mentality. So many people here are the children of immigrants who came to the States for economic security. Our attitude toward having excess matches those who fear scarcity. Food is one area people don't feel the value of "saving." You can't necessarily save food for later, the way you can money, so the "depression" mentality would be to eat it while you can! And get as much as you can for your money in that moment.

Interestingly, some research has found that some long-lived cultures that ate quite moderately were doing it mostly because they didn't have access to a lot of food. In recent times, with more food available, average weights of adults have risen.

Overeating is not common among the multi-generational wealthy in the United States.

[vmsurbat]

I posit that the reason it's acceptable is a subtle poverty mentality. So many people here are the children of immigrants who came to the States for economic security. Our attitude toward having excess matches those who fear scarcity. Food is one area people don't feel the value of "saving."

I'm inclined to believe this is partially the answer. We live overseas, in a poorer country (though by no means a third-world country) and when we host a dinner with a buffet line, the ones who eat the most (by far, especially meat) are those with the leanest budgets--not those who are the biggest physically. I've seen tiny middle-aged ladies pack in more than my 6ft. husband....

[wosnes]

This weekend SO and I went on a trip and could not find a healthy restaurant. We ate at a pancake house and had to split a meal because his omlette came with a "side" of 3 pancakes! And a large scoop of butter. I just ate the pancakes as my meal off his plate. I would estimate 90% of the population in this area was obese, along with their kids. It was such a sad thing to see. There is no need for such large portions in this country, but I place the responsibility with the individuals and educating themselves. If people demand healthier food, then it will be served, but that's not what the majority wants. I guess the majority is ok with being obese.

Changing the famous quote from Field of Dreams, "if there is food, they will eat it." Overeating has become socially acceptable. Consuming large amounts of food is no longer considered embarrassing.

I've observed that the more it costs a restaurant to make the food, the less of it they serve. Friends of mine own a small cafe and they make just about everything from scratch. There are no oversized portions.

[leafy_greens]

Overeating is not common among the multi-generational wealthy in the United States.

Good point. This would certainly explain the link between poverty/obesity (not knowing where your next meal will come from.) Although many people today are upper middle class, and have no fear of going hungry... yet they have "first world" problems of emotional/binge eating. I wonder why that is...

[oolala53]

My vaguely informed thoughts on this: When I say multigenerational, I mean back to the late 1800's and early 1900's. Even they are regarded as noveau riche by those who acquired their wealth before the Civil War.

The upper middle class now are quite "new" money. New wealth is almost always enthralled with excess. Plus, food is naturally reinforcing. I have come to believe it is the EXCEPTION not to be compelled by it. Slim cultures don't rely on any natural mechanism to limit food. They limit access to it, and firmly believe that limiting access actually enhances the pleasure. Not all cultures agree.

Women in Arab cultures eat way more by our standards. They don't think they are eating away their emotions or are immoral or any other evil connotations we assign to overeating. They probably think they're smart and that it's very pleasant to take advantage of plentiful food. They greatly fear becoming TOO THIN to be attractive to their husbands.

My, my, I have gotten far afield. Now I'm starting to sound like one of those scientists with nothing else to do.