The weighty truth behind restaurant portion sizes

There are more than 300 million people living in America, and of those, more than 200 million are overweight or obese. Yet, oddly, restaurants continue to bury their plates under oversized portions of rich, indulgent foods. The reason? It comes down to what nutritionists refer to as the "fixed stomach," the idea that people can eat only so much food before they explode. So by convincing us that bigger truly is better, restaurants can sell us more food — at higher prices — and trick us into eating ourselves into a calorie-induced coma. (Ever notice how you feel the need to nap after a holiday dinner? That’s your coma.)


So check it out: According to a 2002 study, the average steak is 144 percent bigger than the USDA recommends. The average muffin is 233 percent bigger. That’s a lot of extra calories moving through your stomach. With portions like these, it’s no wonder we have a hard time staying slim. Take a look at some of the other oversized meals that are wedging themselves between you and the body you should have.



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Ed,


You're right there. No wonder they top on all of the "lifestyle" diseases. It would seem odd to discuss American way of eating on an Asian website, but it seems that all other countries want to embrace these diets and earn the same side-effects.


"In the PBS news program Affluenza, the point is made that every time a person is diagnosed with cancer, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product goes up"


So you can imagine, there isn't any point in prevention, it doesn't bring in money, no point following the guidelines since they are as flawed as an average person's take on diet.


Disease in America is a multi-million dollar industry. And i will go on to say that obesity is a disease, both at psychological and physiological levels, it may sound rude, but soon enough someone will come to realise that.


The whole food pyramid idea is quite appalling!

I have a friend in Canada who owns a couple of fast food franchises... recently he was reminiscing about the size of a large fry and soda when we were kids... and comparing them to the size these days....


Unfortunately when one of the chains 'super size' the others have to follow or they lose market share...


So you end up with bigger portions of lower quality food - and and obesity epidemic...


Ironically... my friend is a vegetarian...

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/

The actual videos for that program are online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16kMW58jMlc