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Obesity: Drink till you drop

economist.com

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Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#21

Post by brownleej »

shrikant wrote: post #20

Me and the significant other have known this for quite a while. Frankly, I'm REALLY surprised that this wasn't an established scientific result. The way it works IMHO is not too obscure - water fills you up and gives you the impression of being 'full' earlier, so you tend to reduce your regular food intake. Feeling 'fuller' equates to being satiated for a lot of people (including me), so the tendency to chow out at r…

In the study, they controlled for caloric intake by giving everyone a limit. This would seem to point toward an effect other than the fact that water makes you eat less. It's possible that the group drinking water actually stayed below their caloric limit, but I didn't see that mentioned in the article.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#22

Post by davidw »

jacquesm wrote: post #6
Maciek416 wrote: post #3

I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time. In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amo…

Plenty of it, but that's also because typically people will prepare (or expect to be prepared for them in restaurants) unbelievable amounts of food. I weigh about 70 Kg and a half portion in any US restaurant is more than enough for me. I always feel bad about sending food back to the kitchen but I'd feel even worse for overeating.

Yeah, my wife and I always have to remember to split an entree at US restaurants. Once we split an appetizer, and, not having been that hungry in the first place, were basically good for the evening.

The portions there really are huge.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#23

Post by rdtsc »

klenwell wrote: post #17
neilk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I now try to stop eating the instant I feel the slightest desire to stop. It seems to me that I've been programmed to ignore this impulse. This is especially true of America where portion sizes are gigantic and people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers. It is amazing to me how much Americans will complain if a restaurant offers portion sizes just a little bit smaller…

"people consider themselves primarily bargain-hunters rather than experience-seekers" I suspect changing this attitude, more even than the promotion of local/organic/sustainable food production, could be the biggest social benefit of the foodie movement.

It is interesting how popular media plays into this. On a Food Network's chef competition on chef made a typical "American" size portion for one of the dishes. The judges really didn't like that.

On the other hand typical American restaurants often insert sarcastic lines in their TV ads about how our portions are nothing like "French" portions -- you really get a bang for your buck when you eat here.

So it seems like there are 2 very different attitudes and 2 very different types of consumers. Both are catered to by different types of businesses.

I think the portion size has also been a hint as to how much a person should be eating. Those have been used more by the food processing industry to "mask" the caloric content of their products, rather than by consumers to modulate their food intake appropriately.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#24

Post by carbocation »

tommizzle wrote: post #19

While I completely agree with the gist of the article, Dr Davys counter-argument is terrible: "It is possible that the water displaced sugary drinks in the hydrated group, but this does not explain the weight loss because the calories associated with any fizzy drinks consumed by the other group had to fall within the daily limits." There is such a thing as good calories and bad calories - obviously getting your calor…

Her argument is actually more cautious than yours. Yours begs the question, "Are there such things as good calories and bad calories?"

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#25

Post by carbocation »

shrikant wrote: post #20

Me and the significant other have known this for quite a while. Frankly, I'm REALLY surprised that this wasn't an established scientific result. The way it works IMHO is not too obscure - water fills you up and gives you the impression of being 'full' earlier, so you tend to reduce your regular food intake. Feeling 'fuller' equates to being satiated for a lot of people (including me), so the tendency to chow out at r…

The GI tract is exquisitely sensitive to stretch, which is one of the many "fullness" signals. So it's not unreasonable to guess that this is part of what occurs. The single most likely explanation behind the weight loss is that the consumption of water displaced some portion of calorie consumption, causing participants to eat fewer calories.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#26

Post by WilliamLP »

tommizzle wrote: post #19

While I completely agree with the gist of the article, Dr Davys counter-argument is terrible: "It is possible that the water displaced sugary drinks in the hydrated group, but this does not explain the weight loss because the calories associated with any fizzy drinks consumed by the other group had to fall within the daily limits." There is such a thing as good calories and bad calories - obviously getting your calor…

> obviously getting your calories from healthy fats such as olive oil and avacados is going to be a lot more beneficial to your weight in the long run than getting your calories from sugary fizzy drinks such as coca-cola.

It may be "obvious", but I'm not sure if that's true!

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#27

Post by 16s »

jacquesm wrote: post #6
Maciek416 wrote: post #3

I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time. In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amo…

Plenty of it, but that's also because typically people will prepare (or expect to be prepared for them in restaurants) unbelievable amounts of food. I weigh about 70 Kg and a half portion in any US restaurant is more than enough for me. I always feel bad about sending food back to the kitchen but I'd feel even worse for overeating.

Technology has allowed us to produce massive amounts of food very inexpensively. The restaurant portions are evidence of that. We can grow, process and deliver food much more inexpensively than we did 30 years ago.

Go into a Bojanles and order a large hash brown as a side order for breakfast. It's enough potatoes for three or four adults.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#28

Post by b3b0p »

It would be interesting if restaurants cut the portion sizes in half, kept the same prices, but used higher quality products and better care in preparing.

I guess it's wishful thinking.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#29

Post by lionhearted »

jacquesm wrote: post #6
Maciek416 wrote: post #3

I'd like to know how much obesity is caused by a structural "finish everything on your plate" problem. By this I mean the tendency of certain folks to finish everything that is served, no matter what their hunger level is. Also, I've heard it said that people who eat from smaller plates will consume fewer calories over time. In the study, the group given water also had their food portions slashed by a substantial amo…

Plenty of it, but that's also because typically people will prepare (or expect to be prepared for them in restaurants) unbelievable amounts of food. I weigh about 70 Kg and a half portion in any US restaurant is more than enough for me. I always feel bad about sending food back to the kitchen but I'd feel even worse for overeating.

A lot of times in the States I'll order an appetizer and then a side salad or bowl of soup. Together it comes out to about what a meal should be.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#30

Post by wwortiz »

jacquesm wrote: post #16
wwortiz wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems kind of weird, most places will bring out an extra plate for you to share/split with someone as soon as you ask. I can however see them laugh at the half portions at full price (just take the leftovers if you feel bad for wasting food, maybe you could even give it to a bum if you can't bring the food home).

It's a cultural thing. As a European in North America you find lots of those things where the 'right' thing to do is less than obvious, and restaurant etiquette is one of those. Americans visiting Europe would find themselves in a similar situation if they asked for a doggie bag. Most places wouldn't even be prepared to handle such a request. But then again, the portions are so much smaller that a request of that nat…

Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?

I'm genuinely curious, but perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying.

Also I'm curious if doggy bags imply the same connotations where you are from, as here they imply simply bringing leftovers home, although it has been a very long time since I've heard the term doggy bag and am more accustomed to people asking if anyone wants a box or their leftovers wrapped up.

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