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Obesity: Drink till you drop

economist.com

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Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#91

Post by Luc »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #80
Luc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In other words are Europeans just afraid of looking bad, poor or stingy in front of others in a restaurant and Americans just don't care? I don't care what people think, but restaurants that don't do takeaway simply don't have containers to take food home. I've been to 10 restaurants this month, and none did takeaway. Besides, a half-eaten reheated meal doesn't sound very appetizing. The sauce will have congealed o…

I asked for "a doggy bag for this pizza please" and got the response "will foil do?" and it did just fine. We use foil to wrap stuff for the fridge quite regularly if it doesn't fit in a tupperware (reusable rubberised plastic food storage box). Of course if it's soup or whatever you're probably not going to get it to take away. Perhaps take your own tupperware with you, I'd love to see that. Sadly I so rarely get to…

Duh, you're right, any restaurant would have aluminium foil. I bet the question would surprise them though.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#92

Post by patrickk »

jules wrote: post #89
patrickk wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners?" I did this the other day in my favorite Chinese restaurant. I wasn't hungry enough to eat an entire "Chinese-style Steak" myself, so I split the meal with my brother. Anytime my family has ever asked to get an extra plate it's never been a problem. (Also, there is this tendency to treat Europe as…

In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way (e.g. feed it to animals). Personally I think this is ridiculous, but it's supposed to prevent diseases from spreading.

"In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way" that really is ridiculous. If there's a law like that where I live, I would deliberately flout it. The developed world has massive problems dealing with waste and I'm sure there's far bigger threats to public health than feeding your dog leftovers.

There's some great business opportunities around waste. I've read about entrepreneurs using methane from rubbish dumps to fuel heating systems. Some great fortunes are made in the waste business (turning trash into cash to use a cliche). I remember reading a great article about one guy who converted his Hummer to run on leftovers that he collected from local restaurants. Not only did his "mpg" increase, but his cost of running the Hummer decreased enormously (he even brought food sometimes, put it in a blender, and used the chopped up food as fuel - still cheaper than a tank of traditional petrol/gasoline). It was the "Green Hummer" or some similarly named project if you wish to Google around.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#93

Post by jules »

patrickk wrote: post #92
jules wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way (e.g. feed it to animals). Personally I think this is ridiculous, but it's supposed to prevent diseases from spreading.

" In many places it is illegal for a restaurant to use the leftover food in a meaningful way " that really is ridiculous. If there's a law like that where I live, I would deliberately flout it. The developed world has massive problems dealing with waste and I'm sure there's far bigger threats to public health than feeding your dog leftovers. There's some great business opportunities around waste. I've read about entr…

It's not that every restaurant obeys this law. I know two pigs who eat Chinese every night, and they love it. Their owner gets it from a local restaurant.

Feeding your own dog/chickens/whatever your own leftovers is not illegal fortunately.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#94

Post by ido »

notauser wrote: post #51
jacquesm wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it uncommon for European restaurants to bring out another plate/silverware if asked, or just considered bad manners? I'd hate to try :) I've never ever seen anybody do that, except for maybe asking for an extra spoon to share a desert. > 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'v…

I live in London and I frequently split a meal with someone. I have never had a restaurant complain.

The UK is not Europe, as anyone in the UK or Europe will tell you ;)

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#95

Post by evilduck »

davidw wrote: post #74
pfedor wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I can name one place where portions are exactly the right size and it's McDonald's. E.g., cheeseburger plus the Caesar salad w/o chicken, plus french fries plus two apple pies plus a coke is about half the size of a meal in a regular restaurant. Which of course doesn't stop people like my girlfriend from bashing McDonald's as non-healthy and preferring places where "gourmet" burgers range from 1/3 to 1lb, i.e.,…

I don't think McDonalds is as bad as some people make it out to be, but it's not all that great either. You're not getting high quality food there, and in terms of a "dining experience", the ambiance leaves something to be desired:-)

Not to single out McDonalds...I went to Wendy's the other day and got a medium (i.e. smallest) combo meal. The "medium" drink I was given was a 32oz cup. If it were a HFCS drink, it probably would have been just as many calories as the food itself.

The food quality/quantity is a secondary concern if you're doubling them with a sugary beverage.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#96

Post by njharman »

I drink upwards of a gallon of water a day, maybe only 3/4 gal in winter. I'm very easily dehydrated. I weigh ~350lbs.

Just a reminder that studies may find a typical or probable result. They do not find cause -> effect for everyone.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#97

Post by SoftwareMaven »

roel_v wrote: post #73
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #63

I was wondering if it altered the quality of calories taken in. The article mentioned that it wasn't just dropping calories from drinks, since they were counted as part of the allocated amount. On the other hand, if people were eating (for instance) more proteins in place of the simple sugars of fizzy drinks, they would drastically alter how their body was interacting with those 1800 calories. I was disappointed by t…

"...absolutely meaningless in measuring anything." This is not true, not for calories nor for lines of code. Both are not sufficient measures when used on their own, and both need context to be interpreted in, but outright dismissing any measurement of them is just as wrong as blindly relying on them. Apart from this, this study was done by professional nutritional researchers - the article may have dumbed down their…

I'm curious (please don't take this combatively, it's not meant that way) where you've seen value in measuring lines of code. What is the context that makes the measurement valuable?

I ask because in the many years I've developed software or managed the development of software, I've never found it a useful metric to study because there are too many variables that impact it. However, if I'm missing something there, I'd like to know.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#98

Post by evanchen »

kahawe wrote: post #75
evanchen wrote: post #34

The problem with "solutions" like this is that they don't really fix the problem where it lies. Weight gain is attributed to caloric surplus, there's no two ways about it. Drinking water before a meal will help you feel a little fuller and ultimately, eat less. People ignorant to nutrition will begin to use this as a free pass to eating even more poorly. If you really take a step back and look at this, what they are…

On the upside if you are more conscious about your diet and go for proteins (to feel full longer), fresh stuff and less carbs then lots of water are practically mandatory to prevent gout. So the article's point of drinking lots of clean water being good for you is pretty spot on IMHO - regardless of dodgy science or faulty methods.

Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with drinking water.

I'm just a little annoyed at the article, because all it offers the reader is something along the lines of "drink water before meals, it helps you lose weight, but we're not sure why!"

Any dietician could immediately them that they're losing weight because of a caloric deficit-- a result of feeling more full from the water.

I would have just preferred they point it out rather than equate a glass of water before meals to some sort of magic pill.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#99

Post by evanchen »

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…

I can agree with healthy fats being good for you. But explain to me bad calories affecting weight gain more than "good" calories. That doesn't make sense to me at all.

3500 calories = 1 pound of fat, no matter the source.

You can lose weight eating only McDonald's if you counted calories, but you would be:

1. Hungry all the time. 2. Look terrible.

Re: Obesity: Drink till you drop

#100

Post by evanchen »

sambe wrote: post #90
sambe wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is "common knowledge" - in fact, I think it's almost entirely untrue. Fats in general are calorifically dense, and you will "get fat" by eating a lot of them regardless of if they are "good" or "bad". Good fats may be better for heart disease etc. Some fats are also essential in the diet. Fine. Good vs bad calories is nonsense.

Umm... just downvoting today? Is there something specifically that you disagree with? Do you feel the need to downvote when you disagree with something? - All fats are more than twice the calorific density of carbs/proteins. Disagree? - Good fats will still make you put on weight if you eat a lot of them. Disagree? - Predominate attribute used to decide "good"/"bad" is effect on heart/cardiovascular health. Disagree?…

I upvoted you.

As a nutrition/fitness buff I completely agree with the comment. There is no good or bad calorie when it comes to weight loss. You eat good fats for health reasons, but as far as weight gain/loss goes, it is purely a function of calorie intake-- no matter the source.

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