21–30 of 108 posts
One of the most disappointing things I ran into when I moved from Australia to the US was American bacon. Oh how I miss Australian bacon: http://3hourspast.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/picture-28.png Because to me, American bacon is just the crappy bit which is attached to the awesome bit. http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/bacon.jpg
I can't remember off the top of my head, but it's amazing how many of our american "traditions" are a result of marketing. While there is nothing inherently bad about this, it definitely gives me a sense that something is not authentic when I come to learn it was the result of a marketing campaign. This bacon and eggs breakfast is just one example. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is another. Can anyone recall any othe…
Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all. In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company – producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to his agency’s internal doctor and asked…
>Before this, the majority of Americans ate more modest, often meatless breakfasts that might include fruit, a grain porridge (oat, wheat or corn meals) or a roll, and usually a cup of coffee. Pretty hard to argue that bacon is really as healthy as oatmeal & fruit. Just for reference, fried eggs have a crapload of cholesterol ( http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg ) and bacon is pretty fattening and in gene…
Bacon is one of the few things that I refuse to eat. I don't understand how anyone likes the stuff. It makes me wonder, if the all-American breakfast was a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk, would there have been an obesity epidemic?
Yes. People who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast are probably demographically favored not to be obese, because they by implication have access to a grocery store and time to prepare their own food.
See: Denny's, McDonald's, Burger King, etc.
This is not to say that bacon and eggs are solely responsible for the obesity epidemic, but I think it's kind of silly to say that the only people who eat bacon and eggs are those who cook it for themselves, or are more healthy.
Bacon is one of the few things that I refuse to eat. I don't understand how anyone likes the stuff. It makes me wonder, if the all-American breakfast was a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk, would there have been an obesity epidemic?
Yes. People who eat bacon and eggs for breakfast are probably demographically favored not to be obese, because they by implication have access to a grocery store and time to prepare their own food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46G_DcnKOsU&feature=youtube_...
Granted, back bacon is a magnitude better than streaky bacon, but it's still basically pork&salt :)
i) To this day Dentist's applaud adding fluoride to water as a having a huge impact on reducing cavities. I know some folks don't like it being done and dispute it but this article dismisses it as though it were some bizarre fad. ii) drinking glasses were very unsanitary. Moving to paper cups wasn't the right answer; having better hygiene around washing glasses were. But he was responding to what had then become well known. That disease/flu etc would sweep through houses mostly because people shared the same drinking material and didn't clean them very well. iii) 5000 doctors agreeing that a protein driven breakfast is some sort of sham? Maybe it was but you'd want a little more proof than "And this Doctor wrote to 5000 who all agreed because.....?"
This is kind of junky to be on HN homepage.
Bacon is one of the few things that I refuse to eat. I don't understand how anyone likes the stuff. It makes me wonder, if the all-American breakfast was a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk, would there have been an obesity epidemic?
The simple answer is satiety vs. calories. Bacon and eggs have a lot of calories, but you feel full for a while after eating them. Sugar water has almost as many calories, but you never feel full. So you drink 3000 calories of soda a day, and then you're fat.
Basically, any premade food you find in the store is designed to not satiate you, so you eat (and buy) a lot of it. The food companies have shareholders that want 10% YOY growth, and the best way to get that growth is to get you to eat 10% more calories. Since most people buy processed food rather than cook their own, they get 10% fatter every year.
(As someone who occasionally eats processed food, I'll tell you that it never makes you feel full, and you can definitely pack on the pounds without noticing until it's become a real problem.)