bittman on nyc's proposed soft drink rules

Mark Bittman on what is food and what are the costs...

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And if you believe that limiting our “right” to purchase soda is a slippery slope, one that will lead to defining which foods are nutritious and which aren’t — and which ones government funds should be used to subsidize and which they shouldn’t — you’re right. It’s the beginning of better public health policy, policy that is good for the health of our citizenry.

We should be encouraging people to eat real food and discouraging the consumption of non-food. Pretending there’s no difference is siding with the merchants of death who would have us eat junk at the expense of food and spend half our lives earning enough money to deal with the health consequences.

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Comments

[Roger]

In the fast fat lane...

Why is it that when I go to a restaurant with a bunch of friends or colleagues, I am always the last to finish eating, even when my helpings tend to be smaller? It is amazing that so many people can down a regular-sized McDonalds hamburger in three mouthfuls or so, and a regular-sized White Castle hamburger in one mouthful.

Is there a relationship between how fast one eats and how fat one gets? You bet there is! The French have known this for centuries. They may sit for two hours or so to consume a seven-course meal and not gain an ounce, while their American counterparts, having mastered the ability to perfectly synchronize their mouths and gullets to minimize wear and tear on their teeth, may sit for two minutes or so to consume a seven-hamburger meal.

For the mathematically inclined who understand differential equations, the American government has sponsored a lot of research on the subject. For example, U.S.A. the Fast Food Nation: Obesity as an Epidemic. (PDF)

"Abstract
The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically in the Unites States. Obesity has become a disease of epidemic proportions. In fact, 1 out of 3 people in the United States are obese. Fast-food accessibility is partly to blame for observed patterns of obesity and overweight. The aim of this project is to study the potential role of peer-pressure in fast-food consumption as well as its effect on an individual’s weight. We explore these effects on the dynamics of obesity at the population level using an epidemiological model. In this framework, we can explore the impact of intervention strategies. Statistical data analysis provides insights on the relation between demographic factors and weight."

Try this on for belt-size. Set's say that you go to a pizza joint with a bunch of your friends and order four or six or eight pizzas, at least enough for six or eight slices per person, and you are a health-conscious individual who prefers to nibble away on a slice of pizza. Just a slice, because that's all you're gonna get, even though your body might safely handle two or three. And there's no sense in grabbing your fair share of two or three slices up front, because you would be eating the second and third by yourself; the rest are at home on couches watching TV.

Peer pressure, they say, is the reason we eat so fast. Peer pressure is the reason hogs eat so fast at the trough, because if you were a hog and didn't eat fast at the trough, then you would become the runt and soon wouldn't be able to get to the trough to eat. So, in an all-you-can-grab restaurant, you had better grab all you can get and get it down fast, or you may be sitting there all alone, wondering what had just happened. You may just become the runt, the outcast black sheep, the butt of all jokes.