4 ms·

> Peanut butter, mayonnaise, beef jerky But that's packed with fat calories as well and fat has a much higher energy density as carbohydrates. As an European I

> Peanut butter, mayonnaise, beef jerky But that's packed with fat calories as well and fat has a much higher energy density as carbohydrates. As an European I'm very very astonished over the size of the food portions in fast food restaurants in the US. If this portion size is the same on the diner table than it's not only sugar but a lot of non necessary calories. I don't think it's entirely caused by sugar but by a big surplus of calories in day to day food (combined with too little physical activity)

CodeSgt 4y ago
But fat increases satiety much more quickly than sugar. 500 cals of fats will make you feel "fuller" than 750 or even 1k cals of sugar. That's what makes sugar so much worse. Is may not be as colorically dense, but we can comfortably guzzle down far more empty calories from sugar than from fat.
- edanm 4y ago
  I think separating the two is not a good idea. Very few people will just eat a spoon of white sugar. Very few people will eat a stick of butter. But almost everyone can binge on a box of cookies, where the main ingredients are butter and sugar (and flour I suppose.)
  - CodeSgt 4y ago
    Drink a soda. There's a couple of spoons of white sugar.
analog31 4y ago
US restaurant portions are huge. If you eat like that every day, it will kill you. I think one reason is that the ingredients are cheap relative to other costs including labor. It used to be rationalized by saying that a restaurant meal was supposed to be a rare indulgence, but I don't think that's true any more for a large swath of the population. Anecdote: I had two long meetings at work last week, that crossed over the lunch hour, so they brought in lunch. Each was from a "fast casual" or "fast food" sandwich shop. There was like 1/2 inch slab of processed meat on each sandwich. I would typically put one thin slice of the same meat on a sandwich that I make for the lunch that I bring to work. I discreetly removed most of the meat and threw it away. I know some people who will take a delivered meal like that, cut it in half, and save the second half for the next day. Another anecdote: There was an article about a town in Texas that was losing its last restaurant, and the author wondered how people would eat. Of course to maintain a higher body weight, you need to eat more.

CodeSgt 4y ago

But fat increases satiety much more quickly than sugar. 500 cals of fats will make you feel "fuller" than 750 or even 1k cals of sugar. That's what makes sugar so much worse. Is may not be as colorically dense, but we can comfortably guzzle down far more empty calories from sugar than from fat.

edanm 4y ago
I think separating the two is not a good idea. Very few people will just eat a spoon of white sugar. Very few people will eat a stick of butter. But almost everyone can binge on a box of cookies, where the main ingredients are butter and sugar (and flour I suppose.)
- CodeSgt 4y ago
  Drink a soda. There's a couple of spoons of white sugar.

analog31 4y ago

US restaurant portions are huge. If you eat like that every day, it will kill you. I think one reason is that the ingredients are cheap relative to other costs including labor. It used to be rationalized by saying that a restaurant meal was supposed to be a rare indulgence, but I don't think that's true any more for a large swath of the population. Anecdote: I had two long meetings at work last week, that crossed over the lunch hour, so they brought in lunch. Each was from a "fast casual" or "fast food" sandwich shop. There was like 1/2 inch slab of processed meat on each sandwich. I would typically put one thin slice of the same meat on a sandwich that I make for the lunch that I bring to work. I discreetly removed most of the meat and threw it away. I know some people who will take a delivered meal like that, cut it in half, and save the second half for the next day. Another anecdote: There was an article about a town in Texas that was losing its last restaurant, and the author wondered how people would eat. Of course to maintain a higher body weight, you need to eat more.