The average adult human stomach can hold comfortably about 32 ounces (or 900 ml) at any given time.
In 2010, not deterred by two shocking documentaries, "Food Inc." and "SuperSize Me," and though one might have thought some sort of collective consciousness had been aroused, the Seven-Eleven chain launched its Double Big Gulp, which, at 64 fl.oz holds about twice the amount of fluid than the average adult human stomach.
A Double Big Gulp regular soda brings the equivalent of 800 empty calories (a whopping 59 teaspoons of sugar!). This is 30 percent of the daily recommended caloric consumption for an average male adult. All doctors agree that such an influx of sugar on a regular basis could most likely lead to a diabetic condition.
Replacing regular sodas with the artificially sweetened kind is not better. Indeed, more and more research is pointing at the potential dangers some artificial sweeteners represent. Potential dangers aside, independent studies have shown beyond reasonable doubt that even diet sodas do contribute to weight gain, with their "sweet" message sent to the brain leading to overeating and overstoring of excess calories in the form of fat (Purdue University study -- Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 122, No. 1, February 2008).
Physiologically this large drink will also contribute to some health issues, distending the stomach to twice its regular size. What's more, your stomach can process liquids at a rate of approx. 200-400 ml an hour according to research done by Shils et al. in 1994 (Enteral feeding, in Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 8th ed, ME Shils et al (eds). Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1994, pp 1417-1429). This rate mostly depends on what else is in your stomach at the time of digestion as an empty stomach will digest the liquid fastest. Hence, the absolute quickest you could "process" the Double Big Gulp -- assuming you begin on a completely empty stomach -- would be approximately 4.75 hours.
The problem is, that while First Lady Michele Obama is fighting hard on the obesity front -- educating kids and adults alike, sending out messages about the healthy impact portion control can have on our current and future lives, promoting a lifestyle with more vegetables and less processed foods -- consumers are receiving contradictory messages from their environment, which is simply leading us to a state of national schizophrenia, or schifoodphrenia.
Indeed, how can an educated consumer who knows very well that "too much of anything is not a good thing" behave rationally, when even their favorite brand like Starbucks, consumed by so many celebs whom the average person likes to emulate, starts offering the famous Trenta: The latest über drink in the race to the largest, the biggest, the richest drink, at 972 ml or 31 oz (larger than the average capacity of the human stomach by 10 percent). With the Trenta, even the unsweetened version of an ice tea lemonade will still bring 230 empty calories, leading to a weight gain of 2 pounds of fat every month, assuming the consumer drinks one Trenta unsweetened lemonade per day.
The situation on the food front is even more worrisome. How can teenagers follow the lead of the First Lady when one of the most viral videos on YouTube these days features a bulky host baking a 45,000 (yes, 45,000) calorie dish with French fries, fried cheese sticks, cheese, sour cream, alcohol, chili, ham - all of this in a trough lined with bacon! How can we expect our youth to make the right choices when TV networks produce shows like "Man vs. Food," which has met quite a success with this category of viewers who share the latest insane episodes on their Facebook pages and spend evenings watching and re-watching this show?
In the case where parents become aware and make attempts at educating their children, what can they do when Pizza Hut launches a "cheese-filled-crust" pizza, that adds 238 calories per slice and a whopping 30 percent more saturated fat; when to attract more consumers national fast-food chains become so creative as to produce chili burger, lasagna pizza, French fries sandwiches, etc., hereby creating a generation of kids who can't discern between what's tasty and what is not, their only triggers to determine whether a dish is good being low price, fat/sugar or salt content?
There is no panacea to this national illness. However, if we look at initiatives that other states and countries have put in place to tackle their own rampant obesity problems, we can definitely find enough baby-step solutions, which, one day at a time, can make our country a healthier place:
Let's unite. Together we can change the way we eat, one bite (or gulp) at a time.
Follow Valerie Orsoni on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lebootcamp
Kathy Freston: The Steps to Becoming a Veganist
This one is about a village in Italy paying its citizens to lose weight.....I am looking for a short article on the village that encourages its inhabitants to eat their veggies :) - the one I have is way too long :)
An Italian town is offering cash rewards to overweight residents who slim down and more money if they keep the weight off, media reported Friday.
Gianluca Buonanno, the mayor of Varallo, a town of 7,500 in northern Italy, said "We wanted to encourage people to lose weight, and we thought that both the money and the idea of joining a group could be stimulating,"
Participants in the week-old Varallo initiative will be given 67 U.S. dollars when they reach their ideal weight. If they don't gain any weight back after five months, they will receive 268 dollars. If they maintain their ideal weight for a year, they will get 670 dollars more.
Any taxes and bans will be more politically driven than actually effective.
The right's fear of a nanny state will dominate the political discussion
About a year ago, I wrote an article dealing with this topic that went into more detail - I would love some feedback from my HuffPost friends
We don't want a nanny state but one which encourages healthy practices.
I would love to read your article and share it with others: can you post the link here?
Thanks again!
Robyn Flipse, MS, RD, consultant to food and beverage companies
I do agree with you though about the importance of educating kids and adults alike about food portions, a balanced diet, etc.....This is clearly missing from schools!
The government has no business doing any of the things in your list except 3, 4 and 7 (I'll also make a concession on 6). What we eat is a personal choice, and personally I choose not to have government dictate what I eat and how it is presented to me.
Number 5 is the one I find most offensive, are they going to ban 'Kinder Surprise' next?
Kinder Surprise (which I love but cannot really find here in the USA easily :) is not in the same category as a complete meal, which attracts little kids with a toy. Kinder Surprise is a treat in itself (as is the toy in it).
I am not saying that the government is the responsible party. I am just saying that if it can help enforce some healthy practices by all means I don't see why my tax dollars wouldn't be used to bring healthy food at school. I am not talking about "policing" our food.
It's the same situation with cigarettes: we had to have the government step in and impose specific taxes, messages etc...to help reduce consumption. As much as the prohibition proved inefficient I am not sure we can assume government interference can never be productive.
The most important thing here is what you said "informed consumer". Sadly enough there is still a very high number of consumers who are not as informed as you are and a little help and tax dollars from our government is most welcome.
I think part of it is acting on addictive urges. Something goes wrong when a person's mind can't tell him the proper amount of food for his body. Sometimes I think the mind tells people but they don't listen. It's really easy while enjoying sensory experiences involved with eating to think, "This feels so good. Just a little more. This tastes so good I don't want to stop." Unless the person realizes he's overdoing it he can be on the way to the stretched stomach situation you describe.
I think another part of it is a belief that people can alleviate dissatisfaction through eating, when the best this can accomplish is to possibly distract the person from the dissatisfaction momentarily.
Nobody puts the food in another person's mouth and forces them to swallow. We'd better face the fact there aren't likely to be food shortages in this country any time soon. Overeating is not making friends with the fact. Placing external controls on people's eating behaviors seem unrealistic to me.
But yes the addiction (a national problem) to sugar, large portions, and fat is the main culprit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110223/ap_on_fe_st/lt_odd_brazil_alligator
Eat only when hungry, even when temptation is right next to you!