America is doomed

amwbox

meh. natural selection.

It isn't natural selection when many poor people are obese because they can't afford healthy food. It's extermination. And if allowed to continue, America should be doomed.

you do not become obese by eating what you consider nutritionally deficient food. you become obese by eating too much food, nutritious or not.

Actually, many of us find when we eat food with a lot of sugar and little nutritional value we have issues with satiety and cravings. So while you are technically correct, I believe you are wrong. And if not, so what? Years or decades of being unable to fulfill nutritional needs, especially going back to childhood, is harming and killing people, is it not? Therefore, it's still extermination, even for the ones who die thin.

So why is it that all the people with money arent skinny then? America has a food culture embedded with gluttony. The gluttony has been optional.

Actually, obesity correlates very closely with poverty. Generally, the higher the income, the less the chances of being obese.

A lot of stuff correlate without being really causally connected...

As pastafarians very well know , the numbers of pirate in time anticorrelate with the number of natural catastrophe in the world...

i would think that obesity may correlate with various thing... ignorance, for example, and yes, food abundance. Ignorance usually go hand by hand with poverty.

In italy we were very poor once... finding enough food was THE struggle.. my grandmother and gran-grandmother were extremely poor, and extremely skinny... like all the people they knew... they usually had a few beens, a few bread, a slice of cornmeal mush. And a small packet of sugar was considered cool as a wedding present.
A bit of milk and a egg, was a meal.
And so on, and so on.

True.

The trouble in America right now though is that the government subsidizes certain crops to make low quality food artificially cheap. So the foods that are the worst for you are also very cheap...which means that the poor are far more likely to buy them since they can't afford the foods that are healthy.

Also, yes, ignorance. People don't know how to cook anymore. They don't know how to take basic cheap ingredients that are healthy and make them into wholesome meals. Everyone buys the cheap boxed convenience foods that don't require any cooking knowledge, and that makes them fat in short order.

IsabellaGiano

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Maybe they have magical yeast in Italy that doesn't need to eat in order to make bread rise?

Traditional breads, both French and Italian, are in fact sugar free. The yeast does not require added sugar, contrary to popular myth. The starch itself is all the food yeast needs.

Bread by default is flour, salt, water, and yeast. Anything else is considered "enriched" bread.

I've been baking artisan bread for over a decade now.

Oh, thank you! I did know that, but I doubted and wasn't feeling sure anymore!

TR0berts

I ate chain-brand pepperoni pizza twice last week - once for dinner (3 slices), and once for leftover lunch (2 slices). I nailed my Calorie, protein, and fat goals for those days. I lost over 1 lb without starving myself the rest of the week. You were saying?

iPlatano

What if I told you I can eat an entire medium pizza by myself and lose weight?

Jestinia

meh. natural selection.

It isn't natural selection when many poor people are obese because they can't afford healthy food. It's extermination. And if allowed to continue, America should be doomed.

you do not become obese by eating what you consider nutritionally deficient food. you become obese by eating too much food, nutritious or not.

Actually, many of us find when we eat food with a lot of sugar and little nutritional value we have issues with satiety and cravings. So while you are technically correct, I believe you are wrong. And if not, so what? Years or decades of being unable to fulfill nutritional needs, especially going back to childhood, is harming and killing people, is it not? Therefore, it's still extermination, even for the ones who die thin.

So why is it that all the people with money arent skinny then? America has a food culture embedded with gluttony. The gluttony has been optional.

Actually, obesity correlates very closely with poverty. Generally, the higher the income, the less the chances of being obese.

A lot of stuff correlate without being really causally connected...

As pastafarians very well know , the numbers of pirate in time anticorrelate with the number of natural catastrophe in the world...

i would think that obesity may correlate with various thing... ignorance, for example, and yes, food abundance. Ignorance usually go hand by hand with poverty.

In italy we were very poor once... finding enough food was THE struggle.. my grandmother and gran-grandmother were extremely poor, and extremely skinny... like all the people they knew... they usually had a few beens, a few bread, a slice of cornmeal mush. And a small packet of sugar was considered cool as a wedding present.
A bit of milk and a egg, was a meal.
And so on, and so on.

True.

The trouble in America right now though is that the government subsidizes certain crops to make low quality food artificially cheap. So the foods that are the worst for you are also very cheap...which means that the poor are far more likely to buy them since they can't afford the foods that are healthy.

Also, yes, ignorance. People don't know how to cook anymore. They don't know how to take basic cheap ingredients that are healthy and make them into wholesome meals. Everyone buys the cheap boxed convenience foods that don't require any cooking knowledge, and that makes them fat in short order.

This. I'm also wondering if vitamin deficiencies cause satiety issues and craving issues. I'm surprised I can't find a single good, large study on that one way or the other. There are plenty of diet and health articles from sources like Livestrong that say 'get your vitamins it might help you lose weight' but where are the studies?

biggsterjackster

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

SuperstarDJ

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

Yeah, when I travelled to the US, I found it very strange that there was sugar in bread too.

ndj1979

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

tigersword

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

You've tried all the several hundred types of German bread to ensure there's no sugar in them?

amwbox

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

Way to move the goalposts.

Carb free bread? What kind of a ridiculous thing is that to say? Olive oil is a fat. Doesn't mean you can equate it to bacon grease just because both are fats.

The point here is that sugar added to bread isn't as healthy as bread without sugar. Obviously its all carbs anyways, but its sure as hell not 50% fructose like added sugar is.

ndj1979

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

Way to move the goalposts.

Carb free bread? What kind of a ridiculous thing is that to say? Olive oil is a fat. Doesn't mean you can equate it to bacon grease just because both are fats.

The point here is that sugar added to bread isn't as healthy as bread without sugar. Obviously its all carbs anyways, but its sure as hell not 50% fructose like added sugar is.

just as ridiculous to say that Italian bread has no sugar when it is a carb...

ndj1979

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

Way to move the goalposts.

Carb free bread? What kind of a ridiculous thing is that to say? Olive oil is a fat. Doesn't mean you can equate it to bacon grease just because both are fats.

The point here is that sugar added to bread isn't as healthy as bread without sugar. Obviously its all carbs anyways, but its sure as hell not 50% fructose like added sugar is.

is carb a sugar, yes or no?

SuperstarDJ

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

What?!? No added sugar and carb free are completely different things!

IsabellaGiano

Couldn't read 11 pages of comments, sorry!

Anyway, I'm Italian, I travelled several times in the US, and your idea of a portion is much larger than the average portion of anything in Italy and Europe.

And size, sometimes, do really matter...

I remember I was incredulous observing a teenager eating in one go a plate of pasta that I would have considered enough for 3 or 4 people...

Also, your processed food tends to be higher in calories than ours. You like more intense taste, and the recipe of, e.g, coke and kitkat is different, with more sugar. i cite those because I directly compared them, and wow, I couldn't almost swallow my US kitkat, and I love sweets!
Your burghers have to be accompanied by a lot of sauces, and so on.

So, if you put together, more caloric food, in higher quantities... here you are.

Obviously, if you have high caloric food in small quantity, everyone is happy

That is so true, I moved 4 years ago to the US and was almost disgusted by all that sugar in every food. They put sugar in bread and lunch meats etc. The cakes have almost more frosting an top than the caked own size. Everything is to big, to sweet, to processed etc. but people are not FORCED to eat that crap. By the way, I love and miss the real fire wood cooked italian pizza. Not many nice italian family restaurants here where I live. I can't stand all these chains anymore.

so Italian bread is sugar free?????????

Most of it yes. German bread as well. No added sugars. And you can taste the difference right away.

carb is a sugar...so you are saying all Italian bread is carb free?

I think he meant no ADDED sugar. I think it's obvious and that you are playing a little

And having added sugar in food is an acquired taste.
Yes, I add sugar in my coffee, tea, cakes, I'm not demonizing sugar.

But, I won't deny that there are population that require a quantity of sugar way more pronounced in their food than others.
Is this good for them?

Mmm... why adding so much sugar?

You know what? Sugar is also cheap.
In italy at least, the best marmelade/jam is the one with less sugar. Its the more tasty, less sugar, more fruit taste... And it is also the more expensive. Not because it's healthy, who cares? It's jam! It has not to be healthy.
But because more sugar, more cheap.

Same for the fruit juice... more sugar, more cheaper, because sugar is cheaper than fruit.

Now.

Consider that I love sweets, carbs, sugar. i consume them daily, and in good quantities.

But, again, why should you add sugar everywhere when you have no reason at all to do that, if you can afford it?

jofjltncb6

america is fat because food is.oversized, including those that serve healthier options

take for example the burgers here. did you know that the kiddie size is the regular size burger in asia? the smallest soda in the us is actually the biggest in asia.

it.also does not help that people no longer eat family style so kids will learn portion size!

I ate a burger last week and still lost weight. I can eat a whole meal at a restaurant and still lose in a week. Think for yourself, that's why we're here isn't it? To take responsibility for ourselves? You can't blame the food industry for making Americans fat. No one is forcing you to go to McDonalds and eat everything in front of you. You totally have the option to ignore the restaurants and eat at home. The vast majority of the time, I do.

And I don't know what you mean by not eating family style? How does eating family style teach portion sizes when you could dish out as much as you want?

No doubt. When I eat at McDonald's (which hasn't always been that often, but lately, has been quite a few times), it is usually to supplement a meal and I get ONE McDouble. That's 390 calories (33c, 19f, 23p). In what way is this going to lead me to being obese/unhealthy??? On those rare days where my entire meal is from McDonald's, I get TWO McDoubles. 780 calories and a decent macro profile.

The argument that it's the portion sizes is bogus, IMHO. All it takes to work around the portion size issue is for the individual to make better decisions about what they order. Okay, fine, the first time you order at a particular restaurant, perhaps it will be *SURPRISE!* and then you can go "WTF?!? THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD! Maybe I shouldn't eat all of this" (or even better, "WTF?!? THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD! I guess I won't eat as much at my next meal.") Why is this not a feasible choice for everyone else?

RINat612

It has nothing to do with the country you are in, the cuisine your family's culture has, or the portions the food comes in. It is all YOU. I am proud to be an American because over here we have historically championed personal responsibility. I come from an Italian family, and as you can imagine our food are carb heavy, large portion, etc... but you know what, I am overweight because I chose to put the food in my mouth.

I am glad I discovered this website because I have learned a lot. I now am armed with the knowledge that I can eat the huge portioned loaded pizza. In order to splurge on this food I can either work my daily macro's around, work my weekly macro's around, or portion control it so I don't have to do items 1 and 2 above.

But I am still a work in progress so I still struggle with what I just said, but I am ok with that.

Now if you want to discuss how/why America might be doomed due to our horrid fiscal policies, etc... that's a different conversation

IsabellaGiano

I think that personal responsibility for our personal choices IS THE BEST ANSWER POSSIBLE.
Sure.

I chose what to eat, how big, how often.
Added sugar are not a big problem for me, I'm not diabetic.
i don't think that sugar is a toxin etc etc.

Anyway.

The government is there (should be) for a reason: the general welfare. Right?

If the school of my daughter put just junks in the vending machines, I'll go crazy. Because yes, she can also pack an apple from home, but it is CLEAR for me that in that way they are actually encouraging her to do not-so-smart-choices.

tigersword

america is fat because food is.oversized, including those that serve healthier options

take for example the burgers here. did you know that the kiddie size is the regular size burger in asia? the smallest soda in the us is actually the biggest in asia.

it.also does not help that people no longer eat family style so kids will learn portion size!

I ate a burger last week and still lost weight. I can eat a whole meal at a restaurant and still lose in a week. Think for yourself, that's why we're here isn't it? To take responsibility for ourselves? You can't blame the food industry for making Americans fat. No one is forcing you to go to McDonalds and eat everything in front of you. You totally have the option to ignore the restaurants and eat at home. The vast majority of the time, I do.

And I don't know what you mean by not eating family style? How does eating family style teach portion sizes when you could dish out as much as you want?

No doubt. When I eat at McDonald's (which hasn't always been that often, but lately, has been quite a few times), it is usually to supplement a meal and I get ONE McDouble. That's 390 calories (33c, 19f, 23p). In what way is this going to lead me to being obese/unhealthy??? On those rare days where my entire meal is from McDonald's, I get TWO McDoubles. 780 calories and a decent macro profile.

The argument that it's the portion sizes is bogus, IMHO. All it takes to work around the portion size issue is for the individual to make better decisions about what they order. Okay, fine, the first time you order at a particular restaurant, perhaps it will be *SURPRISE!* and then you can go "WTF?!? THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD! Maybe I shouldn't eat all of this" (or even better, "WTF?!? THAT'S A LOT OF FOOD! I guess I won't eat as much at my next meal.") Why is this not a feasible choice for everyone else?

Come on, you didn't know? If a restaurant brings you a MASSIVE portion of food, you MUST sit there and eat it all. As we all know, it's IMPOSSIBLE to bring home leftovers and have them as a separate meal (or 2) at a later time. Therefore, restaurant portions make us fat.

SuperstarDJ

Come on, you didn't know? If a restaurant brings you a MASSIVE portion of food, you MUST sit there and eat it all. As we all know, it's IMPOSSIBLE to bring home leftovers and have them as a separate meal (or 2) at a later time. Therefore, restaurant portions make us fat.

Well, according to science...

Portion Size Affects How Much People Consume in an Eating Occasion.
Short-term studies show that people eat more when they are confronted with larger portion sizes. The research studies described in the following cover only one or a few eating occasions in a short time frame. Research studies have yet to assess the impact of portion sizes over longer periods of time. However, the phenomenon of unknowingly eating larger amounts when presented with a large portion is an important aspect of weight management.
A study by Rolls et al.9 tested how adults responded to meals on different days of four different portion sizes of macaroni and cheese. They found that the bigger the portion, the more participants ate. Participants consumed 30% more energy (162 cal) when offered the largest portion (1000g) compared to the smallest portion (500g). They also reported similar ratings of hunger and fullness after each meal despite the intake differences. After the study, only 45% of the subjects reported noticing that there were differences in the size of the portions served.
Another study by Rolls et al.10 gave the same subjects different size sandwiches on several occasions to look at the effect on energy intake of increasing the portion size of a food served as a discrete unit (sandwich). Men and women who were offered different size (6-, 8-, 10-, and 12­ inch) sub sandwiches for lunch on four different days ate significantly more as the size of the sandwich offered became larger. A study by Diliberti et al.11 in a restaurant setting showed that when a pasta entrée was served in different portion sizes on different days, people ate larger amounts when they were given larger portions.

Taken from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/portion_size_research.pdf

jofjltncb6

Come on, you didn't know? If a restaurant brings you a MASSIVE portion of food, you MUST sit there and eat it all. As we all know, it's IMPOSSIBLE to bring home leftovers and have them as a separate meal (or 2) at a later time. Therefore, restaurant portions make us fat.

Well, according to science...

Portion Size Affects How Much People Consume in an Eating Occasion.
Short-term studies show that people eat more when they are confronted with larger portion sizes. The research studies described in the following cover only one or a few eating occasions in a short time frame. Research studies have yet to assess the impact of portion sizes over longer periods of time. However, the phenomenon of unknowingly eating larger amounts when presented with a large portion is an important aspect of weight management.
A study by Rolls et al.9 tested how adults responded to meals on different days of four different portion sizes of macaroni and cheese. They found that the bigger the portion, the more participants ate. Participants consumed 30% more energy (162 cal) when offered the largest portion (1000g) compared to the smallest portion (500g). They also reported similar ratings of hunger and fullness after each meal despite the intake differences. After the study, only 45% of the subjects reported noticing that there were differences in the size of the portions served.
Another study by Rolls et al.10 gave the same subjects different size sandwiches on several occasions to look at the effect on energy intake of increasing the portion size of a food served as a discrete unit (sandwich). Men and women who were offered different size (6-, 8-, 10-, and 12­ inch) sub sandwiches for lunch on four different days ate significantly more as the size of the sandwich offered became larger. A study by Diliberti et al.11 in a restaurant setting showed that when a pasta entrée was served in different portion sizes on different days, people ate larger amounts when they were given larger portions.

Taken from: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/portion_size_research.pdf

"Affects", yeah...because lack of willpower.

If they determine that the color of the walls makes me "statistically more likely" to eat more food/spend more money/make bad decisions, that doesn't mean that I can simply blame the color of the walls.

If the litmus test for whether or not willpower is in play is whether or not external stimuli affects us, then willpower is dead.