"No Mayo?" Why Americans Are Fat

ChrispyBites

Did I say any of that?

I'll be honest, friend, I can't tell what it is you're trying to say.

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

There appears to be some miscommunication between the two of us. I was merely pointing out that the initator of this thread was operating under a couple of fallacious arguments, namely some over generalizations about Americans.

Anyway, to the rest of the readers in this thread, I'd highly suggest everyone read "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto".

And I'm out.

servilia

Yeah, I totally agree. Only Americans are fat and this is clearly why.

Totally. The only reason.

Phaedra2014

I have a feeling the OP is talking about general cuisines of some other countries (where the population is healthier than in the US), compared to the American cuisine.

What is the American cuisine today? Unfortunately, it has become fast food, chain restaurants and microwaveable meals.

Time to go old school with the general American population or our kids are gonna be the first gen with huge health problems in the teenage years.

Wonderob

Whenever I order a sandwich at a deli, I give the precise description of what I want: whole-wheat bread, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and mustard. Nine times of 10, the counter person replies: "No Mayo?"

Nope, don't want the empty calories and fat that come with Mayo or white bread.
Mayo is not very flavorful in any case and white bread tastes no better than wheat.

Add up all those mayo and white bread calories, not to mention high-fructose corn syrup in sodas, the propensity of Americans to eat fast food or packaged food products, and a generally sedentary lifestyle, there's little wonder why Americans are so chunky. I recall several "aha" moments even in Italy where I saw thin people drinking wine, eating pasta. They tend to walk a lot more, eat fresher food, their pizzas are ultra-thin crust, and it's nearly impossible to find mayo, Cokes and fries. Dessert and snacks there are usually fruit, sometimes a small scoop of gelat, unless it's a special occassion.

I recall at my heaviest my meals consisted of McMuffins, burritos and chips, Domino's pizza. For what it's worth. One can make allot of progress just by eating more fresh stuff and cutting the junk.

Love your post and agree 100%.

To me it's verging on downright racism
"there's little wonder why Americans are so chunky"

_Wits_

And chocolate or honey is more fun in bed then mayo

... and this is why I'm glad I didn't keep a food log while away at college... half my diary would be beer, the other half coolwhip and chocolate :laugh:

How you doin?! :bigsmile:

tigersword

With whole foods, portion control is almost self correcting.

People are so afraid of fats, but try eating 2000 calories of fat, just try eating 1000 cals of fat. Not only will you get full quickly, you won't be hungry again for hours.

Portion control becomes an "science" when we eat carbs with no fiber i.e. potato chips and fruit juice.

Not to mention the depletion of all of the micronutrients. Its typically feast or famine in that arena with process foods. We've managed to create a food source with 200% of your daily requirement of one nutrient with 0% of everything else. So now people are having tons of weird cravings.

It takes a whole lot more to feel full on process foods, hence the ridiculous portion sizes that we've been eating since the 1980s.

What are you trying to argue here, buddy? That a diet shouldn't consist solely of processed foods? Is anyone even pushing that agenda? No.

If you're trying to tell us that the only way to lose weight would be to completely rid your diet of processed foods, then I'd tell you you're full of crap. That makes about as much sense as Paleo or telling me I need to become a fruitarian or something.

Did I say any of that?

No.

I'm saying that process foods do not provide you with the same nutrients as whole foods and are not as satiating.

You argue that that statement is "full of crap"?

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

Steak. Are you cutting it yourself off of a cow you slaughtered? No? Then somebody processed it for you. Everything is processed. "Processed food" is the most meaningless, BS term ever created.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

With whole foods, portion control is almost self correcting.

People are so afraid of fats, but try eating 2000 calories of fat, just try eating 1000 cals of fat. Not only will you get full quickly, you won't be hungry again for hours.

Portion control becomes an "science" when we eat carbs with no fiber i.e. potato chips and fruit juice.

Not to mention the depletion of all of the micronutrients. Its typically feast or famine in that arena with process foods. We've managed to create a food source with 200% of your daily requirement of one nutrient with 0% of everything else. So now people are having tons of weird cravings.

It takes a whole lot more to feel full on process foods, hence the ridiculous portion sizes that we've been eating since the 1980s.

What are you trying to argue here, buddy? That a diet shouldn't consist solely of processed foods? Is anyone even pushing that agenda? No.

If you're trying to tell us that the only way to lose weight would be to completely rid your diet of processed foods, then I'd tell you you're full of crap. That makes about as much sense as Paleo or telling me I need to become a fruitarian or something.

Did I say any of that?

No.

I'm saying that process foods do not provide you with the same nutrients as whole foods and are not as satiating.

You argue that that statement is "full of crap"?

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

Steak. Are you cutting it yourself off of a cow you slaughtered? No? Then somebody processed it for you. Everything is processed. "Processed food" is the most meaningless, BS term ever created.

That is not the processing the poster is talking about and you know it.

RAW meat is not processed in a factory (unless it comes from a factory farming system). STOP twisting words to make it seem that everyone eats nothing but processed foods.

There is a HUGE difference between eating a steak that is "processed" at a local butcher shop and the huge processing that it takes to make a pop tart.

You can not even compare the two, so stop, please just stop.

tigersword

Pretty sure that's what I said, added in with the bit about quantity and the amount of physical activity we---that is, developed nations---don't engage in anymore. There's a reason "exercise" wasn't an industry until almost the fifties.

The whole foods thing... look, obviously everyone should eat more fruits and vegetables, and less processed foods. But, just like the inane comment that started this discussion, cutting mayonaise (or candy bars, or sodas, or whatever) completely out of a diet, without making other changes to your lifestyle, isn't going to help you lose weight or necessarily make you healthier.

Eating normal portions of food, cutting back on the gargantuan quantities of meat we're all eating here in first world nations, and getting in a little regular physical activity WILL help you lose weight. Channel a little Siddhārtha Gautama and embrace "the middle way".

And don't even get me started on fad diets...

With whole foods, portion control is almost self correcting.

People are so afraid of fats, but try eating 2000 calories of fat, just try eating 1000 cals of fat. Not only will you get full quickly, you won't be hungry again for hours.

Portion control becomes an "science" when we eat carbs with no fiber i.e. potato chips and fruit juice.

Not to mention the depletion of all of the micronutrients. Its typically feast or famine in that arena with process foods. We've managed to create a food source with 200% of your daily requirement of one nutrient with 0% of everything else. So now people are having tons of weird cravings.

It takes a whole lot more to feel full on process foods, hence the ridiculous portion sizes that we've been eating since the 1980s.

Nice story, except for the little tiny fact that fat doesn't actually cause a satiety response. Fat is a compact energy source, the human body evolved to consume fat without feeling full, allowing humans to consume far more calories than they could eating only carbs and protein. It's what allowed hunter/gatherers to survive.

You know what suppress appetite? Insulin response.

Spanaval

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

Cheese. Wine (not only "processed food", but one with health benefits). Yogurt/Greek yogurt. Peanut Butter (and other nut butters).

tigersword

With whole foods, portion control is almost self correcting.

People are so afraid of fats, but try eating 2000 calories of fat, just try eating 1000 cals of fat. Not only will you get full quickly, you won't be hungry again for hours.

Portion control becomes an "science" when we eat carbs with no fiber i.e. potato chips and fruit juice.

Not to mention the depletion of all of the micronutrients. Its typically feast or famine in that arena with process foods. We've managed to create a food source with 200% of your daily requirement of one nutrient with 0% of everything else. So now people are having tons of weird cravings.

It takes a whole lot more to feel full on process foods, hence the ridiculous portion sizes that we've been eating since the 1980s.

What are you trying to argue here, buddy? That a diet shouldn't consist solely of processed foods? Is anyone even pushing that agenda? No.

If you're trying to tell us that the only way to lose weight would be to completely rid your diet of processed foods, then I'd tell you you're full of crap. That makes about as much sense as Paleo or telling me I need to become a fruitarian or something.

Did I say any of that?

No.

I'm saying that process foods do not provide you with the same nutrients as whole foods and are not as satiating.

You argue that that statement is "full of crap"?

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

Steak. Are you cutting it yourself off of a cow you slaughtered? No? Then somebody processed it for you. Everything is processed. "Processed food" is the most meaningless, BS term ever created.

That is not the processing the poster is talking about and you know it.

RAW meat is not processed in a factory (unless it comes from a factory farming system). STOP twisting words to make it seem that everyone eats nothing but processed foods.

There is a HUGE difference between eating a steak that is "processed" at a local butcher shop and the huge processing that it takes to make a pop tart.

You can not even compare the two, so stop, please just stop.

Processed is processed, and no. It's not really all that different. Baking something and slicing are both forms of processing. Unless you grow it yourself, slaughter it yourself, it's a processed food.

"Processed" has nothing to do with nutrition. Nutritional value is nutritional value, regardless of processing level. I mean, is whey protein nutritionally void? It's an extremely heavily processed food.

AbbsyBabbsy

man i love mayo and eat it by the gallonful.

fat is not bad. when will people stop being brainwashed into thinking it is?

I've been reading this thread wondering the same thing about carbs.

Wonderob

With whole foods, portion control is almost self correcting.

People are so afraid of fats, but try eating 2000 calories of fat, just try eating 1000 cals of fat. Not only will you get full quickly, you won't be hungry again for hours.

Portion control becomes an "science" when we eat carbs with no fiber i.e. potato chips and fruit juice.

Not to mention the depletion of all of the micronutrients. Its typically feast or famine in that arena with process foods. We've managed to create a food source with 200% of your daily requirement of one nutrient with 0% of everything else. So now people are having tons of weird cravings.

It takes a whole lot more to feel full on process foods, hence the ridiculous portion sizes that we've been eating since the 1980s.

What are you trying to argue here, buddy? That a diet shouldn't consist solely of processed foods? Is anyone even pushing that agenda? No.

If you're trying to tell us that the only way to lose weight would be to completely rid your diet of processed foods, then I'd tell you you're full of crap. That makes about as much sense as Paleo or telling me I need to become a fruitarian or something.

Did I say any of that?

No.

I'm saying that process foods do not provide you with the same nutrients as whole foods and are not as satiating.

You argue that that statement is "full of crap"?

Can you give an example of a process food that is satisfying, nutrient rich and doesn't increase the calories in mass?

Steak. Are you cutting it yourself off of a cow you slaughtered? No? Then somebody processed it for you. Everything is processed. "Processed food" is the most meaningless, BS term ever created.

That is not the processing the poster is talking about and you know it.

RAW meat is not processed in a factory (unless it comes from a factory farming system). STOP twisting words to make it seem that everyone eats nothing but processed foods.

There is a HUGE difference between eating a steak that is "processed" at a local butcher shop and the huge processing that it takes to make a pop tart.

You can not even compare the two, so stop, please just stop.

You pitched steak against the pop tart

Now let's see you pitch a natural product - the potato, against my completely processed one, a highly nutritious protein bar

Bare in mind that the majority of potatoes end up being fried

rml_16

man i love mayo and eat it by the gallonful.

fat is not bad. when will people stop being brainwashed into thinking it is?

I've been reading this thread wondering the same thing about carbs.

:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

tigersword

Read the above post, yes there are other factors. The "No Mayo!" story was intended as a story to illustrate a larger problem--poor food choices of Americans when eating out, which also includes fast-food, larger portions than what's available in other countries etc., and all the sedentary factors you mentioned.

Yes, you can eat mayo with lunch every day, and still lose weight, but if you follow an American pattern of eating highly-processed, nutrient-shallow foods and having a sedentary lifestyle, chances are you will gain weight.

The story was intended to illustrate a problem: Why are sometimes people so surprised in America when you ask for a more nutritious choice?

Why are restaurants surprised when you ask for a more nutritious choice? Good question. I can't understand why I can't find whole grain bread at any eating establishment. Am I really the only one asking for this? Many places offer what they call "wheat bread" but it's just like white bread with a little color. I know whole grain, healthy breads spoil faster, but they keep for a while in the fridge. Really, can't one restaurant keep one loaf of whole grain bread in the fridge for me? This is my #1 complaint, but I have many more.

Why is fruit salad limited to melon and a few old grapes? Why are grilled veggie sandwiches always drenched in olive oil? Why are so few establishments serving pasture raised meats and organic produce? The restaurant industry's menus have an enormous impact on how Americans think they should eat. A lot of good could be done if restaurants got the message from us that we want better choices.

Bread stales fastest at 40 degrees, putting it in the fridge is the absolute worst thing you can do for it.

tigersword

This thread is completely full of fail. From the opening post, blaming restaurants for offering customers choices for the world's obesity epidemic, to the conflicting opinions presented as scientific fact, to advice to eat under BMR, to the bashinig of mayo because it's mostly fat and fat is the enemy!!!, and then - the last straw - the bashing of gravy on fries. Nine pages of this ****. **** this, I'm done with these forums.

Well the idea of the thread as I envisioned it was to show that the U.S. diet is not a good one. Mayo is but one symbol of that, but the list goes on--potato chips served with sandwiches, fries with burgers, the calories in a typical meal at Boston Market., the crud put in processed food.

If you want to dispute that argument, to show that U.S. patterns of eating are in fact healthy, go ahead. Otherwise, don't just whine about the thread by using cliches such as "fail." Using a tired cliche to dismiss an argument without addressing it is lame. But if you prefer to write in today's favored cliches, you just committed an "epic fail."

So, your list of "bad foods" that make Americans fat are all foods that were invented in other countries, and that are consumed in mass quantities by many other countries around the world, but for some reason those foods magically make Americans fat, and not anyone else?

It's all about quantity, there is no one food or type of food that can be blamed.

PRMinx

To mayo or not to mayo? Is this really the question?

While I agree that way too many people don't put a lot of thought into what they are eating, I don't think any one food is the culprit. It's the portion sizes. A tablespoon of mayo in tuna salad won't kill your diet - it's the gigantic sub filled with tuna salad that can feed three people that will.

Europeans, including Italians, eat a lot of high fat foods. In fact, they dip their french fries in mayo (which is delicious, BTW). The difference is that they don't eat as much of it, they take time out of their day to savor a meal and they walk everywhere.

rml_16

To mayo or not to mayo? Is this really the question?

While I agree that way too many people don't put a lot of thought into what they are eating, I don't think any one food is the culprit. It's the portion sizes. A tablespoon of mayo in tuna salad won't kill your diet - it's the gigantic sub filled with tuna salad that can feed three people that will.

Europeans, including Italians, eat a lot of high fat foods. In fact, they dip their french fries in mayo (which is delicious, BTW). The difference is that they don't eat as much of it, they take time out of their day to savor a meal and they walk everywhere.

Spicy fries dipped in mayo and ketchup is to.die.for.

That's something else I used to eat regularly when I wore a size 3. :-)

PRMinx

[/quote]

Spicy fries dipped in mayo and ketchup is to.die.for.

That's something else I used to eat regularly when I wore a size 3. :-)
[/quote]

Drool...:-)

raystark

Whenever I order a sandwich at a deli, I give the precise description of what I want: whole-wheat bread, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and mustard. Nine times of 10, the counter person replies: "No Mayo?"

Nope, don't want the empty calories and fat that come with Mayo or white bread.
Mayo is not very flavorful in any case and white bread tastes no better than wheat.

Add up all those mayo and white bread calories, not to mention high-fructose corn syrup in sodas, the propensity of Americans to eat fast food or packaged food products, and a generally sedentary lifestyle, there's little wonder why Americans are so chunky. I recall several "aha" moments even in Italy where I saw thin people drinking wine, eating pasta. They tend to walk a lot more, eat fresher food, their pizzas are ultra-thin crust, and it's nearly impossible to find mayo, Cokes and fries. Dessert and snacks there are usually fruit, sometimes a small scoop of gelat, unless it's a special occassion.

I recall at my heaviest my meals consisted of McMuffins, burritos and chips, Domino's pizza. For what it's worth. One can make allot of progress just by eating more fresh stuff and cutting the junk.

Love your post and agree 100%.

To me it's verging on downright racism
"there's little wonder why Americans are so chunky"

"American" is only a race in the lyrics to the American Dad theme.

wewon

I'll be honest, friend, I can't tell what it is you're trying to say.

So you would rather say random nonsense then ask for clarifications?