Calories: well estimate what you eat
We would be unable to estimate the number of calories ingested during the day. This is at least what a study by the Nutrition Department of Harvard University in the United States suggests. Scientists are more specifically interested in our ability to evaluate the calories of a fast food meal (McDonald's, Burger King and Subway ...). We find them there on every street corner, as we are also well supplied in bakeries on the other side of the Atlantic.
The study was conducted among 3385 clients, adolescents or adults, the majority of whom were obese or overweight. The results show that nearly a quarter of those surveyed underestimated the energy content of their meals by at least 500 calories. Either the equivalent of a food relatively balanced for an adult who is not on the diet. The meals of people who were wrong were among the heavier ones.
Such results would be able to explain the explosive growth of obesity in the United States as in the rest of the Western world. Indeed, by not being fully aware of what is ingested, difficult to perceive the danger and to limit accordingly.
Concretely, by consuming a menu with hamburger or sandwich and fries, a large non-light soft drink and a dessert, we are dangerously close to the total amount of calories we should consume on the whole day. But in fact, we are never satisfied with this meal alone over 24 hours. Especially since there is a majority of foods composed of fast sugars, the feeling of hunger comes back quickly and we nibble more.
The most surprising thing is that the energy intake (the number of calories of each food) must (at least in France) be indicated on the packaging. Still, we should take the time to read them. No doubt we might be less tempted to return so frequently ...
