Nutrition and healthy eating

Free

E-newsletter

Subscribe to Housecall

Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics.

• April 3, 2013 1:22 a.m.

  It's actually really simple. It has to deal with "economies of scale." Even when it comes to portion sizes it is more economical to have larger portions that use comparatively less packaging, less handling, less overall costs compared to many smaller units of the same product. If the affects to the bottom line are often great enough to undercut the smaller portioned competitor. You need look no further than the Costco's or Sam's Club to see the economics of it firsthand. Consumers choose "value" as price/unit, and the larger portioned competitor has the advantage. If any particular restaurant offers larger portions for comparable prices it is a perceived "better value." The change is a result of modern economics, plain and simple.

  - mel

• September 26, 2012 12:09 a.m.

  I'm 23 years old, weigh 220, and am about 6'1". On the BMI scale, I'm a lost cause. However, I am trim. People are taller now than they were in the 50's. They're stronger. Faster. There were serious nutritional deficiencies in the 50's that have since been corrected because of nutritional findings, enrichment in foods, and government funded programs outlining guidelines for our lives. I experience hunger nearly every two hours, and if I don't have at least 1000 Calories in a meal, I feel hungry and lethargic. Without the right amount of food, i feel knots in my stomach. The bane of my existence in the last 5-10 years has been this craze to market smaller portions- i HAVE to eat a lot, now the same product costs the same as when it had twice as much energy to give me. When I go to a restaurant, I look for the most food I can get for the least amount of money, so I don't end up ordering more and going broke even faster. I'm an active guy- I need my calories. LIVESTRONG suggests I consume nearly 4000 calories a day just to maintain my current weight. Imagine my food bill!

  - Tom

• September 24, 2012 7:24 a.m.

  JERF.........Just Eat Real Food

  - tj

• September 24, 2012 7:20 a.m.

  it is not the increase in calories, but rather the increase in negative calories. ever since we have adopted this "low-fat" fad of eating our country's health has diminished. im so sick of seeing nutritionist's, dietician's, dr.'s, etc. newsletter, blog, or information section from so called experts who have obtained their so called knowledge from books created in the 1970's. every health expert is willing to believe whats stamped in the currciculum without really testing the methods. half of the doctors out there probably do not even know why saturated fats got a bad reputation (what type of fat/oil was examined to give sat fat a bad reputation in the 1st place). our food pyramid is a joke as well. 9-11 servings of whole grains (which in the definition includes whole wheat bread). whole wheat bread is nearly the exactly same product as white bread minus a couple grams of fiber, but it still spikes blood sugar levels and is a high gluten food. when the flour is processed the nutrient value is destroyed. To repair the label for the consumer eye test they fill the flour with vitamins "enriched" which are all synthetically made (man-made, and more toxic than absorbable within the human body). They are the same vitamins they fill every processed food with to try to refill nutrient content into natural foods that have been destroyed. do not calorie cut, bad calorie cut. do your research on the food/chemicals you put in your body please.

  - tj

• June 15, 2012 1:47 p.m.

  I've been grousing about large portion sizes for years. Typically, I order a to-go box with my meal and shovel at least half off my plate before I even begin eating. I wish the CDC would do a similar infographic on cocktail sizes. I'm always struck when watching old Cary Grant movies how small a martini was in the 1950s, compared to the giant margaritas now offered by chain restaurants. Not withstanding the alcohol issue, think how many CALORIES are in those oversized cocktails!

  - Elizabeth

• June 7, 2012 4:40 p.m.

  We don't eat out that often and when we do the two of us generally split an entree or bring leftovers home. All the emotional rhetoric in the comment section aside and based on my own extremely limited data: It does seem like restaurant portions are pretty large for a single meal; if I can get dinner and a lunch or two out of a $14 entree that's not a bad deal.

  - paul

• June 5, 2012 11:18 p.m.

  I always order kids size sandwiches without mayo and now my girls follow my lead and do the same. Also as a family with triplet girls we order 1 large fry and share. As for drinks - get the smallest and refill. I cringe when I see paremts feeding fries and soft drinks to toddlers with few teeth. But as for everyone else-To Each His Own. I was an obese child/teen (Emotional Eating). Its hilarious when I see former classmates who ballooned up in size.

  - CoCo

• June 5, 2012 8:05 p.m.

  I FEEL ITS THE CONSUMERS CHOICE. SURE PEOPLE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS/DECISIONS/CHOICES BUT, IT IS AFTER ALL THEIR CHOICE/DECISION. I AM NOT SURE IF ITS THE FOOD PORPORTIONS OR THE INGREDIENTS THAT THEY ADD IN FOOD THAT IS CAUSING OBESITY, OR MAYBE THAT PEOPLE JUST DON'T GET OUT AS MUCH AS THEY USE TO. WITH THE WAY THE ECONOMY IS, ITS HARD TO EXCERSIZE WHEN YOU WORK A FULL TIME JOB AND HAVE A FAMILY TO RAISE/TAKE CARE OF.

  - HEATHER

• June 3, 2012 1:01 p.m.

  I am Foodservice Professor with numerous scholarly articles to my name. I would like to see your references for portion sizes as this is not the reality of any restaurant that I am familiar with. This article is extremely misleading - restaurants are not serving 12oz burgers on average. Check your data out before you post.

  - Foodservice Professor

• June 2, 2012 2:15 p.m.

  As a Chef of 30+ years and restaurant consultant this article is simply rubbish and should be removed immediatel. A facility as respected as the Mayo clinic should not allow staff members to simply publish misinformation to simply be published and gain name recognition. They have contributed to the loss of credibility to a respected organization and should be reprimanded at the very least.

  - John

• June 2, 2012 9:46 a.m.

  Ignorant and false in all aspects. Correlation is not causation and to tout the ridiculous piece of fiction, "Super Size Me" goes way beyond unprofessional. I expected more from the Mayo Clinic.

  - Jeffrey

• June 2, 2012 1:24 a.m.

  Where on earth did you get your figures for average sizes? While obesity is certainly a problem in this country, citing facts rather than propaganda would behoove the cause. Also, implying that restaurants are to blame for increased portion sizes is pretty disingenuous. Restaurants strive to create perceived value for their customers. Value is a combination of price, portion size, flavor, and service. While restaurant patrons often complain about portions being too small, when was the last time your heard someone say that they got way too much food for their money? Anyway, if a restaurant's portions are too large to be healthy, just do what my wife and I do... split the order!

  - Ben

• June 1, 2012 7:42 p.m.

  Where are you eating at and where do you get your numbers? A 12oz burger is a ridiculous sized burger. 2-6oz is more prevelant. 42oz softdrink in a restaurant?? Maybe but not in any respectable restaurant I would frequent. 4OZ of fries is pretty much normal not the nearly 8oz you cite. These really represent the very largest portion sizes available and not what is normally ordered. Have you contacted a food supplier like Sysco, Gordon Food Service or Ben E Keith and inquired what their most frequently ordered burger sizeis? Don't even get me started on poorly researched articles written by supposed journalists. You think there might be some kind of agenda here? Say it isn't so!!

  - Keith

• June 1, 2012 1:37 p.m.

  Portion sizes and average food intake have increased for several reasons. We now know that excessive fructose primarily from sugar and HFCS is the driving force behind insulin resistance and central obesity. When someone with insulin resistance consumes a high glycemic carbohydrate, their brain is subjected to magnified glucose spikes. Over time these magnified glucose spikes seem to trigger a chronic brain disorder we now call Carbohydrate Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. Because the brain plays a key role in auto-regulating fat stores, people with CARB syndrome begin to store excessive fat even when they don't overeat. The first symptom of this disease is craving sweet and starchy foods so people with CARB syndrome end up eating more of the very food that is frying their brain. Their hunger drives also become disrupted and they lose a sense of satiety, leading them to eat more food than their body needs. The solution? Eliminate sugar and HFCS and reduce intake of high glycemic carbohydrates, especially from grains.

  - William

• June 1, 2012 11:07 a.m.

  Is this some sort of activist propoganda? The portion suzes you claim are "average" for restaurants grossly and irresponsibly overstated. I challenge you to find even ONE reataurant with a 12 ounce burger. They don't exist, except as a rare gimmick, and you state that as the "average" size of a hamburger in restaurants today. You obviously did not research this whatsoever. 2 to 4 ounce burgers are the norm in quick service restaurants, with a select few chains offering 5 ounce portions. An average in full service restaurants would be 4 to 5 ounces with some restaurants offering 8 ounce burgers. I have never seen a 12 ounce burger in 24 years in the foodservice industry. Likewise, the average size for fry portions are grossly overstated, as is the average size of a french fry portion. Each represent the largest size available and are nowhere near "average". Based on the gross factual inaccuracies in your article, I have to assume that either you ir the CDC are engaging in blatant activism disguised as science and commentary. If you would care to pretend you have the necessary objectivity to be making the claims you are, may I suggest actually polling food service professionals, or better yet, asking food distributors what it is that sells the most before grossly misrepresenting reality to support your position? In closing, I would also like to point out that business owners sole purpose is to sell what their customers want to buy.

  - Restaurant consultant

• June 1, 2012 10:06 a.m.

  Our family stays out of fast food restaurants, because we trained our children that there is nothing that's good for them there. The portions and prep are terribly processed, but I'm noticing also that if you ask at the local grocery store the portion size of meat, for instance, the answer will be way above the recommended 3-4 oz., more like 6-8 oz per serving. Crazy. Consumer beware!

  - Susan

• May 31, 2012 3:33 p.m.

  I often choose the moderate portion when they are available. The problem is we tend to eat everything that is in our plate whatever the portion. It would be nice if we could at least share an entree or a dessert easily in restaurants where they don't have moderate portions (and without stange look on the server's face : )

  - Celine