Tuesday, September 07, 2010

No Wonder So Many Americans Are Obese

Left, an 8 oz. glass, middle a 12 oz. glass, right a 32 oz. Burger King cup.

Good morning, everyone, just starting my day after after spending the Labor Day weekend in Denver and Fort Collins visiting my sister, niece, and father-in-law. It was an very enjoyable three days and the long drive to and from was worth it. On our way home we drove through a Burger King for lunch and I ordered a Junior Whopper without fries and a Coke. The girl working the drive asked me what size Coke I wanted and I said a medium.

Now, lets talk about what the word medium means in my take out food world, a world that no longer exists. Back in the olden days (before 1976) a small drink was 6 oz., a medium drink 8 oz., and a large drink 12 ounces. Imagine my shock when I was handed the cup on the right in the photo above. My bladder cringed, my kidneys started sobbing, my insulin hormone started revving up in anticipation of the job it was expected to do absorbing all that sugar. Since I care about my bladder, kidneys, and insulin levels, I calmed their fears by drinking only a quarter of the amount of liquid in the cup. The shock of being handed that monstrous size cup made any unconscious desire I may have had to drink the whole thing just because it was there disappear.

What does it say about our society when having a 32 oz, sugary drink with your meal is considered normal, when we eat more calories in one meal than our bodies use in a day, when we do all this without blinking an eye?  What does it say?

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