the theory of relativity explained

When it comes to sizes the human brain works in bizarre ways. We judge the size of things by their context. Surely, you have noticed that the full moon looks bigger near the horizon than high up in the night sky? And the same goes for everything else. And that includes such "autonomic" functions as eating. Who would think we judge how much we eat by the size of our plate? And how full we are by the amount that is left over? But that is exactly what happens.

You may have heard of Professor Wansink and his book, "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. One of the better parts is the experiment of the never empty soup bowl. Dr. Wansink and his co-workers rigged soup bowls so they would continuously refill without the subject noticing. And then they fed people soup. Those with refilling bowls just kept eating and eating. After 20 minutes, many were still eating even though some had already downed a quart of soup.

But it gets even better. When they asked subjects how much soup they ate, both those with normal bowls and those with never empty bowls, gave the same estimate. All underestimated their intake but those with refilling bowls were off by more than half.

Now think about the following. The average dinner plate today is 11 to 12 inches across. A few decades ago, it was 7 to 9 inches. But today's foods look the same on those big plates. Because portion sizes have gone up too.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the average bagel is now a 6 inch diameter monster containing 350 calories. Twenty years ago, a bagel was 3 inches in diameter, and held barely 140 calories. A cheeseburger back then had 333 calories, but the "same" cheeseburger today, holds 590 calories. Muffins that used to weigh 1.5 ounces now weigh over 4 ounces and they contain more than 500 calories a piece. And chocolate chip cookies have gone from 1.5 inches in diameter to over 3.5 inches, for a gain of 225 calories. A child's serving in a restaurant today is similar to a regular (adult) portion 20 years ago.

Last year's USDA's report "Let's Eat Out" says US consumers get 33% of their daily calories from restaurant food, up from 18% in the 1970's. Three quarters of Americans usually eat out at least once a week, and 10% eat out every day. 

The calorie value of restaurant food has gone up commensurately. A decade or two ago, it was shocking to find dishes containing over 1,000 calories and such findings made the national news. These days many sit-down family restaurants, such as Ruby Tuesdays, The Cheesecake Factory, TGI Friday's and others serve entrees that contain over 2,000 calories a piece. Not that people really notice. But they do care.

Almost 20% of those surveyed preferred sit-down restaurants over fast food places for having "healthier, lower calorie food." But the opposite is true. Sit down restaurants have food higher in fat, sodium and cholesterol than your average fast food joint. Ruby Tuesday's cheeseburger contains 1,103 calories and 78g of fat compared to a double quarter pounder with cheese at the golden arches, for a mere 730 calories and "only" 40 g of fat. Panera Bread Grilled Chicken Caesar has 560 calories, 9 g of fat and 1.3 g of sodium. That is nearly identical to a Big Mac at 560 calories, 10 g of fat and 1.0 g of sodium.

And don't think the professionals do any better. A NYU study of 203 dieticians found that they underestimated calories by 37% and fat by 49%. When it came to the tuna-salad sandwich, the pros estimated it at 375 calories, but the actual value was closer to 720.

As some of the junk mail in my mailbox would have you believe, size indeed does count. But it mostly counts relative to the background it is placed against.