Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Flab Food Nation"; July 25; 2010

This week's show, entitled "Flab Food Nation", posed the semi-theoretical question: "What is the #1 reason that so many Americans are overweight or obese?". Callers offered their views. providing remarkable insights into this profound issue.

But beforehand there was a tutorial in The Mathematics of Dieting. First off: the definition of a calorie more specifically than a unit of energy. A food calorie (kcal) is the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of one kilogram of water (one liter) by one degree Celsius. Other useful figures: proteins and carbs, when burned off, produce 4 kcal per gram, whereas fats produce 9 kcal per gram. It's therefore twice as hard to burn off fats...so beware of fast food breakfast sandwiches such as [redacted] with 3 strips of bacon, a sausage patty, 4 slices of ham, an egg, and 2 slices of cheese....yes, it's real.

The recommended daily intake of calories for a young adult or a man is 2500 kcal per day----and for a woman, 2000 kcal per day.

3500 kcal equals one pound of body fat....in either direction, namely putting it on or taking it off. This translates into 5 hours of jumping rope, for example, if that's a favored pastime. On the other hand, the revolting "food" called "turducken" contains 3500 kcal. God Bless America !

Last interesting trivia for now---your weight multiplied by 15 is approximately the number of calories you are now eating in order to maintain your current weight. So if you weigh 200, you are taking in 3000 kcal per day.

These fascinating facts of biochemistry have no place in the world of supermarket tabloids, where thin celebrities "lose ten pounds" on a special food program unmentioned in medical textbooks. Does anyone wonder how far we've gotten off track in our Flab Food Nation?

Back to the question of the week: "What is the #1 reason that so many Americans are overweight or obese?" There were at least six excellent responses from callers, and there were many others who couldn't get through our switchboard. Your humble host, however, provided the correct answer: "Health is not the #1 priority of most Americans." Further amplification was provided, and the discussion will continue next week.