Portions Nearly Double in Size

By Jon Benson

Everything is bigger in America - larger plates, larger ovens, larger clothes, and larger insurance policies to cover our larger health care bills. And it's all related to America 's serious problem with portion sizes.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that, over the past 50 years, portion sizes in the home have increased 42 percent for processed foods and decreased about the same percentage for foods high in fiber.In short, more junk, less Roto-Rooter. More empty calories, less thermogenic calories. Plus, we're talking larger amounts of food. Restaurant portions make those stats look cheery: up 220 percent.

The same study revealed that decreasing restaurant portion sizes to "near" the size they were 50 years ago, done slowly over the course of several months, did not affect customer satisfaction. While the study stopped there, I can tell you from many years of professional experience that a smaller plate with whole, unprocessed, tasty food on it will satisfy most any palate - more so than a huge plate of nothing but nutritional detritus.

Keeping this in mind, you should consider taking the issue of portion control seriously. The best way to do it is to put only the food you plan to eat on the table. In many over-fat households, the dinner table looks like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Do about five minutes of math and a few extra minutes of work and put the food on the plates, not in large serving containers from which the family can continue to graze. 
[Ed. Note: Jon Benson is a lifecoach and nutrition counselor who specializes in helping individuals discover a life-altering mind/body connection. His work in the field of post-40 fitness and mental empowerment has helped countless thousands.]

It's Fun to Know: A New Twist on Domain Names

An emerging trend finds tech-minded parents registering Internet domains in their children's names soon after they are born. Some parents even discard a name choice if the Internet address is not available. Since their children are too young to type, much less surf the Web, the parents use the websites to showcase photos, videos, and blog entries about their babies. They believe the domains will help their kids establish an online identity when they are older. Meanwhile, experts recommend that these sites be password-protected to avoid giving too much information to child predators.

(Source: CNN)

Word to the Wise: Detritus

"Detritus" (dih-TRITE-us) - from the Latin for "to wear away" - is another way of saying "debris."

Example (as used by Jon Benson today): "I can tell you from many years of professional experience that a smaller plate with whole, unprocessed, tasty food on it will satisfy most any palate - more so than a huge plate of nothing but nutritional detritus."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2170, 10-11-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.