Order of food in a buffet influence what is eaten

2020s, Economy, Food, Health, Thought Provoking

Interesting study.

“What ends up on a buffet diner’s plate is dramatically determined by the presentation order of food. Rearranging food order from healthiest to least healthy can nudge unknowing or even resistant diners toward a healthier meal, helping make them slim by design.”

Serving Healthy Foods First in Buffet Lines Improves Overall Meal Selection

Reheated pasta is less fattening

Fitness, Food

Yes, I was surprised when I heard this. Even better, the BBC performed an experiment to see if it was true.

A rapid rise in blood glucose, followed by a rapid fall, can often make you feel hungry again quite soon after a meal. It’s true of sugary sweets and cakes, but it’s also true for things like pasta, potatoes, white rice and white bread. That’s why dieticians emphasise the importance of eating foods that are rich in fibre, as these foods produce a much more gradual rise and fall in your blood sugars.

But what if you could change pasta or potatoes into a food that, to the body, acts much more like fibre? Well, it seems you can. Cooking pasta and then cooling it down changes the structure of the pasta, turning it into something that is called “resistant starch”

You can read the full article here.

Sugar & Obesity

Economy, Food, Thought Provoking

Very interesting article in the Guardian today about the type of foods we are eating and the effect it has on obesity levels in society. The main lesson? Processed foods contain even more sugar than ever and that is what makes people fat in the developed world.

At New York University, Professor Anthony Sclafani, a nutritionist studying appetite and weight gain, noticed something strange about his lab rats. When they ate rat food, they put on weight normally. But when they ate processed food from a supermarket, they ballooned in a matter of days. Their appetite for sugary foods was insatiable: they just carried on eating.

The full article here.

Restaurant Day

Finland, Food, Helsinki, Travel

This sounds really cool but unfortunately, I’m not going to be in Finland this weekend!

Restaurant Day is a one-day carnival in favor of restaurant and food culture.

On Restaurant Day anyone can set up a restaurant, café or a bar for a day. It can be anywhere: at your home, at the office, on a street corner, in your garden or inner courtyard, at a park, or on the beach – only your imagination is the limit.

The quirkier the concept of your restaurant is, the better it attracts people. However oddities aren’t necessary. Good food and drinks at a nice place are enough – the most important is to create a restaurant that you’d like to visit yourself. After all, the idea of Restaurant Day is to have fun, share different restaurant experiences with other people and enjoy the our living environment together.

Restaurant Day originated in Helsinki, Finland, and it’s happens four times a year, about every three months.

On the first Restaurant Day on the 21st of May 2011 almost 40 restaurants opened in 13 different towns. On the second Restaurant Day on the 21st of August 2011 about 200 restaurants opened in 30 different cities in four different countries. On the third Restaurant Day on the 19th of November 2011 over 300 restaurants opened in over 40 different towns. On the fourth Restaurant Day nearly 300 restaurants opened in almost 50 different towns in 12 different countries.

More information here.