Blame It on the Brain

Did one glance at this photo send you scheming for a side trip to your neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts? According to this article posted at MSNBC.com, there's a very logical reason why something like a doughnut creates such tremendous cravings among many of us.

Your brain, not your stomach, is what makes you desire sugary, fatty splurges such as brownies and french fries.

... The main cravings culprit is a system of interconnected neurons called the reward pathway that evolved over millions of years to encourage prehistoric you to do things that kept you alive, like eating. High-calorie food was scarce and crucial for survival, so your brain learned to flood itself with feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin in response to tastes, smells and even people or places it linked with rich grub.

... The system worked well until modern times when high-fat, high-calorie eats became available 24/7.

A Theatrical Show of Calories

During the holiday break, a lot of us will be taking in a movie or two. What will we eat in those movie theaters?

First and foremost, popcorn. With a big tub of soda, of course.

Well, according to an analysis by the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

It's hard to picture someone mindlessly ingesting three McDonald's Quarter Pounders with 12 pats of butter while watching a movie. But according to new laboratory analyses commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, that food is nutritionally comparable to what you’d find in a medium popcorn and soda combo at Regal, the country’s biggest movie theater chain: 1,610 calories and three days’ worth — 60 grams — of saturated fat.

That's a hefty caloric price to pay for what most people think of as a snack.

Doubling Down With Your Health

At a time when America is debating obesity and its cost to the health care system, KFC is test-marketing a new sandwich that is sure to raise eyebrows. The N.Y. Daily News describes the new "Double Down" sandwich:

... it layers two kinds of cheese with bacon and oozes “Colonel’s sauce.” The twist? Instead of bread, two deep-fried chicken breasts round out the calorific concoction.

Dubbed the Double Down, the sandwich is in test markets so far, which means that only overeaters in Providence, Rhode Island, and Omaha, Nebraska, can get their greasy fill. The buzz is that it’s got more than an entire day’s worth of the recommended allowance for fat, cholesterol, sodium and protein, according to an analysis in the Vancouver Sun.

“Independent labs are estimating that it has around 1,200 calories and over 50 fat grams, based on what’s in the other KFC sandwiches,” says Men’s Health food and nutrition editor Matt Goulding, co-author of “Eat This, Not That: Best and Worst Foods in America.”

I certainly enjoy foods from time to time (doughnuts, foie gras, etc.) that is high in fat, but this new KFC sandwich seems so decadently over-the-top.