Portion distortion podcast Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Drew: Good morning, Kate! How are you today? Kate: Oh, please don't ask. Drew: Why not? What's the problem? Kate: I'm so hungry. I could eat a horse. Drew: Why? Didn't you eat breakfast? Kate: Yes. But not my usual cereal and toast with butter and jam. You see, I've just started a diet to lose some weight and breakfast has been reduced to grapefruit, fat-free plain yoghurt and green tea. Drew: Oh, that doesn't sound very exciting. So why have you decided to go on a diet? Kate: Well, you know - getting ready for the summer and also because I think I need to be a bit more careful about what I eat. I saw a piece of news on my mobile the other day about the amount of calories there are in a mocha coffee, which I love. And I was absolutely horrified because it turns out that there are about 350! Drew: Well, yeah. The problem isn't only the cream and the chocolate that they put in it, but also the size. In most coffee shops, the cups are absolutely enormous. Kate: That's exactly what it said in the article I read. Apparently, 20 years ago, the average size of a coffee cup would be eight ounces, which I think is about 240 millilitres, whereas now, thirty, two ounce cups are quite common. Drew: Hell! That's just short of a litre of coffee! Kate: Yes, and very fattening. Drew: So why don't you forget about your diet and just eat less? My sister is always dieting and, in the end she always seems to put on more weight, not less. Kate: Yes, I know that in the States there are a lot of people with weight problems. Drew: About 66 per cent of the population, in fact. That's two out of every three adults! Kate: Well, I don't think the figures are much better in the UK. I know it's the country with the highest number of people suffering from obesity in the European Union. The most worrying thing, I think, is the number of children that are overweight. Drew: I couldn't agree more. It's very difficult, though, because fast food is what kids adore. You know, they just can't get enough burgers, French fries, hot dogs. And all washed down with a nice glass of soda, full of sugar. Kate: Yes that's right, and the food manufacturers spend millions on making junk food as tasty and delicious as possible. Drew: Absolutely. I have a friend back in the States who became addicted to junk food. Kate: Wow! I didn't know you could actually become addicted! Drew: As you say, food companies spend huge amounts of money on creating the juiciest hamburger or the crunchiest potato chip and do research on the effects that the taste and texture of food has on the brain. They have become designers of addictive foods, so it's quite easy for us all to get hooked. You just said how much you love mocha coffee. Kate: That's true. So what can we do to resist the temptation of eating all these appetising foods that are so bad for us? Drew: Well, as I said to you before, in many cases, we just need to eat less. Remember what you were saying about the size of coffee cups? Well, the same is true of dinner plates and bowls that have also gotten bigger. The larger the container, the more we eat. Really, increased portion sizes have distorted our perception of what is an appropriate serving, of what we really need. Kate: Yes, that's true. One of the basic tips for losing weight is to serve your meals on a smaller plate, because it helps you to eat less. Drew: Have a look at this. While we've been talking, I've pulled up a website from the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. It's a quiz called Portion Distortion and it shows just how much the size of food portions has increased over the last 20 years. For example, a 1970s' plate of spaghetti and meatballs would have 500 calories and today it would have double - 1,025 calories to be exact. Kate: It's really astounding, isn't it? Drew: It also gives an idea of how many calories you burn doing daily activities like cleaning the house or raking up the leaves. Kate: So, tell me why I should be more enthusiastic about doing the cleaning? Drew: Well, according to this, two and half hours of house cleaning will burn approximately 525 calories. Kate: Thanks Drew. I'm going to have a look at this. Maybe you're right. Perhaps going on a diet isn't such a good idea and I really just need to eat less and do more exercise. Drew: Exactly. That's what I say to my sister. After all, it's really just mathematics. You have to balance the calories you take in with the calories you burn off. Kate: Though it's much easier when you eat at home. My problem is that I have lunch out in restaurants every working day in the week. Drew: Well, here it says that if you order meat, for example, the serving should be no bigger than a deck of cards or that a pancake should be the size of a CD. Kate: Well, unless you go to a very chic, minimalist restaurant, the servings are always much bigger than that. Drew: In that case, you know what you can always do. Kate: What's that? Drew: Ask for a doggy bag and take the leftovers home. Kate: You have an answer for everything. Drew: Hah! Hah! Very funny! Come on. Let's go and get something to eat. Kate: What a good idea! I'm starving. Drew: We hope you have found this podcast interesting. And if you would like to do the Portion Distortion Quiz, you will find the link at the end of the transcript. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/portion/documents/PD2.pdf We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! 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