Is your cookbook making you fat?[SIZE=-1]
So it was with great interest that I learned of a clever study comparing the calories in recipes from the 1936 edition of ?The Joy of Cooking? to those for the same dishes in the 2006 version. For recipes ranging from chicken a la king to beef stroganoff, corn bread, and brownies, researchers found an average calorie increase of 63 percent per serving.
"We attribute about a third of the increase to changes in serving size," says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., lead researcher of the study, published in the Feb. 17 Annals of Internal Medicine. For example, an apple pie that was cut into eight pieces in 1936 served only six in 2006. And a pasta recipe called for one-half cup per serving in 1936, but two-thirds cup in 2006.
Use of more caloric ingredients, such as butter, other fats, sugar, and heavier sauces, was another major factor. "There is more beef and fewer potatoes in the recent beef stew recipe, and the brownies contain nuts and raisins, which they didn?t in 1936 when such ingredients were relatively more expensive," says Wansink, who is a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and author of the book ?Mindless Eating?Why We Eat More Than We Think."
Why did America's recipes get supersized? Prosperity had something to do with it. In the 1930s food was less affordable, and during World War II there were ingredient shortages and rationing. In later decades, food became a smaller percentage of our income, so folks were able to use more meat and other expensive ingredients.
This contributed to a resizing of calorie intake in both restaurants and at home. Even the size of the plates grew! The standard 10½-inch dinner plate gave way to 12- and even 14-inch plates. "Three ounces of pasta on a 10-inch plate looks important; on a 12-inch plate it looks like an appetizer," Wansink says.
To help combat the trend, a few months ago Wansink started a Web site called Smallplatemovement.org. So far more than 100,000 folks have signed up to take his challenge: Use a small plate for one month and see if it doesn't help control calorie intake.
Another tip for cooks: Remember that many of the recipes we use were designed at a time when families were larger, so don't try to stuff it all into one meal. Try splitting your dish in half as soon as it's cooked and put one portion in the freezer for another time. ?That way you won't nibble away at the leftovers," Wansink says, "and you'll have another meal for the same effort."
I used this tactic at home this week, and I am feeling gleeful about having two of my favorite home-cooked meals in the freezer, so we have something good to eat even when I?m too pooped to cook.
"There?s a health halo that surrounds eating a family dinner at home," Wansink cautions. "A lot of people see it as virtuous: Dining together, having family time." But we also need to be conscious of serving sizes and calories. Unfortunately, he notes, you can get just as fat eating at home.
?Ronni Sandroff, Editor/Director, Health & Family
Read more on how to eat healthy for less and see our secrets of the slim.*
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