We tend to blame restaurants for those over-sized plates, laden with huge portions of food that are far bigger than most mortals can or should consume. Just this week I read about a diner featured on the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives” that is known for its large sandwiches with nearly 1 pound of bacon and its banana split that includes a half-gallon of ice cream. Wow!!!
But a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and recently summarized in the Wall Street Journal shows that cookbooks are guilty too. The study focused on 18 recipes published in all seven editions of “Joy of Cooking” over the last 70 years. Researchers found that all but one recipe increased in calories, often by as much as 40% more calories which averaged out to be about 77 more calories per serving.
The increase in calories per serving is largely due to larger serving sizes. For example, earlier versions of a brownie recipe yielded 30 brownies; the current edition yields 15 brownies. Similarly, a chocolate chip cookie recipe that once yielded 100 cookies now yields 60 cookies.
I'm often amazed at how small the currently accepted serving sizes are. For example, experts say that a serving of meat is only 3 ounces (like a deck of cards), but most of us (including me) consume far more than that at one meal. I usually go with about 4 to 5 ounces for a serving of meat in my recipes but, honestly, I might eat more than that if I'm not paying attention. Another example: one serving of pizza is 1/6 of a 12-inch pizza, but how many of us are really satisfied with a single slice? This really points up the difference between a single serving and the number of servings it takes to fill us up.
Joy Bauer, dietitian on NBC's Today show says that large bagels are the equivalent of 4 slices of bread. Muffins were once only 3 ounces; today, they're at least double that size and can pack a whopping 500 to 600 calories, depending on the ingredients. I must confess: I bake jumbo or giant muffins for myself because I love the BIG muffins, but I know that each one packs a lot of calories.
What's the bottom line? Portion distortion doesn't mean we can't enjoy big helpings now and then. It just means that we should be mindful of this discrepancy between what we think we're eating and reality.
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