Any idea how many calories are in a 64-ounce double gulp sodafrom a convenience store? 800, how about one of those big cookies? For a society fixated on weight-loss, very few of us know how many calories we’re taking in and what is a calorie, after all? You can’t see taste, or smell them, but they are everywhere. Your brain knows if you’re getting too much or too little. And the more you take in, the more the food industry makes. “Why Calories Count” is not a new diet book, or scheme for losing weight. It’s a book on the science and politics of calories with plenty of fact-based information on interpreting food labels, diet claims, and your own reactions to what the authors call our “eat more” environment. Marion Nestleis a writer and professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at NYU. She and Malden Nesheim, Emeritus professor of nutritional sciences teamed up for the book, their second together.
Series Website: shiftingthebalance.nhpr.orgShifting the Balance is a station-wide series focused on the positive impact environmental and policy changes can have on the fight against obesity in schools, workplaces, and communities. While so much of the national conversation about obesity focuses on the effect of personal choice, NHPR’s reporters and producers are examining what happens when the choices themselves are changed. Shifting the Balance will present stories of how personal habits, including exercise and consumption, can be improved when even simple changes are made to an individual’s environment, including infrastructure, available food, and the support of leaders and innovators across the culture.
Calories, Consumption, and the Key to Capitalism
