How Much Food is Enough for a Meal?

Introduction – How much food is enough for a meal?

When we ask the question “How much food is enough for a meal?”, we are not just talking about calories. We’re talking about getting the right food in the right proportions for your survival.

Before we move on, let me repeat for the umpteenth time that this is not just another blog prescribing diets and exercises for health and fitness. Anyone can tell you the WHAT to do, but that information may very well be useless until you understand the WHY to do it.

We want to give you both the content and the context. And, yes, sometimes context will come in form of corny sounding stories.

The paradox of food

Answering the question as to ‘how much food is enough for a meal’ we must do it in the context of ‘need’. As we established in the earlier discussion about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, food can be termed the most basic of the basic needs for human survival. No discussion on health and fitness can be complete without a more elaborate and critical look at the subject of food.

We look at the good, on the one hand, and the bad or what I refer to as the paradox of food, on the other.

The Short History of Food

See, a long time ago, we were animals – actually, we’re still animals – but I digress.  Anyway, that time, we didn’t know what calories were, or needed to worry about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Certainly, no one was asking ‘how much food is enough for a meal?’.

That time, all we needed to do was get up in the morning, snack on some previous night’s leftovers, then go on about hunting and gathering for more food.

Then we would reproduce and raise families for the continued survival of our species. 

Simple days those were.

The revolution that changed everything

Fast forward, along came the agrarian revolution. Then we cultivated the land. This time, there was a need for more food for the growing population. On top of that, we ate more as we needed more energy for tilling, planting, weeding, and harvesting.

Then came the industrial revolution when we used machinery (we still do) to cultivate the land and do other industrial things like manufacturing.

We never stopped eating

Over time, we have seen machines take over our mode of work. We’ve seen tractors, cars, guns, and last but not least, we’ve seen computers and robots take over most of the manual tasks. All this development and sophistication is all well and good.

But here’s the kicker. Even with all the advancement, and less and less manual labor, we never stopped eating!

Today, we get up in the morning to go to ‘work’, as in get in the car to go sit in front of a computer monitor, just to monitor things and click the mouse; sit on a chair or stand up with arms akimbo to monitor the robot.

But before that, we get our morning coffee or tea, usually accompanied by buttered toast, bacon and eggs, because we must.

While at work, we get our mid-morning coffee with a snack, because we must; a 3-course lunch, because we must; mid-afternoon coffee and snack, because we must; and finally, when we leave work, another 3-course meal, at least, for dinner.

I guess what I’m using many words to say is, most of the time, we eat out of habit, just because we’re supposed to eat. We eat because our parents tell us we’ll grow weak if we don’t. Maybe it’s time to start asking ‘how much food is enough for a meal’?

Eating the Right Amount of Food

Let me start by saying that there is a difference between the right food and the right amount of food. For the former, the keyword is “right” and for the latter, the keyword is “amount.” We discuss more about the right food in the topic on balanced diet. Here, we discuss the amount.

Portion Vs. Serving

When you place food on the table, everyone packs their plates with the amount they feel will fill them. These are portions which maybe different in size and variety depending on individual tastes and the level of hunger.

When you walk into a grocery store and pick up a food package, what is listed on the label are the servings and the different nutritional values. If you look closer, you’ll see that those servings are based on 2000 daily calorie intake, or something like that.

What the label doesn’t say is, Who is the 2000 daily calorie intake for?

It’s like going into a shoe shop, and asking if you could try on the shoes you like; and being told to just buy the shoes because one size fits all.

Would you buy those shoes no matter how good they look?

Food Manufacturers

We need food manufacturers because we can’t all produce our own food. One thing I know is that we love to eat. But don’t get me wrong. Eating is not a bad thing as we all know. However, the manufacturers have you figured out. They know our primary goal is to satisfy our stomachs.

The question of nutrients or how much we’re eating is only a secondary concern.  The bad thing is that our lack of knowledge or care can be turned into profit.

Enter Government

One of the primary jobs of a responsible government is to ensure that the powerful entities who should know better do not take advantage of the powerless. While providing enabling environment for food manufacturers to produce food, the government must also address the conflict of interest.

Most of the labels you see on food packages are there because the government requires them. By the way, that also goes for things like tobacco, alcohol and drugs in general. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see things like these:

GOVERNMENT WARNING: CIGARETTE SMOKING IS DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH.

One More Thing

If I was the law giver and could only come up with one rule about how much to eat, it would be this: Only eat if you need to.

And we’re not just talking about sweets here. It really bugs me when I see folks egging others to eat more at the table. While it’s okay to worry about a kid’s diet, parents should not go out of their way to force their kids to eat. When kids need food, you’ll know. Trust me.

Note: Ignore Your Waiter!

Think about it. A Waiter puts on a smiling face, approaches your table and asks, “Would you like something to drink while you wait for your food?” If you think he’s asking you that because he cares so much about you, you’re wrong.

He knows the bigger the check, the bigger the tip. Watch and see the smile burst like a bubble the moment you say, “water.”

Or when you’re done eating, and he comes with the same smile to ask what you want for dessert.

You feel as if you’re obligated to say ‘yes, chocolate cake’ or something, not because you need it, but because when you’re done eating, you’re supposed to have desert. 

What’s Sugar Got to Do with It?

Chew on this: I recently had a conversation with a certain young man that went something like this:

Him: Why are you always saying I should drink tasteless water?

Me: You want Gatorade instead?

Him: I want a soda.

Me: Soda is not good for your health.

Him: Coke has water and sugar in it, just like Gatorade.

Me: You think I’m concerned about sugar?

Him: What else?

Me: There’s more to coke than sugar.

Him: Can I get a root beer then?

…

That conversation continued and turned into an argument. The reason I think this is important is that this is a typical child, and not some isolated case. What’s the problem here?

We Give Sugar a Bad Name

I don’t remember ever telling the person (he’ll remain nameless) above that the reason why he should avoid soda is because of sugar.

We as the society have told him that through words and actions. He hears you say cake, coke, and sugar in the same sentence as the symbols for bad things. Then he sees you turn around and drain diet coke down your throat, and he assumes that sugar must be the culprit.

But, is sugar a bad thing? Not really. We all need sugar for energy. The problem is when we don’t use all the the sugar we consume because the excess sugar can turn into fat.

For me, and hopefully for everyone, even if you’re trying to lose weight, the biggest problem with the so called ‘soft drinks’ is the corrosive chemicals that lead to other health issues. Also, most of those drinks contain caffeine that a young person doesn’t need.

So, how much food is enough for a meal?

The answer to the question “How much food is enough for a meal?” depends on various factors. But the more important question really should be “What kind of food is right for me?”

Quality before quantity. ALWAYS!

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