For today's installment of Food News You Probably Could Have Figured Out Yourself, we present the following: a new study shows that the more you eat out, the more likely you are to be fat. Who would'a thunk it?
According to a study from the USDA, a third of the calories Americans eat come from restaurants, particularly the dreaded fast-food franchises, which is almost double what it was 30 years ago. The problem? Restaurant meals tend to come in larger portions and with higher calories than home-cooked meals. To put it in perspective, food economist Lisa Mancino explains, "For the average consumer, eating one meal away from home each week translates to roughly two extra pounds a year." A moment on the lips, people, a lifetime on the hips.
Mancino goes on to explain that Americans are eating more because we have less time for cooking, longer commutes, and more options for affordable meals out, though she does gloss over one other important contributing factor, which is that butter and salt-laden restaurant food just tastes better than a home-cooked salad. As they say in culinary school: fat is flavor! Now go get your lunch.
