Immigration has made us fat
Continuing the theme of immigration… we can blame immigrants for making us the fattest country on the planet.
Personal observation: Nearly every time I visit a foreign country for any length of time, I lose weight. I lost 5 lbs. on a recent trip to Argentina, a country in which food is available almost any time of day for ridiculously low prices.
Why does one lose weight in a foreign country? Most countries, especially in their smaller towns, only offer one type of food. Argentine restaurants tend to offer grilled meat, steamed vegetables, potatoes of various sorts, and salad with oil and vinegar. The menu will tend to list the ingredients by name and what you order is pretty much what you get with no extra sauces or spices. You might have a delicious steak sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and tomato for lunch. If you’re not really hungry at dinner time you don’t bother ordering a lot of food because the only choices are things that you had at lunch or maybe the day before.
Japan is a country with a high culinary reputation. Yet after being there for a few days you can understand why McDonald’s and Italian restaurants are so popular. The thought of “Japanese food yet again” is not very appealing and yet you’ll probably end up in a Japanese restaurant. So you order a modest amount of food and devote your attention to the conversation rather than stuffing your face.
Contrast this with life in an American city. You’re with friends and propose going to a Chinese restaurant. They say “No, we had Chinese food last night.” You eventually agree on Indian food, which nobody has had for awhile. Delighted with the novelty of all the tastes you order one or two more dishes than your group would require merely to sustain life for another day or two. The next day you have Mexican food for lunch and go to a Greek restaurant for dinner. Because of immigration we always have the opportunity to open our mouths to alleviate boredom rather than hunger.
(This ties back to the August 25, 2003 posting “Lose weight by eating every meal at McDonald’s”.)
