Subway vs. McDonalds

There’s money to be made in food, but it seems that lately there’s more money to be made in food research.

Yet another study , to try and understand why, and how, people overeat, has been conducted at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. The study compared the eating habits of people who ate at Subway (the so-called healthier fast food) with McDonalds.

It’s strange how the human mind works. Because the people who ate at Subway believed they were scoffing down a healthier, lower-fat alternative than if they’d crossed the road and gobbled a Big Mac, they were more likely to slurp down a bigger Coke, or order a cake than the Big Mac regulars. Consequently they ate more calories than the McDonalds customers, even though they thought they were doing themselves a favour.

The eaters mind is working on the notion of a calorie credit - “If I have that healthier Subway sandwich I can afford to drink that sugary beverage…” Wrong! These calorie creditors would be putting on an average of 2.2kg extra a year without realising their folly, until of course they couldn’t do their trousers up, or see their feet when they were standing.

Like I said, we are all guilty of it. From the window of the gymnasium I go to I can see Roti on Victoria Street, and I often talk myself into a buttered chicken after a workout - hey, I can afford to can’t I?

Wrong again.

Getting your hands dirty

Just spotted John McGrath, mayoral candidate for Wellington, supervising 4, maybe 5 workers erecting a campaign sign on Khandallah Road. He stood there, looking very grim with his arms folded, not keen on destroying the crease of his pressed jeans, or muddying his manicured hands.

I can’t imagine Carl Gifford standing back. In fact, Carl’s billboards look handcrafted all the way - large sheets of painted industrial ply with colourful caricatures of the candidate. And I’m imagining he himself drove the posts into the ground and nailed the placards.

1 point to Gifford, minus 1 to McGrath.