Fat-free

[pendell]

I thought it was a joke (http://hafsteinnjuliusson.com/), but it's not. See 'slim chips' on the page -- actually flavored paper. Welcome to the future, where the food isn't really food, but at least it contains no calories.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[thubby]

people really need to get over the idea of healthy junk food.
who honestly believes that:
1) this will actually help you lose weight in any meaningful way
2) eating paper is better for you than a potato chip
3) that paper is actually food worth eating

@spiryt: can we even qualify it as food?

[Spiryt]

^ This

That stuff may have no calories, and most certainly does something not nice with your body.

Why eat completely artificial food? :smallconfused:

[Amiel]

However percentage fat-free usually means it (the food) is full of sugar or other preservatives. It's all a lie; disturbingly made socially acceptable by agreeable ads.

[Spiryt]

I dont know who managed to tell people that it's fat which harmful and causes obesity, not obscene amount of refined carbohydrates everywhere.

I laughed pretty hard ones when I saw dietetic lollipops with 0% fat.

Because normal one have so much fat and that's awful. :smallbiggrin:

[Serpentine]

Uh... They have a store, but you can't buy these, and the whole site seems to be for a group of designers and/or artists. I suspect these are not actually meant for sale and consumption.

Incidentally, I like the growing jewellery.

[Zen Monkey]

A bag of sugar is fat-free, and a big bag of fat is sugar-free, so we should eat both of them, right?

I find it funny to see these kind of labels, but I guess it works because it has certainly become popular.

[llamamushroom]

I'm agreeing with Serp on this - I think it's one of those modern art things, in which the artist is showing us how ridiculous consumerism has become, etc., by creating a product (or, indeed, a range of products) that go completely against common sense...

Or, by their "Home Street Home" page,
The event and exhibition called Home Street Home is a clash of urban environment and contemporary living.

The page has the Slim Chips and the foliage rings, so I think it's just part of a contemporary exhibition. Damn artists. :smalltongue:

[Mauve Shirt]

Yeah, it looks a lot like an artist's website to me.

[Thursday]

You've been able to get edible paper for years though.. It used to crop up on many of my Birthday cakes/party snack bags back in the day..

Dunno how many calories.. tasted pretty bland though so not much sugar perhaps?
MAybe it was an '80's thing?

EDIT: My Mum, who is with me here today(!) Shouts down the stairs that it was made of potato starch, and you could print on it if you got the right ink for the dot matrix..

[Hannes]

So if it's made of potato starch, then it means it's pure sugar? YAY!

[Flickerdart]

This reminds me of the part from Good Omens with Famine's restaurant business.

[Teddy]

So if it's made of potato starch, then it means it's pure sugar? YAY!

No, it's pure starch, which is a carbon hydrate, just like sugar, but not sugar in itself.


I dont know who managed to tell people that it's fat which harmful and causes obesity, not obscene amount of refined carbohydrates everywhere.

I laughed pretty hard ones when I saw dietetic lollipops with 0% fat.

Because normal one have so much fat and that's awful. :smallbiggrin:

This reminds me of when my school-mate brought a box of pastel-colored cerals loops with him back from a trip to America. There was a large label on the box proclaiming that it was 100% fat-free. The amount of sugar was very high though, and I guess that the healthfulness of the artificial colors and other miscellaneous food additives is to be doubted.

[pendell]

It gets better. Consider this Froot Loops cereal box (http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?brand=153&product=566&cat=)

"A great source of fiber!"

And presumably low in fat , too.

Of course, if anyone eats Froot Loops as a health food, I have a small fortune in Nigerian money I need help with.

I wonder how much marketing depends on the target audience being as dumba as a box of rocks.

Sadly,

Brian P.

[Trog]

*a troglogyte pokes his head into the thread*

Hey, uh, is this the thread where we get the free fat? Just point Trog to the free stuff and Trog'll be out of here. Gotta get back to making the soap and Trog doesn't trust the space monkeys to stay on target much when Trog's out acquiring supplies.

*puffs on Coffin Nail™*

[golentan]

I'd honestly probably eat a zero calorie snack "food" if it was demonstrably non-toxic. I know for a fact that my biggest problem vis-a-vis weight gain is my almost pathological desire for flavor.

I don't like being hungry, but it's pain and that's one thing I have always been able to cope with when demonstrably needed. I don't starve myself, but I've ignored hunger pangs for hours, even days when necessary, but only when there was a supply of flavored material available (mmm... people taste good, btw). And normally, I will give in to that desire and munch if there are tasty foodstuffs available, even if not hungry.

I've been fighting it with vasty amounts of decaf tea and gum, but as little as you'd think of it a pack or two of gum a day does cost a fair amount. Not like cigarettes, mind you (*nods to trog*), but it still piles up. A bag of "chips" would last me a couple days, and might well be worth it.

I'm not saying they'd be good in general, or even healthy. But they would have a market, and I for one would find them useful.

[Agamid]

i have to be honest, i was more surprised by there being a mint flavour than the fact that they are made from paper... i kind of want to try them now...

[Kneenibble]

I thought it was a joke (http://hafsteinnjuliusson.com/), but it's not. See 'slim chips' on the page -- actually flavored paper. Welcome to the future, where the food isn't really food, but at least it contains no calories.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Brian P., you've just been trolled by a postpostmodern artist. What are you going to do next? *sticks a microphone in face* :smallbiggrin:

[pendell]

Laugh myself silly, of course!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Mercenary Pen]

A bag of sugar is fat-free, and a big bag of fat is sugar-free, so we should eat both of them, right?

I find it funny to see these kind of labels, but I guess it works because it has certainly become popular.

Curses, you have foiled my evil plan to sell people sugar "now with only 1% fat" as a diet food- and yes, I would have to specifically add the fat to the sugar to do this...:smallwink:

[Hannes]

No, it's pure starch, which is a carbon hydrate, just like sugar, but not sugar in itself.


Basically it is like sugar.

"The enzymes that break down or hydrolyze starch into the constituent sugars are known as amylases." quote from wiki.

Which means that in terms of digestion, you're going to get sugar from it.

[Serpentine]

It's a sugar, in that (iirc) carbohydrates are sugars, but not what is colloquially known as "sugar".

[WalkingTarget]

It's a sugar, in that (iirc) carbohydrates are sugars, but not what is colloquially known as "sugar".

Glucose is the most important basic sugar molecule metabolized by organisms. Starches are large polymerized chains of glucose. Table sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide (a simpler molecule made of two simple sugars, regular glucose and its isomer fructose). Usually, "sugar" is reserved for either mono- or disaccharides where "starch" is for the larger molecules.

Both starch and table sugar are broken down into the component simple sugars during digestion. It's all glucose in the end.

[Teddy]

Glucose is the most important basic sugar molecule metabolized by organisms. Starches are large polymerized chains of glucose. Table sugar is sucrose, a disaccharide (a simpler molecule made of two simple sugars, regular glucose and its isomer fructose). Usually, "sugar" is reserved for either mono- or disaccharides where "starch" is for the larger molecules.

Both starch and table sugar are broken down into the component simple sugars during digestion. It's all glucose in the end.

The tricky part is (and this is the point where my organic chemistry knowledge starts to get fuzzy) that there are two kinds of starch: good and bad starch, where the latter isn't much better than sugar, while the former is metabolized much slower in the body and thus gives lasting energy without any "sugar kicks". Or at least, that's what I've heard...

[Pyrian]

There's truth to that, but there's no bright dividing line, either; there's a whole continuum of carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates digest much slower than simple starches and sugars, and indeed simple starches might as well be sugars in most respects (the glycemic profile of white rice, white bread, some pastas, and straight sugar are all pretty similar). That being said, if you're not actually diabetic, it's hard to prove the distinction even makes much difference.

You're better off looking for dietary fiber, which has many better-proven benefits, and is often associated with foods that have a better overall health profile including complex carbs.

[Yora]

I am always amazed of low-fat cheese and yogurt.

[snoopy13a]

The other sneaky thing to watch is serving size.

For example, once while cereal shopping I compared Cheerios to Honey Nut Cheerios. They had around same amount of calories per serving which implies that Honey Nut Cheerios is as healthy as regular Cheerios.

However, the regular Cheerios had a serving size of 1 cup while the Honey Nut had a serving size of something like 3/4 cup. So, Cheerios have less calories per volume (which makes logical sense as it has less sugar). Still, someone who didn't check the serving size would have been misled.

Overall though, there's nothing really wrong with eating Fruit Loops for breakfast. They do tend to fortified with vitamins and while the sugar will add calories, it won't be that bad. Spartan diets have a tendency to backfire and moderation is often more successful than absteinance. Most excess calories come from soda, juice and desserts anyway.

[Teddy]

The other sneaky thing to watch is serving size.

For example, once while cereal shopping I compared Cheerios to Honey Nut Cheerios. They had around same amount of calories per serving which implies that Honey Nut Cheerios is as healthy as regular Cheerios.

However, the regular Cheerios had a serving size of 1 cup while the Honey Nut had a serving size of something like 3/4 cup. So, Cheerios have less calories per volume (which makes logical sense as it has less sugar). Still, someone who didn't check the serving size would have been misled.

Here in Sweden, foodstuff producers are forced to put a declaration of content showing all ingredients, energy value per 100 grams and the amount of nutrients (such as carbon hydrates, fat, protein and vitamins and minerals, with subcategories when needed) per 100 grams as well. It's very usefull, because you can compare much easier between brands and different types of foodstuff.


Overall though, there's nothing really wrong with eating Fruit Loops for breakfast. They do tend to fortified with vitamins and while the sugar will add calories, it won't be that bad. Spartan diets have a tendency to backfire and moderation is often more successful than absteinance. Most excess calories come from soda, juice and desserts anyway.

The best diet is the balanced diet, period, but it's also good to remember that a larger intake of sugar than what's usually recommended isn't a problem as long as you're living an active life. Seriously, just walking around a bit more and use the bike instead of the car will do wonders to your health on the basic levels. And moving around is great fun when you've managed to get yourself going. Run down the corridor and feel the wind draft through your hair. It's wonderful, trust me. People get stuck on diets and miss the most important factor of them all: if you don't move, you won't burn anything either.

[Rawhide]

The other sneaky thing to watch is serving size.

For example, once while cereal shopping I compared Cheerios to Honey Nut Cheerios. They had around same amount of calories per serving which implies that Honey Nut Cheerios is as healthy as regular Cheerios.

However, the regular Cheerios had a serving size of 1 cup while the Honey Nut had a serving size of something like 3/4 cup. So, Cheerios have less calories per volume (which makes logical sense as it has less sugar). Still, someone who didn't check the serving size would have been misled.

Overall though, there's nothing really wrong with eating Fruit Loops for breakfast. They do tend to fortified with vitamins and while the sugar will add calories, it won't be that bad. Spartan diets have a tendency to backfire and moderation is often more successful than absteinance. Most excess calories come from soda, juice and desserts anyway.

Here in Australia, every food drink product must list the nutritional values per 100 grams as well as the serving size. This is great because not only does it provide a direct comparison between products, but it gives you the percentage (i.e. 16 grams of sugar per 100 means that it is 16% sugar).

[pendell]

Okay smart guys, you were pretty good at spotting the art site. Let's see how you stack up with this one.

Locust Pizza (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/822654-locusts-on-pizzas-a-tasty-new-topping)



Joe Carrazza, owner of the Pizza Cafe in Mildura, Victoria, is cashing on the Australian town’s locust plague with a new topping.

The town has been inundated with millions of the insects for several days, so the town's mayor, Glenn Milne, came up with the idea of using locusts to the town's advantage.

He said: "I know the Poms eat all sorts of things on the I'm A Celebrity TV show so I thought we could do the same.

"I eat in the cafe all the time so it seemed natural to suggest putting the locusts onto a pizza.

"They're crunchy and tasty. They seem to go well with all the toppings.

"I might have them even when the plague is over."


Someone PLEASE show me this is a parody, satire, or artist site.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Ranna]

Ive eaten a locust before, they are crunchy but I didnt like the legs they were icky

[Dispozition]

Okay smart guys, you were pretty good at spotting the art site. Let's see how you stack up with this one.

Locust Pizza (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/822654-locusts-on-pizzas-a-tasty-new-topping)



Someone PLEASE show me this is a parody, satire, or artist site.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

To my knowledge, Mildura doesn't have any locusts...There again I could be wrong since I don't visit rural victoria that much. However, seeing as it's Australia, I wouldn't put it past the guy.

[potatocubed]

Yeah, I've eaten a locust before. It was tasty. I also ate a baked tarantula a couple of years ago, and that was gorgeous.

And I would totally try flavoured paper snack food. Om nom nom nom nom.

EDIT: Which reminds me of a quote, which I've heard attributed to several different people: "The problem with satire in the modern world is that no matter how ridiculous you think you're being, someone out there is already doing it for real."

[Pyrian]

When life gives you locusts, make pizza! :smallcool:

[Serpentine]

"The problem with satire in the modern world is that no matter how ridiculous you think you're being, someone out there is already doing it for real."Exhibit A: The (channel 9? 7?) show 'Saving Babies'. It's like a parody of all those sickening heartstring-yanking medical programs, except it's real :smalleek: Seriously, you couldn't get more ridiculous if you tried. Short of something like 'Attractive Blonde Dying Children Below The Age Of Eight And The Cuddly Little Puppies That Love Them', and that's just silly.
...
THIS IS NOT A SUGGESTION, COMMERCIAL TV EXECUTIVES.

On locusts: Well, there's lots of places that recommend eating locusts. Full of protein, and if they're gonna eat all your normal food... Oh, and ABC News confirmed (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2876405.htm).
Witchetty grubs taste like sandy paste wrapped in prawn shell, and I really, really want to try honeypot ants. Also, one of my favourite pieces of literature is a 'Bugs' magazine about edible bugs. Speaking of which:
The tarantula is good, then? Was it the unfortunately named "edible tarantula"?

[Kneenibble]

In National Geographic ... last year some time, there was an article about certain regions in Africa that have a locust season that the locals actually look forward to. They catch and eat them by the bucket, enjoying the protein spike in their diet. One method of preparing them the article mentioned was frying in palm oil.

It makes sense to me. The concept is like a quote from a farmer I once read, something like "the quails ate all my blackberries that year... well, I ate all the quails, so it balances out."