Newswise, August 22, 2016— If you are like most people, you
will consume about 200 sandwiches this year. Add it all up and it means -- this
is no baloney Americans will eat about 45 billion sandwiches in 2016.
There’s nothing wrong with most sandwiches, but the key is
what you put on them and serve with them, says Texas A&M University’s
Steven Riechman, associate professor of health and kinesiology.
No doubt, a good sandwich can be the greatest thing since
sliced bread, but choose the wrong type and your diet is toast, so to speak.
“You have to pay attention to the bread and the meat,” Riechman explains.
“The bread should preferably be whole grain, not white because
whites have the highest calories and lowest fiber content. And the leaner the
meat, the better.”
Legend has it that the sandwich was created by John Montague,
the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. While playing in a card game in 1762, he wanted a
meal that he could eat at the table. He ordered some meat with bread placed on
both sides so his hands would not get messy.
As for who won that card game, no one knows -- but he aced the
quick meal. The sandwich was born, and lettuce count the zillion ways it can be
served, from tuna fish to peanut butter and jelly.
Speaking of peanut butter, studies show that the average child
will eat about 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time he or she
has graduated from high school.
The numbers on sandwiches are rather meaty, to say the least.
Studies show that the average U.S. citizen eats at least 100 sandwiches a year,
and within any two-week period, 95 percent of all American households consume
at least one sandwich.
And more: The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association reports
that Americans eat more than 100 hamburgers per year per person (yes, a
hamburger is considered a sandwich), and that totals at least 14 billion
hamburgers consumed yearly, which no matter how you slice it, is a lot of beef.
Riechman, who serves on Texas A&M’s Intercollegiate
Faculty of Nutrition and enjoys a good sandwich himself, says that while a
hamburger is okay every now and then, “it is not usually the leanest cut of
meat.
“If you order a hamburger today, it most likely will contain a
lot of saturated fat. And also, what you put on it is the key. Mustard is fine,
but mayonnaise is high in fat and so are many other dressings. But when you
start adding two patties, double fries and a large drink, you can easily top
1,100 calories or more. Do that often enough, and it’s almost certain you will
gain weight.”
In other words, those big Whoppers can give you a whopping big
waistline. But most people tend to overlook such figures and let their
tastebuds rule, which is why McDonald’s says it sells 75 burgers every second
of the day, a stat that would no doubt put a big smile on the Earl of Sandwich.
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