Food For Thought

Food For Thought 

And for another week-end, a few stray thoughts and a few general observations and a few points of view (some of it my own work and some as reported by media):

Research into anything and everything seems to be mantra of this era. Quite often the end results appear funny or even bizarre.  Readers are normally stumped as to why anyone would sponsor some of the research, apart from the obviously “sponsored” research where the sponsor has a very clear idea of what findings he would like to get pronounced at the end of the study. Reader can form his / her own conclusions about the ones which are presented below :

Does the weight or size of waiter determine your bill in a restaurant? One would have thought that if at all a waiter affects the overall bill, it would be due to his courteous manner or his recommending of house  specialities or chef’s favourite but  it turns out that the girth of the gent (or lady) waiting at your table may very well affect the bottom line when the bill is ultimately presented to you. 

A set of researchers have found a positive correlation between the amount of food ordered by the customers (especially alcohol and desserts) and the weight of the waiter or waitress.  One doesn't know if this is due to subconscious connection that customers make assuming that more well-fed the waiters are, better must be the food at the eatery. One should now expect more gravitationally challenged among the hospitality sector to ask for a “fat” salary or commissions for bringing in more business.

Everyone I am sure would like to be healthy but most of us cringe at the thought of a diet which restricts our calorific intake to bare subsistence level or an exercise regime which transcends us to the level of a Navy Seal. But what if someone promised to make you as fit as a fiddle on a diet of, hold your breath, chocolate and wine!!! I am not joking, ‘sirt diet’, the next rage to hit the health industry, is just that. Dark chocolate and red wine.  I don’t know if the research was conducted in Utopia or Valhalla or our own Swargalok, but I am not complaining.

The researchers claim that ‘sirt rich foods’ work by producing a set of proteins called ‘sirtuins’. These sirtuins regulate the biological processes such as aging, cellular death, inflammation etc. Sirtfoods are claimed to mimic the effects of fasting and exercise thus speeding up weight loss. True, apart from dark chocolates and red wine, there are other foods which have these sirtuins e.g. blueberries, parsley, walnut, turmeric, soy, green tea, celery, chilly and a few more but surely given a choice I know what most (sane) people will choose.

Thank God this research has come up now when my children have grown up. I shudder to imagine what would have been.  Dining table discussions would have been something on these lines : 

“Mummy, can I have second helping of Bournville please. I am feeling fairly weak today?”

Or “Dad, I would rather have a glass of red wine instead of milk. I don’t have time for my gym session today.”  

Now, I am just looking at the brighter side. I can snack the whole day on dark chocolates and sip red wine whenever I feel thirsty. I am sure the doctor’s bills will be a thing of past. The money I would save on financing my doctor’s son’s education at Harvard will pay for all the chocolates and wine. This diet is most sirtuin to be a hit.  I am packing my bags for Napa Valley. Robert Mondavi and Ghiardelli here I come. 

Cheers   

LazyBee aka Shirish Potnis

9^th Jan 2016