Here is a list of countries by average daily food energy intake. USA is at 3782 per day, and other Western countries are not far behind.
How is this even physically possible?
I am trying to do the math and I cannot come up with what people could eat to meet that average. Keep in mind it’s an average, too; some eat even more!
For example: a 2L of cola is about 800 calories. An entire large pepperoni pizza is 2240 calories. A 12oz steak is 1000 calories. A full English breakfast is 800 calories. There are 1200 calories in a tub of Haagen Dasz.
But I cannot imagine anyone would eat a diet of that per day! The cost would be astronomical and the quantity of food is just shocking. Even one of those items would have a healthy person feeling queasy.
How do people max out that many calories?
…
And this is exactly why when people claim that they’re only eating 1500cals but still not losing weight, you can guarantee they aren’t tracking properly
Plus there’s way more than enough research showing that humans inherently suck at self reporting their caloric intake
I was at yard house the other day and a turkey club sandwich meal was 1,440 calories. It wasn’t even that much food granted it lasted me for 2 meals but I have a small stomach for a 205 pound 6 foot male.
Do that 3x a day and have 3 IPAs at the end of the day for an additional 600 calories and it’s pretty easy.
Though I will say that sounds like a stretch. I’m not eating that much and my meals are usually in the 600-800 calorie range but I have 4 meals a day.
I use to eat 3000 calories a day just off Whole Foods fairly easily when grinding in the gym.
Now in my more unhealthy days i can eat that many calories easily. For example I’ll go to In N Out burger and get two hamburgers with 4 Pattie’s each, a fry, and a large coke. That alone in one meal is 2100 calories just for say a late night dinner. Crush a small ice cream to dad another 800 calories. 3 eggs, bacon, an avocado, and some sourdough toast for breakfast and your easily around 3500 calories.And I’m 155 pounds and could do that daily. However I’m fairly active and have a fast metabolism.
Usually overconsumption of soda and sugary drinks. Many Americans consume several regular sodas daily ranging from 100-150 kcal a serving.
Another addition of calories is excess fat and oil usually from processed foods and fried style cooking.
Some areas of thr US only have access to fast food and gas stations for food. This limits fruit, vegetable, and whole grain intake significantly.
Many Americans have untreated mental health issues which cause them to binge eat.
I went out for dinner and drinks and ended up having a late night snack on Saturday. About 6000 calories on the day. 3,000 in drinks alone. Yes, I know and I promise you I feel all the shame I am due.
How credible is this source? It said North Korean has an average intake of 2000 calories a day which doesn’t seem to be accurate? Since they have famine and whatnot.
Idk I’m just guessing. Tell me if I’m wrong please.
Some of these calorie estimates seem off to me. Two slices of a large pepperoni pizza (with olives) is about 600 calories in my experience. Multiply that by there usually being about eight slices in a pizza, you get a total of 4800 calories. I limit myself to two slices a meal, but before I was being smart about what I ate, I would eat double that.
My favorite chips come in a 7.5oz bag. Eating about 4 ounces is another 600 calories.
It can all add up quick. Especially for people who aren’t paying attention. A meal can easily end up being 1000 calories, for three meals a day. A snack or two, and a handful of sugary drinks easily completes the last 800.
So, the link you provided as your source material is concerning Food Available for consumption. It mentions it isn’t accounting for wastage. I did look at some of the sources. They appear to be basing it on a per capita count after taking into account agricultural exports, imports, allocation to biofuels, animal feed, etc. All in all, I’d say their numbers are probably pretty accurate. American’s waste more food than just about any other nation on earth! Average American household wastes 40% of the food it brings in for consumption. Take that into account and that brings the actual caloric intake down to: 2269 per day. Still a little high perhaps. But not nearly as shocking.
It’s rather easy; Caloric-dense foods. They’re (mostly) cheap and easily accessible, and they make you feel good. It’s poison, like alcohol- but poison one will willfully ingest to escape the hell that is Earth.
When you’re not preparing your own food and relying on preprepared food - especially now when many don’t have the life skills to even know where to start and eating out is sometimes the same or less expensive with inflation is leading people into eating much more processed fast prepared food, that being calorically dense food than they realize and it progressing into a habit. Among of course many other societal facets that have people thinking what they’re consuming is a healthy amount even. My partner eats 2.5-3k ( I eat 1-1.5) calories often and that with his current activity and lifestyle it’s mainly his maintenance intake. I doubt this is the case with most people but I also believe some people do have higher caloric needs. I’m not one of them.
I started taking mirtazapine antidepressant and in those three months, the unsatiable hunger made me eat constantly, it was unstoppable. In those months, I continued tracking my calories religiously like I had been doing for the last few years on an off. And it turned out I was eating an average of 3600 calories a day. And it wasn’t difficult, it was just a lot of food. I put on 6kgs because of it, in 3 months. I have now weaned myself off of the antidepressant because it wasn’t doing much for my mental health either. And now I am back to eating around 1800 calories a day, and then will go back to 1500 cals a day to start losing those kilos.
I’m surprised that you’re surprised that people easily eat 3800 cals a day!
Milkshakes, pizza, soda. Lots of cheese, sugar, and ultra processed foods.
Lots of refined carbs+fat/oils
Edit: here’s a study you may be interested in https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30325-5
3800 is not that hard to meet if you’re obese.
At my worst, I was able to drink two litres of non diet coke, eat a large pizza, 1k calories worth of ice cream, and 600 calories of Lays. I’d still want more. By your listing, it’d’ve been about 4600 kcal.
3800 calories a day is hard to meet if you eat only full, balanced meals. But it’s very easy to meet if you add multiple snacks a day to it.
I was afraid of going to sleep hungry, so I’d overeat in the evening. I liked to snack while watching Netflix, and I loved to binge watch, but 125g bag of chips (more or less 600 kcal) lasted me for about 20-30 minutes. So I’d get more for the next episode of the show. If I wanted something sweet, I’d buy a pint of ice cream and eat through it in less than an hour. And since none of it would make me feel satiated, I’d order fast food.
There were days when I’d eat just 2k calories, but there were also days when I’d go as high as 6000 calories. At my worst, I weighted 134 kg. For most of my life I hovered near 110 kg.
The cost wasn’t that much of an issue. There’s a lot of cheap food that’s also calorie heavy. Cheaper brands of ice cream, cheaper brands of chips, frozen pizza, sunflower seeds, cheaper brands of soda, caramelized nuts, sauce heavy pasta dishes, etc. Yes, it was expensive. But not prohibitively so. Since I didn’t drink (regularly) or smoke (at all), and I fidn’t really do any groceries for healthy food, it wasn’t that hard not to go over a 1000 PLN (~222 USD) monthly budget. I could not afford ordering restaurant pizza every single day, but I could get 1000 calories worth of frozen pizza for 10 PLN (~2.22 USD) from a downstairs Żabka.
A lot of fast foods are “energy dense” - meaning they have high calories and a low sense of fullness. This is common with fast food restaurants and cheaper foods. People of low socioeconomic status are more likely to consume these foods because they are quick, relatively cheap meals. These calorie numbers would also include other economic classes energy dense meals.
I’m at about 2500 kcal daily. Obviously I go over sometimes. I eat mostly while foods that I prepare myself with the exception of dairy, bread, and sweets. 2500kcal is super easy to eat and I’m often quiet hungry before meal time. I also find myself craving more food after eating. I’m 34m, 200lbs, 5’9”. I lift weights typically 3-4 times weekly. 3500kcal would be totally magical imo. If love to have 3500 maintenance calories.
I would eat around 3k calories for lunch when in college playing soccer. Giant chipotle burritos with Jumbo smoothy to chase it down. But we run so much id have trouble keeping weight on. Now i dont train as intense or nearly as often and i just dont get that hungry. If i go hard ill build up a larger appetite, but I dont understand how people sit around so much and then can still eat so much. I can literally go days off coffee, a couple bananas and a handful of cashews if just going to work and training … am i the freak? or are we supposed to feel hunger in this way?
Not sure on underlying data, haven’t looked at it… but It’s pretty easy to rack up calories with poor quality diet. Drinking cals, desserts, generally highly palatable high sugar/fat foods.
3800 cals of whole foods would be a fair effort for most people.
There’s a sandwich place near where I live in the UK, quite thick bread but it’s just chicken breast, few slithers of bacon, bit or lettuce and some mayo.
It’s just a sandwich right?
I sat and weighed it out and estimated the calories, it came to 992…for one sandwich. People are eating stuff like this thinking its like 400/500 calories and pairing it with a chocolate bar and a coke and that’s just lunch.
We have meal deals in the UK where you get a drink, chocolate bar or crisps or some fruit pots and a sandwich. So three items, some people are eating these everyday that they work for lunch.
On average these sandwiches clock in at like 550/600 calories (not to mention they do a triple on the same deal). Then add a 250-300 calorie chocolate bar, plus a “healthy” smoothie drink at another what 2-300 calories? You can easily eat well over 1000 calories just go lunch IF you only eat the meal deal. Then people add to it.
It’s mad, but it’s so easy to do.
Dinner. Then a 500 calorie bag of chocolates for dessert.
Alcohol as well, few beers or wines each night, people often don’t even think about those calories.
It’s mad! But unfortunately it’s just too easy to do for some people.
Edit: I have noticed that the text above the graph in the image does say that that’s not necessarily what is consumed. I do standby though that some people will easily clear those calories daily, but it’s just not necessarily that that is the average consumption.