February 27, 2016
Today’s Imponderable comes from the world of news radio. This was heard on the venerable 1010 WINS of New York.
This is a legitimate story about research that shows that losing weight is linked to an improvement in memory. That’s all well and good, but a little research of my own brought me to articles as old as 2011, leading me to wonder what 1010 WINS defines as “breaking news.” I expect them to break in with a special report on the capture of the Unibomber any time now.
But my real problem isn’t with the news, it is on the reporting. They quoted unnamed “researchers” as saying
“how can people lose weight if they don’t remember that they’ve eaten?”
At this point, I would like tell you the totally true fact that about seven years ago I looked into getting a job at 1010 WINS as a news writer and I was told that not only were there no openings, they only had one writer. I know I could have done a much better job than the guy who wrote this story.
Is weight gain due to the fact that people simply forget that they’ve eaten? Is that why I ate two Thanksgiving dinners last year, I simply forgot the first meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy so I had a second one because I was worried that I hadn’t had dinner yet? And that must explain why I binge ate a whole bag of Oreos last week. After I ate each cookie, I simply forgot that I ate it, so by the time I got to the end of the bag I was convinced that I only ate one cookie and was totally flummoxed about how a brand new bag could be empty after only one Oreo.
Is being overweight simply due to “food amnesia”?
No.
Does 1010 WINS have a clue about reporting?
The question is Imponderable.
And yes, I am totally coining the phrase “food amnesia.”
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