I used to be watching Michigan tackle Nebraska the opposite Saturday when a well-liked sandwich chain dropped its newest advert: “Our new 500-calorie Match Sandwich!” Catchy. Marketable. However let’s be sincere, it’s principally bread, a bit processed meat, and never a lot else. Sure, it is available in underneath 500 energy, however so does half a sleeve of Oreos. Does that make Oreos “match”? That is the oldest trick in vitamin advertising. We decide a single quantity (fats grams within the Nineteen Nineties, energy at the moment) and slap a halo round it. Bear in mind “low-fat” jelly beans? Now we’ve graduated to “match” sandwiches which might be basically white bread supply units.
Right here’s the issue:
Energy aren’t high quality. A 500-calorie meal of refined carbs spikes glucose and crashes insulin in methods a 500-calorie salad with salmon by no means will.
Satiety issues. Bread and deli meat burn off quick, leaving you hungrier two hours later. That’s not “match”; that’s a setup for an additional snack run.
Advertising and marketing ≠ metabolism. The “match” label is branding. There’s no FDA rule that claims “match” has to imply balanced, nutrient-dense, or heart-protective. It simply means “appears good on a billboard.”
What ought to “match” imply? To me, it’s the dietary equal of a balanced offense. Some protein to hold the ball, fiber and wholesome fat to guard the quarterback, and carbs in the correct quantity to maneuver the chains. As a substitute, what the chain is looking “match” appears extra like Nebraska’s second-half protection: stuffed with holes, burned out, and straightforward to beat. As physicians, we have to remind sufferers that “match” isn’t present in an advert slogan or a calorie cutoff. It’s present in meals that retains you full, fuels restoration, and doesn’t ship your glucose on a rollercoaster. So the subsequent time you see a sandwich marketed as “match,” keep in mind: simply because it’s underneath 500 energy doesn’t imply it’s match on your metabolism.
Larry Kaskel is an internist and “lipidologist in restoration” who has been practising drugs for greater than thirty-five years. He operates a concierge apply within the Chicago space and serves on the educating school on the Northwestern College Feinberg College of Medication. As well as, he’s affiliated with Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.
Earlier than podcasts entered mainstream tradition, Dr. Kaskel hosted Lipid Luminations on ReachMD, the place he produced a library of greater than 4 hundred packages that includes main voices in cardiology, lipidology, and preventive drugs.
He’s the writer of Dr. Kaskel’s Dwelling in Wellness, Quantity One: Let Meals Be Thy Medication, works that mix evidence-based medical apply with accessible methods for bettering healthspan. His present initiatives give attention to reevaluating the ldl cholesterol speculation and investigating the infectious origins of atherosclerosis. Extra data is offered at larrykaskel.com.
