Graehm Gray: A Survival Guide for the Late Night TV Food Commercials

I think that I have had enough! Yes, my friends, I am throwing in the towel. I was staying up late, watching some of my favorite reruns of NCIS, Law and Order and James Bond when the munchies hit. You all know what I am talking about. Those feelings that strike, out of no where-“I’ve got to have something! Anything. I’m hungry. At least I think I am. Maybe I am. Not really but I want something to eat.” Where do these sensations come from? Who is that talking in my head? I had a good dinner just three hours earlier. Sure, could be the carbohydrates being digested and the insulin levels rising. Scientifically that makes sense. As your food digests and is broken down into tiny matter, the individual elements like fats, proteins and sugars are released and start to travel. The sugar level rising triggers a release of insulin from your pancreas. Subsequently, the insulin manages to get the sugar back into the cells and lowers the levels. But the insulin levels remain high. This may trigger additional reactions which include hunger. So there, I rationalized my late night eating. Wait a minute. Let’s get back to the reason for this article-those attractive and seductive food commercials, those DQ Blizzards, those new dark chocolate peanut butter cups, those new crust Domino’s Pizzas, those five dollar Subway sandwiches, it’s endless. It is literally an “in your face” attack on our senses. How can we resist?

I remember reading stories about subliminal advertising in the movie theaters. Subliminal means anything that is below an individual’s ability to consciously perceive-you could not see it with your eyes, but your brain would see it and it would make you hungry. I am not certain of the validity but I grew up believing this. It seems that some theater owners would put pictures of pop corn, candy and drinks in between the clips of the movie so that as you watched, you would become hungry and thirsty. True or some made up story? Either way I used to get very hungry going to the movies. Much less now. And with the prices of theater goodies approaching a mortgage payment, that’s a good thing! But today’s TV advertising is not below the radar of our perception-Its in our faces!

Now as usual, some research info-startling statistics from Norman Herr, Ph.D., Professor of Science Education at the California State University, Northridge, TV-Free America and A.C. Nielsen Co.:

1. Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
2. Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
3. Rank of food products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
4. Total spending by 100 leading TV advertisers in 1993: $15 billion
5. Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
6. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

Getting back to my original problem, the late night munchies. So I sit and watch those commercials: insurance promoting geckos, anti-depression drugs, bank ads giving ice cream to kids, and food. And more food. What can we do? Well, I guess switching to a Pay for TV station which eliminates advertising is one thought. Turning off the television and reading or exercising is another. Even exercise during the commercial breaks. But if you exercised earlier in the day and did your reading-what else can you do? Buy the DVD’s of each series-hey that’s interesting-but a costly option. How about-just eat healthy snacks-that’s a no brainer! Stock up on fruits, nuts, and veggies and get rid of the high caloric, highly sweetened stuff hiding in your cabinets. Come on, you know, the chips, the doodles, the candy, the ice cream-it’s all there. Now I know you are all saying, “but Graehm, nuts and celery sticks ain’t gonna cut it.” So my response is, we all need to learn how to eat and snack healthy! Overeating anything, even healthy items will load on the calories just like eating a bag of chips or a carton of ice cream. So not only should the snacking be healthy, convincing our brains that we are just not that hungry is another issue. It’s a behavioral problem. Mind over matter. And this is where the “matter” in the form of food TV commercials have their influence. Would we watch as much television without the food commercials? Yes! So maybe we, and I am speaking for all of those that are highly influenced by the eating and drinking that is displayed on the commercials, need to walk out of the room when the ad starts and return when the episode restarts. Maybe the future of television will be such that we can have a button on the remote, to accept or reject the type of advertising we are willing to watch. Wait a minute-the future is here-it’s-TIVO!!! Fast forward thru the commercials. So what are you waiting for?

Here is a brief list of what you should have in your food locker for those snacking urges:

1. Walnuts (if no nut allergies)
2. Unsalted Cashews (if no nut allergies)
3. Unsalted and roasted Sunflower Seeds (if no nut allergies)
4. Unsalted and roasted Pumpkin Seeds (if no nut allergies)
5. Unsalted Pistachios (if no nut allergies)
6. Dried fruits (Cherries, cranberries, raisons, blueberries, pineapple, apple)
7. Greek yogurt-Zero (0%) percent fat
8. Fresh fruits and berries
9. 100 Calorie frozen natural ingredient popsicles
10. Peanut butter (or any type of nut butter)-prefer natural or without preservatives and NO TRANS FAT
11. 100 calorie natural snacks-no preservatives
12. Thin sliced chicken or deli meats-prefer no preservatives and low sodium
13. Thin sliced cheeses- prefer low fat varieties
14. Farmers cheese

Bottom line-load up on the healthy snacks. Get rid of the salty, artificially sweetened, and high caloric foods. Moderation is the key, and you have to have a supply of these healthy ingredients to match.

My friends you need to be strong. You can be stronger than the commercials. You can conquer those urges. Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way.

Please check out the following link: http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html

Posted in: Editor's Page, Home