Letter from Boston

Meal On the Run

By MASAKO YAMADA

I used to have a teacher who would get up late, forget to eat breakfast and lunch, and would then have her first meal of the day at around 3 p.m.

Even then, she wouldn't even have a full meal. She would run around the corner and buy a sandwich or something she could eat while working. To my immature eyes, this seemed to be a ridiculous way to live, or, at least, a ridiculous way to eat.

However, more than once, I've found myself roll out of bed at 10:00 a.m., rush to school, skip lunch and become hungry in the afternoon. I have shocked my foreign labmates by munching on potato chips or a chocolate bar or a McDonald's hamburger for my combination breakfast-lunch-dinner. I would then have a late evening snack.

I certainly can't blame my lab-mates for being surprised. Many of them take a leisurely lunch every day, starting with a salad, and ending with a round of coffee at a coffee shop. I certainly don't feel forced by my labmates to eat in a hurry. Indeed, the opposite is true.

I think many of them feel that a good meal helps them work more efficiently in the afternoon. I wouldn't be able to argue with them, since many of them are more productive scientists than I am.

My labmates know that I like to cook and to eat at good restaurants. We've eaten liver pate, pigs ears and intestines together. For this reason, they seem especially puzzled by my rather stark and efficient lunches. They use my eating habits as proof of my strange American ways.

I wonder what they think of the new American phenomenon of eating "energy bars" instead of meals. It's common for food-lovers to make fun of the longtime science-fiction notion of eating just one pill a day.

However, these energy bars, which are essentially the same as what science-fiction writers wrote about, seem to be getting more and more popular. The bars are full of all the fiber, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that one needs for a meal.

In theory, three bars are sufficient to feed a person for a day. I was able to pack a few days' supply of emergency food for my Belize vacation in a small pocket of my bag.

These bars, which are marketed under names like "Power Bar," "Think Bar," "Zone Bar" and "Bal ance Bar," have actually been around for a long time.

However, until now, I think they have been marketed towards mountain climbers, athletes and dieters, who definitely have to be careful of what they eat. Nowadays, I see quite a few students eating them in place of meals, including some graduate students in my department (not the Europeans, though).

In the past year or so, I have seen these energy bars being sold in increasingly commonplace stores, including convenience stores on campus, pharmacies and supermarkets. There used to be only one or two brands, with just a few flavors, like chocolate and mocha.

Now, there must be at least 10 different brands at my local supermarket, with over 20 flavors. I've seen gourmet flavors such as blueberry, lemon meringue, chai (spiced tea), oatmeal raisin and pecan pie. There are bars with "brain-enhancing" nutrients, and bars specifically formulated for women.

Unfortunately, the enticing flavor descriptions on the label are rarely accurate; I would have to say that many of the energy bars that I've tried are barely edible. However, somehow this makes it seem as if the bars are more effective.

I am reminded of weekend athletes who like to drink "scientifically engineered" sports drinks like Gatorade not because they like the taste, or because they need the extra electrolytes, but because they want to feel that they are actually exercising hard enough to need such drinks.

I suspect that energy bars have taken off partly because people want to feel that they need to eat such an evolved food product, as well. Who doesn't want to eat something that alpine climbers, slim and glamorous movie stars and successful physics researchers eat? I suppose there are plenty of people who want to believe that their lives are just as busy, their time just as important and their bodies just as deserving of all those concentrated vitamins.

Shukan ST: Feb. 16, 2001

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