The Huffington Post reports:

You’ve just eaten 10 Taco Bell tacos and drank a frozen Mountain Dew and you still feel suspiciously hungry. You’ve consumed about 1,880 calories, but your body isn’t satisfied. What’s happening?

Studies show that satiety, the mechanism that stops us from eating more than what we need, has less to do with caloric intake than it does with the intake of certain macronutrients - types of protein, carbohydrates, and fat - and the physical volume of food. We’re getting plenty of calories when we eat a full sleeve of Oreos, but we’re not getting the nutrients that our bodies need for high quality, sustainable energy. Even though it may feel like a large volume of food, it moves through us quickly - meaning the feeling of fullness fades after we eat.

They continue:

The satiety level of a food is partially due to its nutrient density, which refers to the ratio of nutrients to calories. Though highly caloric, junk foods supply a much lower amount of nutrients compared to the volume of food. In other words, all calories aren’t created equal. For 100 calories, we can eat about 15 cups of spinach or two Oreos. The spinach will physically fill our stomachs with more food, plus provide dietary fiber and vital nutrients. The Oreos, on the other hand, provide little more than intense levels of simple carbohydrates, which give us quick bursts of energy that don’t last. 

Frank Capra’s 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” was at one time considered possibly the most “can’t miss” holiday film, with multiple generations of America watching it every year at Christmastime. It seems that it has failed to translate to recent generations, falling out of most younger people’s lists of favorite Christmas movies. The most obvious reason that this film has become less popular in recent decades is that it is nearly 80 years old and shot in black and white. But as I was watching it this past [Christmas Season] I noticed a few other reasons why the film’s storyline and values resonate less and less with Americans as time goes by.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” tells the story of a man named George Bailey from a small middle American town called Bedford Falls. Ever since George was a boy he had grand dreams in his head of all the places in the world he would travel and all the magnificent experiences he would have and what a name he would make for himself. And yet, time and again, George’s pursuit of his dreams is stymied by his life circumstances. Over and over during the course of his life, when George is about set to chase his dreams, disaster strikes … Responsibility calls … Life happens. And at every challenge, George does the right thing. He denies himself. He answers the call to service and responsibility, serving the poor of his local community and his family. 

But, even when doing right, he unknowingly allows a seed of resentment to grow in his heart.

When George’s business is faced with bankruptcy he, despondent, goes to a bridge and contemplates taking his own life. From his perspective, his life has been a failure. He hasn’t pursued his dreams, he hasn’t attained his goals, he hasn’t been true to himself, he hasn’t followed his heart. He has denied himself and served others his whole life and for what? Life in a broken down old house, running a bankrupt business, serving a bunch of ungrateful nobodies in a nowhere town? Maybe it would have been better if I had never been born, he concludes.

Thankfully, his guardian angel intervenes and shows him all of the ways his service has touched and changed the lives of others. George leaves the bridge without any of the circumstances of life having been changed, but he has a new perspective. He no longer resents his family, his broken down house, the people of his little town. He sees them as beautiful and worthy of his love and care regardless of their flaws.

The film could have ended there, honestly. The victory was won. but Hollywood needs things to be wrapped up in a sentimental and “on the nose” fashion of course, so the whole town arrives to shower George with love and to donate money to pay off his debts.

Jack Higgens is a famous spy-thriller author who has written 60 novels. His most famous work is The Eagle Has Landed, which sold over 50 million copies.  After all of his success, he was asked, “What do you wish that you’d known as a boy that you know now?”  Higgens didn’t take long to answer.  He said, "When you get to the top, there's nothing there."