Monday, July 16, 2012

200 Gallons for a "Nutrition" Drink

I've been busy, so I stocked up on chocolate-flavored nutrition drinks on sale at the local pharmacy. I figured one drink couldn't cost too much water.

I was wrong.

Here was the rough accounting for significant components:

  • 4 oz soy milk
  • 3 oz skim milk
  • 22g sugar
  • 10g cocoa powder
  • trace vanilla

    I admit I'm guessing a bit when it comes to the quantities here. With a bit of internet research I was able to find out how much cocoa powder and sugar you need to make chocolate milk. And I know there's more soy in this than milk.

    112 gallons for the soy milk @ 28 gallons per ounce.
    18 gallons for skim milk @ 6 gallons per ounce.
    11 gallons for sugar @ 0.5 gallons per gram.
    40 gallons for cocoa powder @ 4.13 gallons per gram.
    ~19 gallons for vanilla @ 33.42 gallons per gram of vanilla bean.
    -----------
    200 gallons total water consumed to produce a 250 calorie, 8 ounce serving of nutrition drink.

    If I'd wanted something that gave me 9 grams of protein, 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of fat, my best bet would be a bit more than an ounce of chicken, a 6-7 ounce baked potato, and a pat of butter (5 g). We could even add in a 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli (~3 ounces) and an apple (3.3 ounces) for dessert.

    20 gallons for the chicken at 16.6 gallons per ounce.
    13 gallons for the potato at 2.1 gallons per ounce.
    6 gallons for the pat of butter at 1.14 gallons per gram.
    6 gallons for the broccoli at 2.1 gallons per ounce.
    20 gallons for a small apple at 6.2 gallons per ounce.
    ----------
    65 gallons total for a nice little meal. Maybe that's what I'll have for dinner...
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