{"id":1802,"date":"2013-05-17T20:27:45","date_gmt":"2013-05-17T18:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pieromaina.me\/wp\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2013-05-17T20:29:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-17T18:29:54","slug":"the-double-edged-sword-of-healthy-fast-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pieromaina.me\/wp\/the-double-edged-sword-of-healthy-fast-food\/","title":{"rendered":"The Double-Edged Sword of \u201cHealthy\u201d Fast Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Title: <\/b>The Double-Edged Sword of \u201cHealthy\u201d Fast Food
\nBy line:<\/b> By Tom Venuto
\nURL:<\/b> www.BurnTheFat.com<\/a>
\nWord count:<\/b> 981 words<\/h4>\n

The Double-Edged Sword of \u201cHealthy\u201d Fast Food By Tom Venuto<\/b> www.BurnTheFat.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/b>What\u2019s on the menu at the big fast food chains lately? Oddly\u00a0 enough, the answer is\u2026\u201chealth food!\u201d Even more incongruous, many are marketing\u00a0 their food for weight loss. Healthy weight loss food at Taco Bell and\u00a0 McDonalds? Is this a noble move to be applauded, is it a big corporate money\u00a0 grab, or is it a double edged sword?<\/p>\n

Remember Jared Fogle, the Subway guy? He lost 245 pounds\u00a0 while eating at Subway regularly. He simply picked the lower calorie menu\u00a0 items. \u00a0Seeing an opportunity, the local\u00a0 store owner pitched Subway corporate with an idea. Before long, Jared was the company\u00a0 spokesperson in their nationwide advertising campaigns which became known as\u00a0 The Subway Diet.<\/p>\n

Sales doubled to 8.2 billion. How much the increase came\u00a0 from the weight loss ads is unknown, but there\u2019s little doubt that using weight\u00a0 loss as a marketing platform was a boon for the sandwich maker. Other fast food\u00a0 chains picked up the weight loss torch where Subway left off.<\/p>\n

The latest is the Taco\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bell Drive through diet, with their own skinny\u00a0 spokesperson: Christine! The ads, which are admittedly conservative, perhaps\u00a0 due to more stringent FTC laws, say Christine lost 54 lbs over 2 years by\u00a0 reducing her calories to 1250 a day, and choosing Taco Bell\u2019s new lower calorie\u00a0 \u201cFresco\u201d items.<\/p>\n

These include \u201c7 diet items with 150 to 240 calories and\u00a0 under 9 grams of fat.\u201d For example, there\u2019s a chicken soft taco with only 170 calories\u00a0 and 4 grams of fat.<\/p>\n

For people who refuse to give up eating at fast food\u00a0 restaurants, this is arguably a positive thing. Take my brother for example,\u00a0 He\u2019s not a total junk food junkie, but left to his own devices, he WILL make a\u00a0 beeline to Taco Bell and McDonalds.<\/p>\n

I went to McDonalds with him a few months ago (I was dragged\u00a0 there), and he was about to order a bacon cheeseburger. I glanced at the menu\u00a0 and said, \u201cThat\u2019s 790 calories!\u201d I glanced down at his belly then continued,\u00a0 \u201cLook, they have chicken wraps. Why don\u2019t you have one of those?\u201d Without\u00a0 questioning me, he agreed, apparently happy to get any McDonalds fix.<\/p>\n

Right there at the counter they had the nutrition\u00a0 information sheets:<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s honey mustard grilled chicken wrap: 260 calories,\u00a0 9 grams fat, 27 grams of carbs, 18 grams of protein.<\/p>\n

That saved him 530 calories. Am I happy there was something\u00a0 with only 260 calories on the menu? Absolutely. Do I applaud the fast food\u00a0 restaurants for offering lower calorie choices? You bet. But the big question\u00a0 is: are these really \u201chealthy choices?\u201d<\/p>\n

A few journalists and bloggers recently answered, \u201cThese\u00a0 fast food diet items are NOT healthy, they\u2019re only \u2018healthi-ER.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

I think they\u2019re both mistaken. I think this food is not\u00a0 healthy nor is it healthier. It\u2019s only lower in calories. If you eat lower\u00a0 calorie food, that can help you lose weight and if you lose weight, that can\u00a0 improve your health. But what if your definition of healthy food includes nutrition,\u00a0 nutrient density and absence of artificial ingredients?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at that very low calorie chicken wrap. Is\u00a0 it really healthier just because it\u2019s got 1\/3 the calories of a bacon\u00a0 cheeseburger?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the ingredients straight from McDonald\u2019s website:<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s Grilled Chicken Breast Filet (wrap): Chicken\u00a0 breast filets with rib meat, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, food\u00a0 starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract,\u00a0 hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten] proteins, garlic powder, paprika,\u00a0 chicken fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal source), caramel\u00a0 color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, onion powder, extractives of paprika),\u00a0 modified potato starch, and sodium phosphates. CONTAINS: SOY AND WHEAT.\u00a0 Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially\u00a0 hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil,\u00a0 soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate\u00a0 (preservative), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta\u00a0 carotene (color). (and don\u2019t forget the 800 mg of sodium).<\/p>\n

HOLY CRAP! Shouldn\u2019t chicken breast be just one ingredient\u2026\u00a0 chicken breast?<\/p>\n

This is not food. It\u2019s more like what author Michael Pollan\u00a0 would call an \u201cedible food-like substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about the honey mustard sauce? The first ingredient\u00a0 after water is\u2026 SUGAR!<\/p>\n

The flour tortilla ingredients? Enriched bleached wheat\u00a0 flour, also made with vegetable shortening (may contain one or more of the\u00a0 following: hydrogenated soybean oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated\u00a0 soybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides added),\u00a0 contains 2% or less of the following: sugar, leavening (sodium aluminum\u00a0 sulfate, calcium sulfate, sodium phosphate, baking soda, corn starch,\u00a0 monocalcium phosphate), salt, wheat gluten, dough conditioners, sodium\u00a0 metabisulfite, distilled monoglycerides.<\/p>\n

Trans fats? Sugar? Aluminum? Stuff you can\u2019t pronounce and\u00a0 have to look up to find out it\u2019s preservatives and disinfectants?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t confuse the issues: weight loss and health\u2026. Calories\u00a0 and nutrition. There IS a difference, and that is what makes \u201chealthy\u201d fast\u00a0 food a double edged sword at best.<\/p>\n

Some people, like my brother, simply aren\u2019t going to give up\u00a0 fast food completely. If I can get him to make better bad choices, that could\u00a0 help him control his weight. If that works, then I\u2019m pleased that the fast food\u00a0 restaurants have such choices to offer.<\/p>\n

But if you wanted to make a good choice – a healthy choice –\u00a0 you\u2019d forget about \u201cdriving through\u201d anywhere on a regular basis. You\u2019d shop\u00a0 for whole, fresh, natural real food, keep a well-stocked kitchen\u2026 and learn how\u00a0 to cook.<\/p>\n

The Subway diet, the Drive Through diet, or the Weight\u00a0 Watchers approved McDonalds menu (yes its true, what a pair that is!) Don\u2019t kid\u00a0 yourself \u2013 this is not only not healthy, it\u2019s not healthier \u2013 it\u2019s lower\u00a0 calorie junk food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to our\u00a0 restaurant sir. Would you like a large plate of dog poo or a small plate of dog\u00a0 poo?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo thank you, I will\u00a0 take neither. No matter what the serving size, crap is still crap.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Train hard and expect success!<\/p>\n

Tom Venuto, author of www.BurnTheFat.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Founder & CEO of www.BurnTheFat\/InnerCircle<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/p>\n

\n

Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best\u00a0\u00a0 seller, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle:\u00a0\u00a0 Fat <\/em><\/p>\n

Burning Secrets of the World\u2019s Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models.<\/em> Tom\u00a0\u00a0 is a \"Tom<\/a><\/p>\n

lifetime natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert who<\/p>\n

achieved an\u00a0\u00a0 astonishing 3.7% body fat level without<\/p>\n

drugs or supplements. Discover how to\u00a0\u00a0 increase your<\/p>\n

metabolism and burn stubborn body fat, find out which<\/p>\n

foods burn\u00a0\u00a0 fat and which foods turn to fat, plus get a<\/p>\n

free fat loss report and mini course\u00a0\u00a0 by visiting Tom’s<\/p>\n

site at: www.BurnTheFat.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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