There seems to be a connotation attached to the 2 words fast food when they are together. Bad, gross, fake, unhealthy. Yes, much of fast food seems to embody all of that. However, I’m curious what the worst of the worst is–which fast food options you should most certainly try to avoid if at all possible. I’m hoping this article will inform all of you as well.
First, I think it is important to understand why fast food is so unhealthy in the first place. One major factor is that it contains high levels of sugar. A standard burger that you’d find at a fast food joint contains about 10 grams of sugar, about the same amount you would find in a few cookies. Also, these meals have a high calorie content, often empty calories. One fast food meal can contain as much as 1500 calories, which is way more than half of what a typical adult needs. Other major issues with fast food are trans fat, digestive problems, poor nutritional value, and preservatives.
Business Insider, a celebrity, American business, and technology news website, decided to study nutritional value from 20 different fast food chains to discover the unhealthiest of them all. These foods were ranked based on their calories, so the one with the most calories was considered the unhealthiest. Some of the more popular foods that made the list include KFC’s pot pie (790 calories and 45 grams of fat), Taco Bell’s Cinnabon Delig
hts (930 calories and 53 grams of fat), Panera’s mac and cheese (980 calories and 2030 mg of sodium), and Chipotle carnitas bowl (1365 calories and 66 grams of fat). However, the winning meal went to Panda Express with the 3-Entree plate, containing over 2000 calories, 88 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 2860 mg of sodium and 235 mg of cholesterol.
What that study showed me was that the calories add up without many people realizing. However, there are evident ways to avoid a few hundred calories if you really set your mind to it. In
stead of getting 3 burger patties on one sandwich, request just one or two. Opt out of the extra cheese and various toppings on that Chipotle bowl and stick with the basics. Ask for dressing on the side. Try sticking to lean roasted or grilled meats instead of the fried. Also, it is always a good idea to avoid the soda machine. There can be up to 400 calories in a large soda, which is easily avoidable.
The conclusion that I’ve drawn is that all fast food joints offer meals which are extremely unhealthy in regards to caloric intake, fat, cholesterol, etc. However, if you order smartly, you can easily reduce the unhealthiness you might be consuming.
Some of these numbers are eye popping. When people go to a fast food restaurant they often think it’s just another meal. Very little of the time do people actually think what they’re putting in their body. What the FDA is currently doing by requiring nutritional information to be shown is great. Everything is fine in moderation and that’s how fast food should be looked at. If you’re rewarding yourself for something go ahead and treat yourself, on the other hand don’t being going to KFC everyday for lunch. The soda stat you brought up makes me feel very good about my water only consumption at fast food places. A cheaper and much healthier option
Like everyone else has noted, this blog post is slightly depressing. I recently fell in love with Panda Express at the HUB and I knew this probably wasn’t the best habit for me, but I liked being in denial. This blog post brought up very good nutritional advice. While fast food is very bad for you, in small doses it can be okay. And if you’re going to splurge, you can still be smart about it. I get the bowl at Panda Express, which is just one entree, compared to the three entree platter. I would be very interested in creating an experiment for this. I would take two groups of people who have decided to diet. I would have one group never binge on junk food and have one group eat a small amount of junk food every week and see who loses more weight. My guess would be the group eating fast food would still lose more weight.
I found this blog very saddening because my favorite restaurant in the Hub is by far Panda Express. To be truthful, I probably eat it more than I should – since I eat it multiple times a week. However after reading your blog I am going to consider changing my eating habits to reflect a healthier lifestyle. Like everyone else, I am trying my best to avoid the freshman 15, and hopefully it should be a little bit easier now that I know to avoid Panda Express.
I was relieved to see that the worst fast food meal is something that I don’t usually order. I would have been heartbroken if you had told me that my favorite thing to eat was helping me gain weight. I like how you got into a lot of detail about each of the meals by stating their calorie count and the amount of fat they have. Are there any experiments to prove how bad some of these meals are for people to eat? If so, how often is too often? Many of us all have heard about Supersize Me, which is a great reminder that although fast food may be the easiest option, that it is most definitely not the best option.
I actually worked at Chick Fil A in high school and believe it or not a Chick Fil A sauce has more fat in it then the chicken nuggets themselves. I think it’s interesting how you talked about the intake of soda. If an avid drinker stopped drinking it, they would gain more money in their bank account and lose a lot more weight. Small, conscious decision are important when deciding how to eat and whats right, they can drastically help or hurt you.
This is very interesting and a good topic. I 100% agree with your conclusion that all fast food is unhealthy. I am a huge fan of Taco Bell and it is so bad and so embarrassing and because of my obsession with Taco Bell I only allow myself to get it 4 times a year and those 4 times a year are the best times of the year. It is bad that since the first day I walked into a Taco Bell I have gotten the same thing and know exactly how to order it, I am very embarrassed by that fact. I have seen and I hope that everyone has seen the movie Supersize me and understand that all that he ate was McDonalds and he gained so much weight and his body stated to break down and not function normally. The fact that KFC’s pot pie is 790 calories is actually making me sick because that is not okay and that is why America has a problem with obesity. 930 calories for cinnabon delights is not okay and something needs to be done so that people don’t eat their calories for a day in one sitting. I think that these fast food places need to change the way in which they produce and sell their food. I think that with the creating of fast casual dining places like Panera and Chipotle people are more acceptable to getting a healthier option. I agree with you that people need to learn to chose the healthier option that is why, like you said, I don’t get the cheese in my bowl at Chipotle. I hope the future learns that fast food is dangerous.