| What's on the menu at the big fast food chains lately? | | | | healthier choices in the sense that they can help to |
| Oddly enough, the answer is... "health food!" Even more | | | | reduce total daily caloric intake, which can facilitate |
| incongruous, many are marketing their food for weight | | | | weight loss. If you lose weight, that can improve your |
| loss. Healthy weight loss food at Taco Bell and | | | | health. But what if your definition of healthy food is |
| McDonalds? Is this a noble move to be applauded, is it | | | | dependent on nutrition, nutrient density and absence of |
| a big corporate money grab, or is it a double edged | | | | artificial ingredients? |
| sword? | | | | Let's take a look at that very low calorie chicken wrap. |
| Almost everyone remembers the Jared weight loss | | | | Do you really think it's healthier just because it's got 1/3 |
| campaign for Subway. Jared Fogle was the guy who | | | | the calories of a bacon cheeseburger? |
| lost 245 pounds while eating at Subway regularly. He | | | | Here's the ingredients straight from McDonald's |
| simply picked the lower calorie items on the menu. | | | | website: |
| Seeing an opportunity, the local store owner pitched | | | | McDonald's Grilled Chicken Breast Filet (wrap): Chicken |
| Subway corporate with an idea. Before long, Jared | | | | breast filets with rib meat, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, |
| was the company spokesperson in their nationwide | | | | food starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, |
| advertising campaigns which became known as, The | | | | autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, |
| Subway Diet. | | | | wheat gluten] proteins, garlic powder, paprika, chicken |
| Subway sales doubled to 8.2 billion. How much the | | | | fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal |
| increase came from the weight loss ads is unknown, | | | | source), caramel color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, |
| but there's little doubt that using weight loss as a | | | | onion powder, extractives of paprika), modified potato |
| marketing platform was a boon for the sandwich | | | | starch, and sodium phosphates. CONTAINS: SOY |
| maker. Other fast food chains picked up the weight | | | | AND WHEAT. Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid |
| loss torch where subway left off. | | | | soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed |
| The latest is the Taco Bell drive through diet. With its | | | | and soybean oils, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, |
| own dedicated website and advertising campaign, the | | | | soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate |
| drive through diet flaunts their own "Jared": Christine! | | | | and potassium sorbate (preservative), artificial flavor, |
| The ads, which are admittedly conservative, (perhaps | | | | citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color). |
| due to more stringent FTC laws), say Christine lost 54 | | | | (and don't forget the 800 mg of sodium). |
| lbs over 2 years by reducing her calories to 1250 a | | | | HOLY CRAP! Shouldn't chicken breast be just one |
| day, and part of her success came from choosing | | | | ingredient... chicken breast?! Isn't that generally what |
| Taco Bell's new lower calorie "Fresco" items. | | | | healthy, whole food is - one ingredient? |
| These include "7 diet items with 150 to 240 calories | | | | This is not food. It's more like what author Michael |
| and under 9 grams of fat." For example, there's a | | | | Pollan would call an "edible food-like substance." |
| chicken soft taco with only 170 calories and 4 grams | | | | What about the honey mustard sauce? The first |
| of fat. | | | | ingredient after water is... SUGAR! |
| By swapping traditional food items with some of these | | | | The flour tortilla ingredients? Enriched bleached wheat |
| lower calorie menu items, you'd take in fewer calories | | | | flour, also made with vegetable shortening (may |
| and less fat. If all else remained equal, this could help | | | | contain one or more of the following: hydrogenated |
| you lose weight. For people who refuse to give up | | | | soybean oil, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated |
| eating at fast food restaurants, this is arguably a | | | | soybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil with mono- |
| positive thing. | | | | and diglycerides added), contains 2% or less of the |
| Take my brother for example, He's not a total junk | | | | following: sugar, leavening (sodium aluminum sulfate, |
| food junkie, but left to his own devices, he WILL make | | | | calcium sulfate, sodium phosphate, baking soda, corn |
| a beeline to Taco Bell and McDonalds and so will the | | | | starch, monocalcium phosphate), salt, wheat gluten, |
| friends he hangs out with. | | | | dough conditioners, sodium metabisulfite, distilled |
| I went to McDonalds with him a few months ago (not | | | | monoglycerides. |
| by choice - I was dragged there), and he was about to | | | | Trans fats? Sugar? Aluminum? Stuff you can't |
| order a bacon cheeseburger. I glanced at the menu | | | | pronounce and have to look up to find out it's |
| and said, "That's 790 calories!" I glanced down at his | | | | preservatives and disinfectants? |
| belly then continued, "Look, they have chicken wraps. | | | | Don't confuse the issues: weight loss and health.... |
| Why don't you have one of those?" Without | | | | Calories and nutrition. There IS a difference! |
| questioning me, he agreed, apparently happy just to | | | | This is what makes "healthy" fast food a double |
| get any McDonalds fix. | | | | edged sword. |
| Right there at the counter they had the nutrition | | | | Some people, like my brother, simply aren't going to |
| information sheets: | | | | give up fast food completely. If I can get him to make |
| McDonald's honey mustard grilled chicken wrap: 260 | | | | better bad choices that could help him control his |
| calories, 9 grams fat, 27 grams of carbs, 18 grams of | | | | weight. If that works, then I'm pleased that the fast |
| protein. | | | | food restaurants have such choices to offer. |
| That saved him 530 calories. Am I happy there is | | | | But if you wanted to make a good choice - a healthy |
| something with 260 calories on the menu and not just | | | | choice - you'd forget about "driving through" anywhere |
| 700 calories across the board? Absolutely. Do I | | | | for your diet. You'd shop for whole, fresh, natural real |
| applaud the fast food restaurants for offering lower | | | | food, keep a well-stocked kitchen... and learn how to |
| calorie choices? You bet. But here's the big question: | | | | cook. |
| It may be nice to have these lower calorie choices on | | | | The Subway diet, the Drive Through diet, The Cookie |
| the fast food menus (especially with calories posted) | | | | Diet, or the Weight Watchers approved McDonalds |
| but are these really "healthy choices?" | | | | menu (yes its true, what a pair that is!) Don't kid |
| A few journalists and bloggers caught the | | | | yourself - this is not only not healthy, it's not healthier - |
| incongruency and cleverly countered, "These new fast | | | | it's lower calorie junk food. |
| food menu items are NOT healthy, they're only | | | | "Welcome to our restaurant sir. Would you like a large |
| 'healthi-ER.'" | | | | plate of dog poo or a small plate of dog poo?" |
| I think they're both mistaken. This food is not healthy | | | | "No thank you, I will take neither. No matter what the |
| nor is it healthier. It's only lower in calories. | | | | serving size, crap is still crap. |
| You could say these lower calorie fast food items are | | | | |