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Fast food and obesity

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Replies

  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Fast food franchises like McDonalds etc sometimes get blamed for obesity ( especially in certain countries) . Is it really fair to blame them tho? I mean if its about CI<CO then you could eat a homemade salad which may contain more calories than a McChicken. Opinions?

    The bigger issue is that people's idea of an appropriate portion is out of whack with reality...whether it's fast food, a sit down restaurant, or home cooking...people often eat 2-3x of what's really appropriate for them.

    Yep, when I was a kid in the early '70's a typical burger, fries and drink was the size of a current kid's meal.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I got fat from overeating regular food as we dont eat a lot of fast food and never really did. I would eat it once a month or less,most often it was less. so I got fat on foods I ate at home. portions has a lot to do with it. when you read a package and think a portion is one size and then you weigh it and its not,makes you realize that things arent always what they seem.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Fast food franchises like McDonalds etc sometimes get blamed for obesity ( especially in certain countries) . Is it really fair to blame them tho? I mean if its about CI<CO then you could eat a homemade salad which may contain more calories than a McChicken. Opinions?

    The bigger issue is that people's idea of an appropriate portion is out of whack with reality...whether it's fast food, a sit down restaurant, or home cooking...people often eat 2-3x of what's really appropriate for them.

    Yep, when I was a kid in the early '70's a typical burger, fries and drink was the size of a current kid's meal.

    funny when I was a kid (in the 70s and 80s) I remember the burgers being bigger than they are now but the drinks and french fries were a lot smaller.we didnt get supersize options until the mid to late 80s(at least where I grew up).
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    Obesity is caused by one thing. Consuming more calories than you burn.

    What contributes to that is a vast and wide issue.

    We are less active, food is more abundant, governments and Drs giving false and conflicting information, lack of education calorie wise and portion wise, I could go on and on.
  • healthy491
    healthy491 Posts: 384 Member
    MeganMoroz89 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Fast food franchises like McDonalds etc sometimes get blamed for obesity ( especially in certain countries) . Is it really fair to blame them tho? I mean if its about CI<CO then you could eat a homemade salad which may contain more calories than a McChicken. Opinions?

    I think that if you're the kind of person who's eating McDonalds every single day then yeah, it will most likely start to effect your weight in a negative way but that's not McDonalds fault, it's your fault for putting it in your mouth.

    That being said, I know that a lot of people turn to fast food as a cheaper alternative because groceries can definitely be quite expensive. But even that isn't me saying that it's the economy's fault that people are so obese (although it can make buying better food a lot harder, but there's generally a way to work around that), I think that unless you have a medical issue that's causing you to gain/retain weight, then it's your fault that you're obese, nothing/nobody else's (unless you're a child and your parent is feeding you way too much because then you just wouldn't know any better).

    I eat mc donalds almost everyday , but still manage to stay within my calorie range and am not gaining weight
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited September 2016
    healthy491 wrote: »
    MeganMoroz89 wrote: »
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Fast food franchises like McDonalds etc sometimes get blamed for obesity ( especially in certain countries) . Is it really fair to blame them tho? I mean if its about CI<CO then you could eat a homemade salad which may contain more calories than a McChicken. Opinions?

    I think that if you're the kind of person who's eating McDonalds every single day then yeah, it will most likely start to effect your weight in a negative way but that's not McDonalds fault, it's your fault for putting it in your mouth.

    That being said, I know that a lot of people turn to fast food as a cheaper alternative because groceries can definitely be quite expensive. But even that isn't me saying that it's the economy's fault that people are so obese (although it can make buying better food a lot harder, but there's generally a way to work around that), I think that unless you have a medical issue that's causing you to gain/retain weight, then it's your fault that you're obese, nothing/nobody else's (unless you're a child and your parent is feeding you way too much because then you just wouldn't know any better).

    I eat mc donalds almost everyday , but still manage to stay within my calorie range and am not gaining weight

    Thats great for you bur I believe in general those who frequent fast food places gain.

    Sample article
    http://www.news-medical.net/health/Obesity-and-Fast-Food.aspx

    Can people eat fast food on a regular basis and not gain, sure. Is not gaining under those circumstances likely, no
  • Verdenal
    Verdenal Posts: 625 Member
    edited September 2016
    mdonsbach wrote: »

    To your original question no Fast Food places aren't to blame. They aren't shoving the food down our mouths. People just make the choice to eat it. Free Will.

    Big Food does tests on what is tasty, adding fat, salt, and sugar to products. Some food researchers believe that certain flavors are addictive. It's not all on the food places, but they are complicit or actively involved in influencing our opinions about food and our tastes. You may have read that the Sugar Industry influenced respected researchers starting in the 1960s to make fat the villain.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 597 Member
    Verdenal wrote: »
    mdonsbach wrote: »

    To your original question no Fast Food places aren't to blame. They aren't shoving the food down our mouths. People just make the choice to eat it. Free Will.

    Big Food does tests on what is tasty, adding fat, salt, and sugar to products. Some food researchers believe that certain flavors are addictive. It's not all on the food places, but they are complicit or actively involved in influencing our opinions about food and our tastes. You may have read that the Sugar Industry influenced respected researchers starting in the 1960s to make fat the villain.

    I add fat, salt, and sugar to my recipes too (well, not so much sugar, but plenty of fat and salt), because I want them to taste good. Nobody wants bland, dry food.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    healthy491 wrote: »
    Fast food franchises like McDonalds etc sometimes get blamed for obesity ( especially in certain countries) . Is it really fair to blame them tho? I mean if its about CI<CO then you could eat a homemade salad which may contain more calories than a McChicken. Opinions?

    I could eat a ten pound bag of sugar. But I've never done that. I prefer to form my opinions based on what's happening in the world, instead of on things that aren't.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Having a salad with too much dressing once won't make you obese. Maybe if you have two salads per day that are both more calories than a Big Mac, but the obese people I know eat more McDonalds and less salads.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    I got fat eating home made food made mainly from vegetables grown in our garden and meat from cows raised free range by my uncles and grandparents. We could not afford to go out, even to fast food places. It is not fast food, it is too many calories and personal choices to eat too much.

    In terms of education, someone mentioned people know fries have a lot of calories, but I think you would be surprised how many don't realize how many, nor do they realize how many calories a day would be healthy.
  • Karb_Kween
    Karb_Kween Posts: 2,681 Member
    One time I had a chicken sandwich over doused with mayo and gained 5 lbs over night

    The struggle is real folks

    Not every item of FF is created equal as the last, and also the maker of your food might click mayo pump more than once

    You don't take it back because there's too much mayo do you?

    No you eat it,

    As the mayo, tomato and meat juice dribbles over the side of your bun, falling onto the food wrapper you're holding it over

    You get a fry and dip it into the mayo, tomato juice cocktail

    You're in fat, salt and sugar Heaven

    Caloric Hell
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Having a salad with too much dressing once won't make you obese. Maybe if you have two salads per day that are both more calories than a Big Mac, but the obese people I know eat more McDonalds and less salads.

    My mom has struggled with her weight for years. I don't think she ever goes to McD's. She did eat daily salads with ranch in many of her weight-gaining periods. I don't think that's the main culprit in why she gained -- can't separate out one culprit -- but lots of people gained on homecooked food. I never ate high cal salads, but I did eat lots of non-obviously high-cal home cooked stuff, and no fast food (I don't like McD's et al.) while gaining.
  • fitforeternity493
    fitforeternity493 Posts: 37 Member
    No.. But you should watch a documentary called Forks Over Knives. It goes into great detail about obesity and fast food... It's all the chemicals they put into the food that makes me disgusted. At McDonalds in other countries such as in France they use chemicals but fewer than American McDonalds.. It's the chemicals in the food that make people addicted.. Personally I got sick the last time I ate at McDonalds.. Which is something that happens when you eat healthy and detox for a few months..

    I'd say eat the homemade salad over the McChicken any day of the week. At least you know what's in your food.

    At the end of the day it's all about choices.. If anyone is going to eat food at McDonalds, then order a small fry and burger but maybe drink water instead of soda..

    I never once blamed Fast Food places for me becoming technically obese but I also don't let them off the hook either... If anything I blamed my Significant Other and people around me for taking me to eat at these places and watching me grow to a size that is unsafe and unattractive... I had to take a look in the mirror and realize that if I wanted to be healthy I had to do it on my own accord and when I was ready. Becoming ready to change though was a process that didn't happen overnight , it took months.
  • Karb_Kween
    Karb_Kween Posts: 2,681 Member
    fitforeternity493 wrote: »
    No.. But you should watch a documentary called Forks Over Knives. It goes into great detail about obesity and fast food... It's all the chemicals they put into the food that makes me disgusted. At McDonalds in other countries such as in France they use chemicals but fewer than American McDonalds.. It's the chemicals in the food that make people addicted.. Personally I got sick the last time I ate at McDonalds.. Which is something that happens when you eat healthy and detox for a few months..

    I'd say eat the homemade salad over the McChicken any day of the week. At least you know what's in your food.

    At the end of the day it's all about choices.. If anyone is going to eat food at McDonalds, then order a small fry and burger but maybe drink water instead of soda..

    I never once blamed Fast Food places for me becoming technically obese but I also don't let them off the hook either... If anything I blamed my Significant Other and people around me for taking me to eat at these places and watching me grow to a size that is unsafe and unattractive... I had to take a look in the mirror and realize that if I wanted to be healthy I had to do it on my own accord and when I was ready. Becoming ready to change though was a process that didn't happen overnight , it took months.

    I def wouldn't eat McDonald's for lunch in the middle of the day if that's what your saying... well..... not a Hamburger or sandwich anyway

    maybe nuggets mmm
  • MitsuShai
    MitsuShai Posts: 151 Member
    edited September 2016
    I don't have a problem with fast food, in fact I need those chains around so I can grab something quick when I need to. Eating more calories than the calories that are spent is the problem, but of course a lot of things feeds into that like stress. Also, I've noticed that some people don't have an actually "break" or "lunch time" in their day, so they eat throughout the day. Social gatherings can cause people to eat more too. Some people eat the most at dinnertime: pigging out after a long day of work----I have done it before :open_mouth:
    My family and I only eat fast food when we have to. My parents are overweight but they are overweight due to eating too much homemade food. And on top of that, my mother works night shift so her body is pretty jacked up.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    fitforeternity493 wrote: »
    No.. But you should watch a documentary called Forks Over Knives. It goes into great detail about obesity and fast food... It's all the chemicals they put into the food that makes me disgusted. At McDonalds in other countries such as in France they use chemicals but fewer than American McDonalds.. It's the chemicals in the food that make people addicted.. Personally I got sick the last time I ate at McDonalds.. Which is something that happens when you eat healthy and detox for a few months..

    I'd say eat the homemade salad over the McChicken any day of the week. At least you know what's in your food.

    At the end of the day it's all about choices.. If anyone is going to eat food at McDonalds, then order a small fry and burger but maybe drink water instead of soda..

    I never once blamed Fast Food places for me becoming technically obese but I also don't let them off the hook either... If anything I blamed my Significant Other and people around me for taking me to eat at these places and watching me grow to a size that is unsafe and unattractive... I had to take a look in the mirror and realize that if I wanted to be healthy I had to do it on my own accord and when I was ready. Becoming ready to change though was a process that didn't happen overnight , it took months.

    Forks over Knives is a bunch of propaganda doodoo.
  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I'm betting if they served an Egg Mcmuffin at breakfast (300 calories), a double cheeseburger for lunch (450 calories), and a quarter pounder for dinner (540 calories) in state prisons, they probably wouldn't weigh more than they do now.
    When food portion is controlled, weight stays steady regardless of source.

    Prisons are an interesting point of discussion for this topic. The food served in prisons is "institutional food" (i.e. low-priced products bought in large quantities and prepared in bulk). Lots of highly processed foods, hardly what one would call "clean eating" by whatever standard. They're usually also allowed to purchase candy bars, potato chips, etc. from the prison commissary. Yet inmates rarely come out of prison in worse health and/or physical shape than they were when they went in. I've seen many cons who went into the joint in terrible physical condition (either obese, or skinnyfat from being strung out on drugs) and when you ran into them on the streets a year or two later after they'd come out of prison, they were yoked and lean as hell.

    Of course there are some concomitant causative factors - they have plenty of time to exercise and are (mostly) not doing drugs and drinking alcohol while they're in prison - but the fact remains that many of them get into amazing shape/health despite a far less than optimal diet.
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