An Argument Against Fast Food

BTW - you had a donut in your diary? Is that not considered "processed food" CoachReddy?
Also, aren't the Triscuits in your diary also "processed food".....????

Just pointing out the obvious.....

OMG DOES TONY HORTON KNOW ABOUT THE BURGER KING, CHINESE FOOD AND PIZZA TOO?!

Here is something funny. While no one will disagree that fast food is bad for you, the MOST ELITE athlete in the world every, consistently eats unhealthy processed foods such as pizza, french toast, pancakes and more. Please explain how the most elite athlete in the worlds performance suffered?

http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/12/the-most-popular-diets-of-2012-according-to-google/slide/michael-phelps-diet/

QFT

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Here is something funny. While no one will disagree that fast food is bad for you, the MOST ELITE athlete in the world every, consistently eats unhealthy processed foods such as pizza, french toast, pancakes and more. Please explain how the most elite athlete in the worlds performance suffered?

http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/12/the-most-popular-diets-of-2012-according-to-google/slide/michael-phelps-diet/

QFT

Michael Phelps doesn't eat 12,000 calories a day.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/05/michael-phelps-12000-calorie-diet-just-a-myth/1#.UPYGAuSsJjU

Michael Phelps requires over 12,000 calories of food a day. You simply can't reach that level without eating processed foods. There are exceptions to every rule.

But you said

" I'm not even saying you should! If you'd rather eat fast food because you really enjoy it, then I would never advocate giving it up! But if your goals are to perform better and to feel better, not just lose weight, it may be worth considering. "

So, if we go by what you said, then Michael Phelps should give up fast food in order to perform better.

My point is, if fast food is making up a small portion of your diet, any of the effects he listed, even if true, would have a negligible overall effect.
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fast food is just an example. but the above effects happen with any refined and processed foods like the french bread you get at restaurants before your meal.
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How is "energy loss" measured? Are you saying that it takes more calories to digest food that isn't nutrient dense?
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If that were true, I'd eat more fast food to since it takes more energy to convert. So basically, fast food is like a "negative food" then, right?

(Just in case someone didn't "sense" it..I'm being sarcastic_
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Finally, someone has the stones to come out and take the controversial stand that fast food might not be the healthiest choice. :yawn:

haha apparently according to this board it's quite controversial!

simply thought it was a different way of looking at it that I hadn't heard before - and makes absolutely no sense.

Fixed that for you. Google TEF (Thermic Effect of Food). Here, I'll help you out:

As it turns out, different nutrients have different individual TEF’s. Protein turns out to have the highest, to the tune of 20-30%. Meaning that of the total protein calories you eat, 20-30% is lost in processing. Carbohydrate stored as glycogen requires about 5-6% of the total calories. Carbohydrate converted to fat (which generally doesn’t happen in very significant amounts) uses up ~23% of the total calories as TEF. Most fats have a tiny TEF, maybe 2-3% (because they can be stored as fat in fat cells with minimal processing).

TEF doesn't suddenly spike or dip simply because the protein, fat or carbohydrates came from a certain type of food. Your body doesn't know what a Big Mac is - all it knows is there are macronutrients coming on board, and it processes them accordingly. It sounds to me like the source of that article has a vegan and/or orthorexic bias and is making up "facts" to further his agenda without regard to science.

you love your science. can you explain for me the TEF of all the micronutrients that make up macronutrients?

by the way, his book is back up by pages and pages of scientific sources. as I mentioned, I just didn't feel like listing pages of resources.

So, you are saying that you can add up all the micronitrients and it will make a macronutrient? I think you are confused.

Well it's definitely not the best food for you, but I go by the 80/20 rule. I try to eat good most of the time but if I want a treat, I will have one. No sense in depriving myself.

CoachReddy - have you actually ever read any of the article and studies people have provided you in you 'quest for knowledge'?

Like this one:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/hormonal-responses-to-a-fast-food-meal-compared-with-nutritionally-comparable-meals-of-different-composition-research-review.html

<snip>the metabolic response between the three meals was essentially identical. There were no differences in either insulin or blood glucose, the fatty acid profile makes perfect sense given the composition of the meals and blood lipids showed basically no change.<snip>

CoachReddy - have you actually ever read any of the article and studies people have provided you in you 'quest for knowledge'?

Just waiting for it to be broken into smaller pieces, reiterated, rephrased, masticated and regurgitated into something digestible.

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CoachReddy - have you actually ever read any of the article and studies people have provided you in you 'quest for knowledge'?

Like this one:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/hormonal-responses-to-a-fast-food-meal-compared-with-nutritionally-comparable-meals-of-different-composition-research-review.html

<snip>the metabolic response between the three meals was essentially identical. There were no differences in either insulin or blood glucose, the fatty acid profile makes perfect sense given the composition of the meals and blood lipids showed basically no change.<snip>

that's literally the same one AnvilHead posted and yes I read it. It used 6 people. 6. and studied ONE meal. ONE.

that study has absolutely NO bearing on the long term effects of fast food consumption. <--- THAT is science.

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Now, the study does have a few limitations that I want to mention explicitly.
The study only looked at a single meal. It’s entirely possible that a diet based completely around fast food would show different effects.
The sample size was small: 6 overweight men and two women. It’s possible that differences would have shown up with more subjects. A related question is whether lean individuals would respond differently. Perhaps but I doubt it. As I discussed in The Influence of the Subjects’ Training State on the Glycemic Index, GI and insulin response are even less relevant in trained individuals.

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The only significant difference found in the study was that LDL cholesterol decreased more after both of the organic meals compared to the fast food meal

I posted more links - quite a while ago - you never responded.

And yes, I am aware of the limitations - they are called out in the article.

read up to page 3, that was enough.

Was there an explanation as to what is "bad" about French bread?