Tag Archives: fast foods

October 30, 2021 · 11:29 pm

Potentially harmful chemicals found in fast food

Chicken nuggets, burritos and other popular items consumers buy from fast food outlets in the United States contain chemicals that are linked to a long list of serious health problems, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

Researchers at the George Washington University and their colleagues bought fast foods from popular outlets and found 10 of 11 potentially harmful chemicals in the samples, including phthalates, a group of chemicals that are used to make plastics soft and are known to disrupt the endocrine system. The research team also found other plasticizers, chemicals that are emerging as replacements to phthalates.

“We found phthalates and other plasticizers are widespread in prepared foods available at U.S. fast food chains, a finding that means many consumers are getting a side of potentially unhealthy chemicals along with their meal,” Lariah Edwards, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scientist at GW, said. “Stronger regulations are needed to help keep these harmful chemicals out of the food supply.”

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CSPI’s Nutrition Action Healthletter Grades the Changing American Diet

Cheese Consumption hits All-Time High; Americans Still Consuming Too Much Beef & Soda Despite Declines, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to regular readers that the CSPI gives a barely passing grade to the quantity and quality of food we are consuming.

Americans are eating too much of everything, and it’s not just how much, but what we eat, that needs work, according to a report card on the changing American diet published today in Nutrition Action Healthletter. The average American consumes about 2,500 calories per day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. That’s up from about 2,000 calories a day in the 1970s. (my emphasis)

(Ed. note: CSPI is hosting a quiz about America’s Changing Diet. Take it now, if you like, since spoilers follow.)

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Filed under American diet, CSPI, healthy eating, Weight, weight control

Tagged as American diet, calories, cheese, CSPI, fast foods, junk foods, soda, soft drinks

May 22, 2016 · 11:42 pm

How can I include more nutritious food in my diet?

One of our problems in this junk food filled world is that our taste buds get distorted by those over-sugared, over-salted, over-fatted foods. Not only fast foods, but also most processed foods are loaded with these ‘extras’ to extend the food’s shelf life and to take a cattle prod to our taste buds.
Check out my post – A Love Letter to Hostess Ho Ho’s – NOT for more details on this.
Trying to get off these foods can be frustrating because unprocessed healthy foods don’t create the same reaction in our mouths. We bite into fresh fruit and it doesn’t explode on the palate like McDonald’s Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. We need to guard against the erroneous conclusion that the fresh fruit doesn’t have much taste. I don’t mean to single out Mickey D’s except that they are the biggest fast food chain and sell the most.

I wrote about why you shouldn’t drink their Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. You can click the link to read the entire post, but one main item is that the drink contains ” … 67 grams of sugar … 15.95 teaspoonfuls. Are you ready for that? In terms of a cup, that amounts to 1/3 of an 8 ounce cup.” It’s hard to compete with that kind of taste jolt.

Green Tea looks beautiful and imparts wonderful benefits to the body. I just don’t care for the taste, but I find a way to include it in my daily diet.

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Filed under healthy foods

Tagged as fast foods, lazy cook, McDonald's, vacation, weight

April 30, 2015 · 5:58 am

Michelangelo’s David Returned to Italy

I stumbled across this on the web and couldn’t resist sharing it. In case you needed to be reminded about the dangers of relying on fast foods for nutrition.

Tony

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Filed under fast food, fast foods

Tagged as Burger King, fast foods, McDonald's, Michelangelo's David, Starbuck's, weight, weight control

March 6, 2015 · 11:44 am

Fried Foods Tied to Raised Heart Failure Risk

In this study, men who ate fried food one to three times a week had an average 18 percent increased risk of developing heart failure, researchers found. When fried food was eaten four to six times a week, heart failure risk was 25 percent higher, and at seven times or more weekly, 68 percent greater.

Cooking with Kathy Man

Eaten regularly, they might boost chances as much as 68 percent, study finds.

The more fried food you eat, the greater your risk for heart failure, a new study says.

“This study suggests that it might be wise to reduce the frequency and quantity of fried foods consumed weekly in order to prevent heart failure and other chronic conditions,” said lead researcher Dr. Luc Djousse, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Heart failure means the heart isn’t pumping blood throughout the body as well as it should. Symptoms include fatigue and shortness of breath, and it’s one of the most common reasons for hospital admissions among people aged 65 and older, according to the American Heart Association.

In this study, men who ate fried food one to three times a week had an average 18 percent increased risk of developing heart failure, researchers found. When…

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How Can I Include More Nutritious Food in my Diet?

Green Tea looks beautiful and imparts wonderful benefits to the body. I just don’t care for the taste, but I find a way to include it in my daily diet.

Continue reading →