FitSugar

From Bad to Worse: The Unhealthiest Fast Food Items

FitSugar — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:00:04 -0700

In case you're wondering what not to eat at the major fast food chains, Next Generation Food has made it easy for you with this handy new chart. It's a colorful reminder of what we already know: fast food is not very good for you. However, the figures are still unsettling.

The chart illustrates the bad (Dunkin' Donuts) to the worse (Pizza Hut) and stacks them up against each other in fat, sodium, cholesterol, and calorie content. Here's a small sampling of what you'll see.

An Angry Triple Whopper from Burger King has a whopping 90 grams of fat.
A Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks contains 500 calories.
A Super Sonic Cheeseburger has 175 mg of cholesterol
A 14-inch Supreme Stuffed Crust Pizza from Pizza Hut has 4,500 mg of sodium

If you can't avoid eating fast food, try these healthier options instead.

5 McDonald's Menu Items Under 300 Calories

FitSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:00:00 -0700

When on the road or in a rush, grabbing a quick meal is sometimes unavoidable. So if you find yourself having to stop into a McDonald's, here are five menu options under 300 calories.

View Slideshow ›

As the Economy Suffers, McDonald's Sales Are Up

FitSugar — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:00:00 -0800

We're all feeling the effects of the recession right now, and many of us have had to buckle down on how much we spend. Since nutritious and wholesome food costs more, we may not be able to afford it, and are turning toward cheaper alternatives. People who were used to frequenting pricier sit-down restaurants are now opting for crappy fast food to save money. That translates to an increase in sales for McDonald's. Their sales are up 8.2 percent, which is a huge deal. I guess when the credit market froze, it didn't stop McDonald's-lovers from "Lovin' It" even more. Who could pass up the dollar-menu with this economy? It's disheartening that McDonald's is actually making a profit with this recession.

When was the last time you ate at Mickey D's? Tell me in the comment section below.

NYC Trans Fat Ban in Full Effect Today

FitSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:00:00 -0700

If you live in the Big Apple or plan to visit there in the near future, you'll be happy to know that the trans fat ban will be in full effect by today, July 1. Exactly a year ago, all restaurants were required to eliminate trans fat from their cooking oils, margarines, and shortenings. This second deadline states that all prepared foods from restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, salad bars, and food carts must contain less than .5 grams of trans fat per serving. Yep, by some FDA loophole, foods containing .5 grams can be labeled trans fat free. These various eateries do have a three-month grace period to comply with the trans fat ban; after that they can expect some hefty fines. Unfortunately, prepackaged foods sold in the manufacturer's original packaging at these restaurants, bakeries, etc. (like outsourced prepackaged salad dressing) are exempt from the ban. If so you'll still need to check labels on those foods.

If you frequent a fast food joint, here's what you can expect:

Dunkin' Donuts: Switched to a blend of palm, soybean, and cottonseed oil.
McDonald's: Eliminated cooking in trans fat oil last year. Now their cookies and apple pies are trans fat free too.
Burger King: In NYC chains, their fries, apple pies, and biscuits are trans fat free.

What can you expect from other chains? To find out read more.

KFC: Ditched trans fat and recently removed it from their pot pie and biscuits.
Pizza Hut: Removed trans fat from the one style on pizza that contained it.
Boston Market: In NYC, they're testing a trans fat free version of their chicken pot pie.

I'm really psyched for NYC (actually jealous), that this ban has taken into effect, but I wish these chains would ditch trans fat in other cities as well. Don't you?

Source

NYC Chain Restaurants Required to Display Calories, Starting Monday

FitSugar — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:00:00 -0700

I applauded New York City when it banned trans fat from restaurants and started using healthier oils. I was psyched that fast food chains were also being required to post calorie counts on their menus but annoyed that McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's decided that rule didn't apply to them. So it went through the courts, and too bad for them, they're going to have to listen. A judge declared that this regulation is reasonable and will apply to restaurants in NYC that are part of chains with at least 15 outlets across the country. That includes fast-food places like McDonald’s and sit-down chains such as Olive Garden and T.G.I. Friday’s.

The calorie posting rule goes into effect this Monday, April 21. Some restaurants including Starbucks and Chipotle have already started to post calories on menus, but the Health Department won't start fining non-complying restaurants until June 3.

NYC is hoping that by displaying calories, consumers can make healthier choices (like deciding NOT to super-size it), and it will then help to reduce the prevalence of obesity and diabetes (type 2). New York City is the first US city to enact a regulation regarding displaying calories on menus, but Seattle and the state of California are both considering similar bills. Pretty awesome, huh? Do you think this displayed info will affect people's food decisions?

Source

McDonald's Is Going Organic!

FitSugar — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:00:00 -0700

I took a double take when I saw this commercial on TV last night. McDonald's is going organic? It's like an oxymoron, right? But it's true. They will be ditching their conventional veggies and serving only organic lettuce and tomato on their organic grass-fed beef burgers. Their French fries will be made with organic taters, and they'll even have packets of organic ketchup to dip them in.

They're also expanding their menu to include heart healthy veggie burgers made with tofu and soy cheese. Want to see a sample of their new menu? Then read more.

April Fool's! You were right if you thought this sounded too good to be true. Oh well, a girl can dream . . .

Fast Food Breakdown: French Fries

FitSugar — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:45:00 -0800

What is it about french fries that makes us crave them so? Is it the saltiness? The crispy outside and soft, warm inside? Is it that they make ketchup taste so good?

Well whatever the reason, people love them and fast-food joints know that. Unfortunately deep-fried foods aren't exactly healthy for us, which we know, but maybe seeing some actual numbers will help prevent us from ordering the super-size fries at Mickey D's next time.

Want to see the nutritional info? Then read more

Check out how a large-size order of fries compares at these popular fast-food chains.

Place	Calories	Trans Fat (g)	Sodium (mg)
McDonald's	570	8	330
Burger King	500	6	820
Wendy's	540	1	550
Arby's Homestyle	566	1	1,029
Arby's Curly	631	1	1,476
Hardee's Regular	610	unknown	370
Hardee's Crispy Curls	480	unknown	1,190
A&W Regular	430	5.5	640
A&W Chili Cheese	400	4	990
In-N-Out Burger	400	0	245
Jack in the Box Natural Cut	640	10	1180
Jack in the Box Seasoned Curly	550	10	1,200
White Castle	700	11	560
Sonic Regular	280	0	135
Sonic Chili Cheese	450	.5	610
Dairy Queen	730	5	1,530
Carl's Jr.	620	unknown	380
Popeyes	310	1	660
KFC Potato Wedges	260	0	740

Whoa, hang on a sec. Did I read those numbers from Dairy Queen correctly? 730 calories and 1,530mg of sodium? Yikes. I've never tried their french fries but they better be the best-tasting potatoes in the world. White Castle's fries aren't too far behind with 700 calories and a whopping 11g of trans fat. The worst thing is that people eat these on the side. If french fries contain this many calories, I don't even want to think about what the total number of calories would be if you ate them along with a burger.

If these numbers don't make you steer clear of fast-food french fries, maybe this video about McDonald's preservatives will seal the deal. It's disgustingly shocking. It makes you realize that it's not only the trans fat, calories, and sodium that are unhealthy, but you have no idea what kind of crap and chemicals these fast-food chains are putting into their food, and how it'll negatively affect your body.

Source

Kids Think Food Tastes Better With McDonald's Name

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:45:00 -0700

I just found out about this fascinating study led by Dr. Thomas Robinson, the director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Packard Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics and of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Talk about serious credentials.

He had 63 children, ages 3 and 5, sample five foods: chicken nuggets, a hamburger, French fries, baby carrots and milk. The chicken nuggets, hamburger and French fries were all from McDonald's; the carrots and milk were from a grocery store.

Each food was divided into two portions: one wrapped in a McDonald's wrapper or placed in a McDonald's bag and the other in a wrapper without the McDonald's logo.

Want to know what the kids had to say about the carrots? Then read more

The kids thought the food branded with the McDonald's name tasted "better," even though the foods were exactly the same! Apparently kids do judge a food by its cover. That seems like early brand recognition, too early in my book.

With further investigation, Dr. Robinson found that 1/3 of these children ate at Mickey D's more than once a week, and more than 3/4 of them had McDonald's toys at home. The children had about 2-3 TVs in their homes, and more than half the kids had TVs in their rooms.

It's no wonder kids are "lovin' it" - McDonald's spends a ton of moolah advertising to kids. It's really not fair since kids don't understand the persuasive nature of advertising, and they don't realize that eating foods high in sugar and fat can cause childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and adolescent heart disease.

McDonald's responded by saying they are dealing with the problem. Hmm. Here's an idea. How about you stop advertising your unhealthy, far-from-nutritional food to kids?! Or better yet - why just advertise the healthy stuff you do sell? Oh, a mother can dream, can't she?

I do believe that parents should be monitoring what their kids eat, and teach them how to make healthy choices. If kids ages 3 and 5 years are learning to dine regularly at McDonald's, they are going to make the same choices once they are older. By then, health problems will have begun their course, and those unhealthy eating habits will be tough to break. Now is the time, when kids are young, to instill ways to eat and stay healthy.

Source

Don't Be Fooled By HUGO

FitSugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 03:30:00 -0700

McDonald's is at it again, with the "it" being Super Sized soft drinks. This time they have given the drink the friendly human name Hugo. Maybe they think Les Miserable makes people thirsty - thinking of all those bedraggled characters singing the story written by Victor Hugo creates the desire for a really big cup of soda? Nope! I think they mean Hugo more like HUGE.

McDonald's uses Hugo as a modifier as well. Mickey D's asks, "Do you have a HUGO sized thirst?" According to the New York Times the 42-ounce drink adds about 410 calories to your meal. All those extra calories is only going to cost you about 89 cents.

McDonald's dropped their "Super Size" menu in 2004. The same year that Morgan Spurlock's dietary documentary Super Size Me was released. I say, "Don't be fooled by the Hugo. It is a Super Sized drink with a cute name."

Road Tripping: Find the Food with Fewer Calories

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:30:00 -0700

Here's the scenario: You are out on a road trip with your friends so you are eating a lot of fast food. You are also watching your weight and counting calories.

When it comes to ordering fast food you want to choose the option with fewer calories....

Take the quiz