Wednesday, February 28, 2007
My brother and I got into a discussion about Steak 'n Shake. I took the position that it is one of the healthier fast food restaurants and he was trying to tell me it was no different from any other one. It turns out he was right. Well this got me thinking about food in general and I was surprised with my findings. The food in our society is as close to poison you can get without being charged with a crime. Even our fresh fruit and vegetables are saturated with chemicals.
Many restaurants are owned by big corporations or at least by entrepreneurs seeking to make money. The more people who frequent their establishment, the more money they will make. The average American Joe wants to eat food which tastes good and hardly ever looks at the ingredient list. As long as it pleases the pallet, he’ll eat it. No one cares the burger you choke down contains more fat than eating a chunky scoop of lard or more salt than you should have in a week. Should restaurant owners have some responsibility in ensuring their food is healthy?
This is where my fundamentalists’ roots are still showing. I assumed the companies would not serve anything too unhealthy. We all know McDonald's is bad but Steak 'n Shake is supposed to be “in sight and it must be right”. The slogan should be “In sight of a quadruple bypass.” These restaurants, even the ones you assume are healthier, are just as bad as the fast food crapola which McDonald’s sells.
When I do a comparison on the different meals I eat at the different restaurants (and I use that term loosely) everything is almost the same including the levels of fat, salt and carbs. I might as well open up my veins and shoot animal fat, salt and sugar directly into them. The cholesterol and salt content of all foods served by restaurants including the ones you assume are good are actually VERY bad.
Well I didn’t stop there. I started looking at other foods sold in grocery stores and found that most of the food we eat is poison. I already alerted you to the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup a while back but there are so many more other bad ingredients within our food that it is troubling. Why do we need so many chemicals?
The food lobby is a very powerful lobby. More importantly, there are many hands in the “kitty” wanting a paycheck. Every time somebody takes a bite of a sandwich the producers of these chemicals get paid. If we remove these chemicals we will eliminate a huge market and since our country is about making money, our government allows these companies to exist at our own detriment.
I am NOT saying these chemicals will kill you tomorrow if you eat them tonight. But I am saying if you do not regulate your dining out then you are sure to develop troubles later in life. Like high fructose corn syrup will increase your chances of diabetes, these other chemicals and additives will increase your risk of a host of other diseases and complications if not regulated.
Another false assumption is diet soda, since it has no calories it is healthier than regular soda. Well if you look only at the calories then it is better but the list of chemical ingredients reads like the molecular chart of a meteorite in a science journal. Artificial sweeteners are very bad for us. The only exception is Splenda, but it is still too new for any long term research on the effects to be known. But if you are a diabetic what other choices do you have?
The government is on the side of the capitalists. They care little for the health and well-being of society and care more for keeping the profits margins high for corporate America. I think the schools should include classes teaching kids how to manage calories, read food labels, and exactly how to spot unhealthy foods. If our habits change then the blood-sucking corporations will be forced to change or lose out to those who will.
Many restaurants are owned by big corporations or at least by entrepreneurs seeking to make money. The more people who frequent their establishment, the more money they will make. The average American Joe wants to eat food which tastes good and hardly ever looks at the ingredient list. As long as it pleases the pallet, he’ll eat it. No one cares the burger you choke down contains more fat than eating a chunky scoop of lard or more salt than you should have in a week. Should restaurant owners have some responsibility in ensuring their food is healthy?
This is where my fundamentalists’ roots are still showing. I assumed the companies would not serve anything too unhealthy. We all know McDonald's is bad but Steak 'n Shake is supposed to be “in sight and it must be right”. The slogan should be “In sight of a quadruple bypass.” These restaurants, even the ones you assume are healthier, are just as bad as the fast food crapola which McDonald’s sells.
When I do a comparison on the different meals I eat at the different restaurants (and I use that term loosely) everything is almost the same including the levels of fat, salt and carbs. I might as well open up my veins and shoot animal fat, salt and sugar directly into them. The cholesterol and salt content of all foods served by restaurants including the ones you assume are good are actually VERY bad.
Well I didn’t stop there. I started looking at other foods sold in grocery stores and found that most of the food we eat is poison. I already alerted you to the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup a while back but there are so many more other bad ingredients within our food that it is troubling. Why do we need so many chemicals?
The food lobby is a very powerful lobby. More importantly, there are many hands in the “kitty” wanting a paycheck. Every time somebody takes a bite of a sandwich the producers of these chemicals get paid. If we remove these chemicals we will eliminate a huge market and since our country is about making money, our government allows these companies to exist at our own detriment.
I am NOT saying these chemicals will kill you tomorrow if you eat them tonight. But I am saying if you do not regulate your dining out then you are sure to develop troubles later in life. Like high fructose corn syrup will increase your chances of diabetes, these other chemicals and additives will increase your risk of a host of other diseases and complications if not regulated.
Another false assumption is diet soda, since it has no calories it is healthier than regular soda. Well if you look only at the calories then it is better but the list of chemical ingredients reads like the molecular chart of a meteorite in a science journal. Artificial sweeteners are very bad for us. The only exception is Splenda, but it is still too new for any long term research on the effects to be known. But if you are a diabetic what other choices do you have?
The government is on the side of the capitalists. They care little for the health and well-being of society and care more for keeping the profits margins high for corporate America. I think the schools should include classes teaching kids how to manage calories, read food labels, and exactly how to spot unhealthy foods. If our habits change then the blood-sucking corporations will be forced to change or lose out to those who will.
posted by DarthImmortal at 10:35 AM
14 Comments:
Well, look who just woke up!
Did you miss that little movie called "Supersize Me?" It was all pretty much laid out right there.
I don't know about you, but I have been constantly bombarded with "fast food is bad for you" my whole life. Where did you grow up that no one told you these things?
We do not, as a society, eat what is good for us. We eat what tastes good. Companies make their foods to taste good, not to be healthy, because good taste wins out over good for you 8 times out of 10.
Those people who eat a raw food diet aren't as crazy as some say they are.
I was definitely taught that fast food was bad. But I was taught if you eat at a “proper” restaurant then you will get healthier food. The fact is that even the expensive restaurants are very unhealthy. They often serve foods with insanely high levels of fat, salt and sugar. Even if you want to cook your own food, the crap you buy in the supermarket is no different.
It’s almost like an unspoken conspiracy that all of our food MUST contain chemicals. The only reason I can figure is the food lobby is too powerful for its own good.
I thought Steak 'n Shake was at least healthier than McDonald's but it is actually worse in the amount of fat per serving.
Oh and the idiots who eat raw meat are disgusting!! Avoiding chemicals is one thing but to eat “high” meat is even more stupid.
So do you think restaurant have any responsibility to ensure their meals are healthy? Or as long as it doesn’t kill you – it should be able to be eaten?
BTW: I did see Supersize Me, that is why I assumed we all knew McDonald's was unhealthy. We need to do another Supersize Me on the entire food industry.
This is a huge part of why I buy organic when I can. Of course, I'm very fortunate and blessed -- I'm one of those lucky few who can actually AFFORD to shop that way. Big Fast Food is slowly killing the poor, and the government's barely paying attention.
I know they recently banned restaurants from using trans fat in (I believe) New York. I'm no fan of paternalism, but when people can't afford to make smart choices, and/or those choices are too obscure/difficult to come by, government action may be the only solution. As for diabetes, I think most modern cases of diabetes are caused by our horrendous diets. There's nothing wrong with eating plenty of fat, sugar, salt, etc. -- people have been doing it for centuries. It's when we add all these bizarre preservatives and chemicals and growth hormones that it becomes a problem. If people started switching out butter for vegetable oil, white bread for whole wheat, fresh organic fruits for candy, etc. -- we could eat the same amount of calories (possibly more) and lose weight, feel healthier, and have more energy. But then the foods would lack the addictive quality of over-processed crap, and no corporation would be guaranteed a cheap, easy source of money. So these foods are harder to find and more expensive.
Gross.
okay, so my list order got mixed up... but I think you get the point.
There is a documentary, I can't remember the name, I think it's "Fast Food Nation" or something like that, that takes the whole food industry to task over their unhealthy fare. It was also a book. I think I'll check it out.
"...high fructose corn syrup will increase your chances of diabetes..."
Where did you read that? That's not even true.
barb, yes, it's Fast Food Nation -- my cousin lent me the book on CD, though I dind't realize they'd turned it into a documentary too. TERRIFYING stuff in that book.
I am a firm believer that all the additives and preservatives in our food is having a negative impact on our health.
Here is an interesting site to check out.
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/
Found at: http://livinginatoxicworld.blogspot.com/
here, here! with you on this..i kinda got the sniff about this when i first had babies and i started reading ingredients..i tell you i was encouraged just to make my own..better and much cheaper..
it is scary reading any ingredient label..they try to make it so hard for consumers in numerous ways..
i never heard of that restaurant you write about..we don't have it here..
(hugs and take care)
Fast Food Nation come to DVD this week. I'll have to see that.
There is a direct correlation between the usage of High fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and the increasing rates of diabetes. When companies decided to use HFCS instead of sugar to save a few bucks, the rates of diabetes have been skyrocketing ever since. If you consider how your body digests HFCS, you will again see how HFCS is very damaging.
Thanks for all your comments.
You are right on with this one. Our society is a mess when it comes to food. And since it is controlled by $ there is no change gonna happen until it gets way worse. If people only knew what they were eating half teh time they would be sick.
There might be a correlation between the use of HFCS and obesity/diabetes rates. But the correlation isn't casual. In other words, why is it that in European countries, where HFCS is not used, obesity/diabetes are also on the same rise?
Anyway, interesting article about HFCS on Wikipedia. Walter Willets, chair of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Department Chairman, is quoted in a 2006 NYT article:
"There's no substantial evidence to support the idea that high-fructose corn syrup is somehow responsible for obesity ... If there was no high-fructose corn syrup, I don't think we would see a change in anything important."
Take all the HFCS in the world and replace it with sugar - you'll have the same problems.
The problem here, as with most issues, is conflicting evidence. Many times I believe vested interests ensure there is conflicting evidence because of political or monetary gains. I emailed Dr. Meira Field, who conducted a USDA research project and discovered many problems with HFCS. I would advise you to read my post for a summary of the findings.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2005. During the twenty or so months prior to this diagnosis I was drinking fruit juices which claimed to be all natural. All of these fruit juices were loaded with HFCS. You have to understand neither my parents nor my siblings have diabetes; I am the only one. I was also the only one drinking daily high doses of HFCS, which is the primary ingredient of many of those fruit drinks. Coincidence? Maybe but maybe not.
Believe me, I wish I could go back to those days in 2003-2004 and change my habits. I was foolishly tricked into believing marketing language as fact. If a product claimed to be “all natural ingredients” or “the healthy choice” I believed it. Now that I know differently, I try to tell as many people as possible NOT to read the marketing terminology but read the ingredients list. When things are listed which you do not understand, then find out about it before you eat it.
The problem with HFCS is that it is in everything even though research proves it to be unhealthy. I think the government should have interceded and found out more about HFCS before allowing it to be used widespread. This is the same mistake they made with the MTBE additive in gasoline. They allowed corporate American to earn enormous profits without requiring them to prove a product as safe first.
Anyway, that is what led me to do research on HFCS.
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