Choose More Responsibly When You Have to Consume Fast-Food

Not long ago while I was socializing with my friends, we ended up at a fast food restaurant. I loathe fast food places and never eat there. But everybody else really wanted to eat there, so I couldn't be the grouch in the scenario and make everyone else bend to my will. Thus, I had to cross the Rubicon and just try to find something on the menu that wouldn't block an artery.

If you find yourself in a situation where you're not driving the proverbial car in terms of where you dine, follow these hints to reduce potential harm to your body from fast-food.

Abstain from carbonated soft drinks. Bypass all fried foods. This negates consuming hash browns and french fries, as well as breaded foods. Yes, that's right. You must eschew the breaded chicken sandwich as well as the fried fish. Why? Hydrogenated vegetable oils are utilized in the frying of these foods. This means you might as well open up and drink a vat of trans fat for all the good this is doing you.

NOTE: Many fast food chains have publicly pledged to stop cooking with hydrogenated oils, which are crammed with trans fats. However, the switch to highly refined processed oils isn't really an improvement. Highly refined processed oils still cause inflammation, which adversely impacts both your health and your midsection.

There are numerous research studies demonstrating that all it takes is 1 gram of artificial trans fat each day to provoke major degenerative internal effects. Inflammation is a huge side effect. This leads to the hardening and clogging of your arteries, which causes heart disease. There are many varieties of cancer tied to ingestion of artificial trans fat. Besides all of those health risks, you will quickly begin gaining weight, especially in your abdomen area. All it takes is 1 gram!

That's pretty scary when you calculate the average fat grams of a fast food meal. Lets say you opted for the breaded sandwich (chicken or fish, no matter), with the obligatory order of fries. You've now consumed 10 grams of deadly fat! Suppose you go whole hog and get some dessert. Even a cookie or one small slice of pie will raise your grand total of fat for your lunch to 13 grams!! The pies at fast food restaurants are typically made with margarine or shortening. Both are full of trans fat and have far reaching health consequences.

Think about it: if it only takes 1 gram a day to slowly commit suicide, 13 grams will get you there pretty quickly. That's in a single meal. That doesn't even factor in what you ate the rest of the day. Many people take in 20-30 grams of trans fat on a daily basis, without blinking an eye. They don't even grasp the impact of their food choices. They have no idea the war this trans fat is waging inside their bodies. You are the person in charge of your health. You are your own food police. No one else is responsible for monitoring your diet, except you.

With that in mind, consider the following tips for side-stepping this nutritional land mind and reining in your diet when you find yourself trapped in a fast food place for a meal. Circumvent carbonated soft drinks at all costs. All you're doing is pouring heavily processed fructose corn syrup down your gullet. You might as well strap on some weights around your midsection. Don't consume diet soda thinking you're being "good." Diet soda is akin to nutritional mutilation. Read on to see why diet soda does nothing more than pack on the pounds and flab.

Regardless of where you're eating, your best beverage choices will be water or unsweetened iced tea. Unsweetened ice tea has the advantage of providing antioxidants. However, if you add sweetners, you've just undone any benefits you might have enjoyed.

Eating breakfast out? First choice: egg, cheese, and ham on an English muffin. Refrain from indulging in croissants. These are filled to the brim with trans fats! Another good choice? Fruit and nut salad.

If you're dining during lunch hour or the dinner period, a grilled chicken sandwich or salad minus the croutons is a good choice. Croutons are evil because they do nothing more than add trans fat. A plain cheeseburger will do nicely as well. Don't misunderstand. These fast-food items are neither healthy nor organic. However, if you're trapped inside a fast-food place, then these are some options for you to exercise.

The biggest thing I want you to remember from this article is that you have to recoil from carbonated soft drinks and steer clear of all fried items, especially french fries. If you can totally eliminate these foods from your diet, then you are doing better than 95% of the people walking into the establishment.

Did you see the movie, Super-Size Me? If so, you watched as the guy completely obliterated his health by consuming fast food daily. I hope you also took note that he was chiefly eating Big Macs or some other type of burger each lunch and dinner meal. I can no longer recall the specific fast food chain or the specific burger he was eating, but he has consumed these sandwichs most days of the week for the last 30 years or so.

I hope you caught his statement that he rarely consumes french fries or carbonated soft drinks. But he does eat burgers most days. And did you notice that he's not obese? No one is trying to argue that fast-food burgers are healthy. I mean, the refined white bread and poor quality cheese and red meat are not exactly top of my list for healthy foods. But the point of this story is... when it comes to really derailing your health, carbonated soft drinks and french fries are the keys to clogged arteries, heart disease, and inflammation.

When you find yourself forced to eat in a fast-food establishment, please heed these hints.

I myself can't recall when I last walked into a fast food place such as Wendy's or McDonald's. I typically try to find a nice mom and pop deli, where they serve a fresh, healthy salad or sandwich. This trumps fast food for me.

Did you hear that McDonald's has begun printing a nutritional label on all of the wrappers on their foods now? As you read those, keep in mind that it only takes one gram of trans fat to permanently alter your internal health. Now you can count the fat grams as you eat your lunch! Hopefully, you'll think twice before you gulp down the entire meal.

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