Fast food bad for you? WHY exactly?

[alturic]

So, I know that "deep fried" (anything fried) is "bad" for you, but what exactly makes taco bell beef worse than beef I would cook at home? Yea, sure there are preservatives, but outside of that, what is it?

Same goes for hamburgs, hot dogs, tater tots, grilled cheese, etc? There's various places that make those things, are people saying that making those same things at home are just as bad?

I guess, after really thinking about it, almost anything can be considered "bad" for you to eat outside of basic salad and various foods cooked/baked without oil/seasoning, no?

[Deleted]

i think its one, all the preservatives and random shit they add, 2, all the salt in it and 3, general lack of any nutrition in it.

im making all this up though, don't really know anything about the subject.

[willtron]

cheap cuts, chemicals and the main culprit is saturated fats.

Your body needs fat, Poly and Mono unsaturates are 'good fats'

Mono Saturates are the worst as they're simple and easy to store.

Mono and Poly just refer to the hydrocarbon chain and how complex it is, ie how easy it is for your body to use.

[anveena]

All the stuff they add into processed food.

[Deleted]

Watch the documentary 'Forks over Knives'.

[Banzhe]

I guess, after really thinking about it, almost anything can be considered "bad" for you to eat outside of basic salad and various foods cooked/baked without oil/seasoning, no?

Pretty much yes, again it varies from country to country.., the only lesson to the story though, quit worrying about what's good and bad when it comes to food, instead just enjoy life

[Gemini Sunrise]

Watch the documentary 'Forks over Knives'.

Or "Supersize Me". That works too.

[alturic]

i think its one, all the preservatives and random shit they add, 2, all the salt in it and 3, general lack of any nutrition in it.

im making all this up though, don't really know anything about the subject.

I guess the real answer I need to look at is what exactly is in the "typical preservative", and while it's definitely not just seasoning, I definitely use dried herbs/seasonings with everything I cook. I don't know what's technically classified as "all the salt" but I do use salt, I never measure it though. I don't really know (yea I know all the "bad" stuff people say about fast-food burgers, fries, food in general) how "nutritious" a burger from McD's is compared to one that I just mash together from ground beef in the store.

I do only buy 97/3% beef though for almost anything I make with ground beef, I feel better about that for some odd reason.

---------- Post added 2012-06-11 at 08:24 PM ----------

Pretty much yes, again it varies from country to country.., the only lesson to the story though, quit worrying about what's good and bad when it comes to food, instead just enjoy life

Pretty much exactly how I look at food, probably the reason I'm 6'1 and 220lbs though. lol.

[Belize]

Yeah. They cook they're stuff in butter while at home you can use olive oil and such. Just the overall way the food is prepared is quote-unquote in a greasier way.

[Soisoisoi]

Excess of the following;
Preservatives
Fats
E-numbers
Salt
Spit


But yeah, basically excess of ANYTHING is bad for you. Fast-food just has excess of EVERYTHING, except the ability to fill you up and actually ..er.... Nutrate you? (Tired/drunk - can't think of the word, you know, give you nutrition)

[Holy]

Fast food is calories, fats, vitamins, etc. just like any other food. It is typically cheaper materials with less nutrients, which may be where it gets it's bad rap. However, don't listen to people who say "Oh, you can never eat fast food unless you want to DIE 20 years earlier!" because they really don't know what they are talking about. Just watch your portions and order some of the healthier options that every fast food restaurant has every now and again and you'll be golden.

[alturic]

I guess the biggest "culprit" for me is Pizza. I could totally go without eating any fast-food outside of the random Taco Bell, but I'm definitely one of those people who can live off of Pizza every day, multiple times a day.

Plain, cheese pizza.

[Lyriok]

Pretty much everything thats already been said.

If its not natural its not good IMO. I prepare all my own food besides breads/rice etc half the stuff they add is just shocking.

[quadratimkreis]

Fast food is bad for you because fitness fads/diet books are a billion dollar business.

[Thraxed]

Nothing is really bad for you as long as you consume in moderation (i.e. only eating it once a week). The reason fast food is so bad for you is that it is heavily processed and has many additives to maintain the "freshness" of the product. Fast food is really cheaply produced and you get what you pay for. The fast food industry is also out to get your money and they will create foods that are addicting so that they can get you to keep buying their products. Generally, addicting foods are high in sugar/salts as the human tongue/mind constantly craves these. If you want quality, healthy food, then you will need to fork out the extra money to satisfy your healthy eating habits.

Starches (such as potatoes) are generally bad for you anyway since it is loaded with carbohydrates. If you aren't burning them off while exercising, then it will just accumulate in your stomach.

If you want to eat healthy then you need to stick to eating whole grain foods (unbleached products), fruits, vegetables, lean meats (pork/chicken), and only consume red meat once a week and yogurt. It is also never a bad thing to splurge every once in a while to save your sanity.

[alturic]

Fast food is bad for you because fitness fads/diet books are a billion dollar business.

See, I totally agree that fast food is bad for you though. I just don't understand what makes, for example Sonic, a national(?) fast-food chain in the US. They have hotdogs (hotdogs are shit to me anyway), hamburgers, grilled cheese, tater tots, fries, slushies, etc.

Outside of the "beef" being most likely way lower than 75/25%, are people saying ANY grilled cheese, tater tots, fries, slushies, etc are bad for you?

Really though, I'd like for some fitness/diet guru to answer me how bad "fresh" pizza (non-frozen, pizza shop)/home-made pizza is. If it's not THAT bad (portion:fat ratio) that is going to be my diet.

EDIT: Realistically though, outside of something like salad only, is there anything/type of "diet" that will a.) lose weight and/or b.) not gain weight WITHOUT exercising?

EDIT #2: Oh yea, just how bad is soda for you? I could drink a 12 pack a day....

[Grimbold21]

Fast food is bad for you because fitness fads/diet books are a billion dollar business.

And the fast food industry is what exactly?

[Jarion]

1) Portion size. Most fast food places give you at least twice as much to eat as they should. Compare a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Whopper, etc to a regular hamburger. They are around twice the size with twice the fat and calories.

2) Preparation. Nearly all fast food is deep fried or fried on a grill leading to an increase in fat and calories.

3) general nutrition. if you go to McDonalds and get a typical value meal nearly all of you calories are coming from starches fats and protein. Fast food in general neglects the whole grains, fruits and vegetables that provide us with fiber, complex carbohydrates, along with vitamins minerals and amino acids.

4) A lot of people scream, "preservatives!", but I feel like they get a pretty bad rap and don't really deserve the hate they engender. Instead, I would point a finger at FILLERS. Things like high fructose corn syrup are cheap and can increase the mass of several different foodstuffs. Unfortunately, they also greatly increase the caloric content.

5) Soft drinks. I know you can just drink these at home, but think of the SIZE of the drinks you get in value meals these days. Do you have any idea how many calories there are in 20 oz. of Coca-Cola? 240. That's a quarter of most people's daily budget and that's in twenty ounces. How many ounces fit in those drinks you get with value meals? How many times do you take advantage of free refills? It adds up quickly.

[Jinzil]

As a vegetarian I can say: eating flesh and fish in general is a bad thing...

[Deleted]

As a vegetarian I can say: eating flesh/beef in general is a bad thing...

As someone with even the slightest bit of nutritional knowledge I can safely say you're wrong.