Fast food bad for you? WHY exactly?

[belfpala]

What exactly is your point? Make a dish with 100 ingredients and as long as they're all natural and real food not chemicals I'll be fine with it. But having a 25 ingredient list (that's really more like 35 if you count) with so many artificial chemicals, flavorings, and preservatives is not in any way shape or form healthy. Are you trying to argue that it is? And if you put chemicals in your homemade taco meat I'd call it crap too. Sorry but unless you're some sort of gourmet cook there's no reason you need 25 ingredients in homemade taco meat.

Ok, I'll add in the MSG, inosinates, and guanylates then. Those are natural amino acids that make things taste better, and some of the main things people complain about in "fast" food.

I am kind of a gourmet cook, but I laid out exactly how I get to 20+ ingredients in my home made taco meat. I'm not using a seasoning packet from the store (which, by the way, contains many of the same chemicals, flavorings, and preservatives people complain about in fast food...). I need all of those ingredients, and they happen to be things I always have around.

Are my tacos healthier for you? Probably not. I make my own tortillas too, and I know exactly how much lard goes in those.

[Aalyy]

Ok, I'll add in the MSG, inosinates, and guanylates then. Those are natural amino acids that make things taste better, and some of the main things people complain about in "fast" food.

I am kind of a gourmet cook, but I laid out exactly how I get to 20+ ingredients in my home made taco meat. I'm not using a seasoning packet from the store (which, by the way, contains many of the same chemicals, flavorings, and preservatives people complain about in fast food...). I need all of those ingredients, and they happen to be things I always have around.

Are my tacos healthier for you? Probably not. I make my own tortillas too, and I know exactly how much lard goes in those.

If you use all those ingredients in your tacos I would agree that they are not healthy. Do they taste good? Sure they might! But I'd put my simple all natural ones up against yours any day though. Why ingest chemicals and pseudo foods if you don't have to?

Now, I can definitely get down with your homemade tortillas if they're not full of the same junk you hypothetically could put in your meat, lol! The lard I have no problem with. As long as it's not cut with trans fat or loaded with chemicals. Pure leaf lard from pastured organic pigs?? Wonderful stuff! And natural!

[Youarefired]

Fast food is bad if you aren't active. If you are, there is nothing wrong with it.

I read a story of 2 guys who ate Mcdonald's non stop for months and worked out and stayed active, and they were perfectly healthy people.

[Deleted]

I'd recommend watching "Supersize Me", then "Fat Head" right after.

Gives you a "both sides of the fence" kinda deal.

I just watched the Fat Head movie - it was really inspiring/educational, so just kinda wanted to say thanks.

[Heartattaq]

to answer one question about why beef you cook at home is better than taco bell beef.

Because the beef you cook at home actually has beef in it =p

[ptwonline]

to answer one question about why beef you cook at home is better than taco bell beef.

Because the beef you cook at home actually has beef in it =p

Taco Bell beef is actually beef. It's just not actually meat.

[Deleted]

You usually eat more fast food, because the high sugar count increase insulin, which activated the genesis of fat, the part of the calories which are stored in fat, don`t produce the "i`m full respone" to the brain, so you need more for you daily calories. It also effects alot more hormons and has bad health issues, so triglyride increase for example. Once a week fast food? Sure if you like it, but everyday? Better not. Though fast food is not the ONLY problem, most Food in our shelves are. processed, deprived of fiber, added alot of sugar and the lucky E´s. When they though, any fat is bad, they reduced fat, tasted like shit though, so the companies increase the sugar.

Also the combination of sugar and fat makes one addicted, and for few minutes, make us feel incredible well...but after an hour you need to eat again.

Exercise, have you ever checked how much calories you burn with what exercise? 7 Minutes crosstrainer for 100 kcal.. want one of the Hot Dog posted earlier? ca. 650kcal? ca. 45 Minutes on the crosstrainer... and after the exercise you feel hungry again. Exercise helps....to increase metabolisim but controling to loose fat you need it with hormons and eat accordinaly. Yes even if you eat "healty" you can get fat if you eat to much, but that is really really hard (except with Nuts...mhh Almonds).

[Venziir]

Or "Supersize Me". That works too.

Or "Food Inc.".

[gibbie99]

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?

1) Most fast food are completely lacking in nutrients, like trace minerals and vitamins. Obviously we need this stuff for basic metabolism (for example you can get scurvey from lack of Vit C)
2) Most fast foods are high in fat, like one quarter pounder is enough fat for you for a day ( i am estimating this, but I think it's right). This leads to heart disease.
3) Similarly one burger has enough salt to be most of your daily intake of salt.
4) Most fast food are way out of balance in respect to protein/carb ratio, nowadays I am supposed to get 50/25/25 protein/carb/fat (for a weight loss diet, i am otherwise healthy).

Basically fast food makes you sick. There's a bunch of things in there that do various bad things. It makes you feel like crap too. Energy levels plummet when you are fat because you are wasting all of your energy on the fat cells. It's a matter of quantity, sure an occassional meal is okay, but not every day, maybe once a week is fine.