This Week’s O’Ryan Factor, Ryan Anderson writes about how unhealthy it is to say: "I'm loving it" at McDonnalds.


   
 

“Would you like a heart attack with that,”
By Ryan Anderson

December 31th, 2004

O'Ryan FactorAmerica has many problems. We’ve covered one of the biggest, secularization. However, something else has been sneaking up on us…obesity. I’ve spoken out on this before in other arenas to much criticism. I’m not sure if those same people will speak up but I still have no clue how they can view obesity as a good thing. Anyway, it’s getting bad.

 

One of the pioneers of the movement against obesity is Morgan Spurlock. To refresh your memory, he’s the one who ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days (and got very sick) for his documentary “super size me”. However, some say there’s nothing wrong with fast food. People are trying to ‘disprove’ Spurlock. Why would you defend the fast food companies? Sure, it’s not their fault for making people obese (like a few lawsuits stated a while ago), but saying the food is perfectly fine and telling people it doesn’t add to the epidemic is insane.

I have to make a confession… I’m a vegetarian (gasp!). Don’t think I’m some far left nut…it’s for health reasons. Oftentimes when I say this people think that you to become vegetarians. I don’t. That’s not the key. The key is very simple: self control. If McDonalds can put up billboards and I can walk past without going on a Mac attack, than everyone else can too. I told you about my vegetarianism not to impose it on you, but to demonstrate how easy it is to change your diet. I was a hard core burger king addict. I loved it all. In fact, I loved any fast food. However, I was sick a lot. I would cure that by drinking soda. So my health was something I didn’t really care about.

Eventually I became aware of what was happening to my body. I started looking up information on meat substitutes, figured they’d help me get healthier. They did. I decided to stick with it so I wouldn’t fall victim to the fast food industry again. I’m not saying fast food is evil. As we all know, it tastes good. It’s okay in moderation. Americans aren’t getting it in moderation, though. That’s the problem. Even places that aren’t ‘fast food’, like those gigantic steak houses aren’t the best for you.

It’s not up to the restaurant to provide you with healthy food. It’s up to you. I won’t want you to thin I’m preaching to you and telling you to eat healthy or pay the price. Wait…I guess I am telling you to eat healthy or pay the price. Bottom line, if you want to eat an entire bucket of chicken and a double gulp from 7/11, don’t complain to people about gaining weight. If you won’t work to take the pounds off, try not to put them on.

 

“In fact, many of the foods we serve at McDonald's are the same trusted brands you might purchase for your family at the local grocery store.” – mcdonalds.com

Ingredients of a Chicken McNugget:

Boneless chicken breast, water, modified cornstarch, salt, chicken flavor (yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (animal source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (natural extractives of rosemary, canola and/or soybean oil, mono-and diglycerides, and lecithin). Battered and Breaded with: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, modified corn starch, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Breading set in vegetable oil. Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil).

I’m not sure about you, but diglycerides, and lecithin are things I usually pick up on the weekend from the local grocery store.

-R.A.

* Ingredients list and quote from McDonalds.com.
 

 
   

 

   
 

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