The worst food on the planet
22 Feb
Has to be a vegetarian pizza…
The other day, I was discussing bacon and other important subjects with an older gentleman. He was telling me about how his vegetarian girlfriend would be HORRIFIED by his bacon consumption. The temptation was too strong for me not to mention my blog. As I’ve mentionned before, I am a former vegan and did not begin to follow a low carb paleo meal plan without serious examination and justification.
I told him not to worry about bacon or any saturated animal fats for that matter and to instead watch his carbohydrate intake. He told me he would check this out but that he would not tell his cardiologist, because he is telling him to go easy on bacon because the saturated fats will damage his heart.
But…wait a minute. Aside from the occasional bacon binge, what is this person probably eating most of the time? Remember his partner is a vegetarian. I’m assuming that she is fixing the meals. Generally speaking, most classic vegetarian menus are more carbohydrate heavy than omnivorous ones. Remember, all foods are composed of 3 macronutrients: protein, fat and carbohydrate. If you take out the protein and or fat, what’s left? More carbs or carbage as they say.
It’s so sad and it makes me mad to see doctors give out advice like this! Are they not aware that most people eat astronomical amounts of carbohydrate? Somehow consuming 300 grams of carbohydrates DAILY is fine…but 5 grams of fat will somehow kill people. It makes me cringe when someone says how McDonald’s food is bad for you because it’s full of fat, especially saturated. If you look at a typical order: Big Mac, fries and a regular soda for example, how many grams of fat and carbohydrate are there in that?
166 grams of carbohydrates and 46 grams of fat, 10 of those being saturated fat + 24 grams of protein.
DID YOU GET THAT? There’s almost 4 times as much carb as fat in that. The saturated fat grams represent only 4.2% of the entire meal. And 4.2% of what people eat is killing them??? The media keeps pushing this image that we are eating bad fast food and becoming obese because of fatty food, and they always imply natural fats such as butter and red meat. If you do the math, that doesn’t make sense.
If you skip the fries, the total fat content of the meal is very low. So why call it High Fat? It’s more like High Carb, Moderate Fat, Adequate/Lower Protein.
Let’s now discuss pizza. Pizza is very High Carb, Moderate to higher fat and low protein. Somehow though, pizza gets a green light. It can be made healthy some say, by skipping the high fat cheese and meats. When you do this, you’re having a less nutritious meal than a hamburger. Your carb to protein ratio is way too high and that’s what makes it a worse choice in my book. So, if you’re going to indulge in some fast food, go for a nice burger (take 1 bun or both off) if you like instead of a vegetarian pizza, ok?
Let’s be logical here. You can’t blame a substance that you’re not eating much of on your weight gain.
I see what people eat everyday and the percentage of people who truly eat high saturated fat is very low. It took me a while to realise that.
Word of the end: Don’t be shy to correct people who claim fast food is high fat/high saturated fat. Tell them it’s high carb and that’s why it’s bad, oh and tell them it’s bad because the fats they use for the carbs are TOO unsaturated. You’ll really get their attention. Polyunsaturated fats are more prone to oxidation and when heated to high temperatures will create damaging free radicals. That’s why it’s better to stick to old fashionned animal fats and tropical oils for frying, they are higher in saturated fats, which are more stable.
Oh and you can eat pizza on low carb, you know… it’s called Meatza. I will post a recipe pretty soon.
Great post, and thanks for mentioning “…4.2% of the entire meal” and not “…4.2% of the total calories”.. Entire meal sounds so much better ! *8 -)
JayCee,
Great to hear from ya buddy. You really influenced me on the subject of calories. I try to avoid the term as much as possible now. Next time someone in “real life” talks to me about calories, I’ll ask them what a calorie is and what is has to do with human nutrition. Then, watch the look on their face…
Hello. Just wanted to say, this is a great post.
We all know that Fast Food is our greatest challenge as a nation when it comes to our health….BUT it’s not the SAT FATs in the meal…ITS THE CARBS!!! Your post brought much, “light of day” to the subject. Congrats!
Steve,
thanks for your comment. Although I don’t agree 100% with you, I must say that the food served in these places is wretched and does massively contribute to obesity and disease. Where I disagree is the biggest challenge part. To me, it’s the deprogramming the masses of the idea that saturated fat is bad and carbs are good.
People need the correct information then they can make real choices. I don’t think anybody needs a nanny. People who do care about health go out of their way to obtain products they consider the best and people who want crap will also do anything to get it.
I have mixed feelings about big corporations, social responsability, freedom of choice… Maybe a little complicated to adress in a comment.
But we’re basically on the same page, I think. : )
“Let’s be logical here. You can’t blame a substance that you’re not eating much of on your weight gain.”
Great point. Many people blame fat on all their weight gain problems. Unfortunately the majority of the population are force fed information claiming that cholesterol and fat are making them fat. Which we know is not the case.
Found this blog via James Carlson’s blog. I like what I see. Keep up the good work.
“Bacon is a Superfood” I love it.
Ryan
carbage i love it LOL
and also trans fat is polyunsaturated and it’s the worst