whats in that take out food

[Warren Lake]

in the last weeks going to see mom I grabbed Mcdonalds once or twice a day with four hours of driving every day. I ate this stuff as it was simple and easy and for what it is tasted fine. In the two weeks it made changes on me. It was that fast. Past id have this once a year if that. I didnt need to see this to know something was up.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDQofCXuYik

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Yup its horrible! It is also horribly irresistible, particularly when we are on the road. I limit myself to two cheeseburgers and a milk, no more than 24 times a year.

[Patty Hann]

I haven't eaten fast food regularly for 45 years (since my discharge from the Navy), nor have I drunk soda/pop except occasionally on NY's Eve, after I've had my two drinks.
In those ensuing 45 years I have eaten McD's fries (and only the fries) maybe a dozen times.
When I travel (whether by air or by road or track) I make several PB&J sandwiches on WW bread (and yes, I know the "J" is loaded with sugar).
I'll also pack a few apples and drink only water.
No oreos or other cookies as "travel food".
Fortunately I have no liking for salty snacks (the only exception being tortilla chips with salsa), so chips etc have never been a temptation.
Not even as teenager did I eat any chips/pretzels/cheetos etc type snacks.
The middle age/old age battle of the bulge continues relentlessly, interminably, but I'm holding my own at 135 (could be better, maybe 125-130)

[Dave Zellers]

Yup its horrible! It is also horribly irresistible.

LOL! It's been years since I've succumbed, but oh man, when I was young and working it off on the job...

What bothers me as much as the calories is the money spent. Oh well. Water over the dam at this point.

Except for the lingering effect of those calories.

[Warren Lake]

It worked to save me time and on back roads easy enough to eat no cars to be concerned. Lots of not good in there just hearing it and had seen the results, I mostly eat well. no pop forever just dont care for it, Our taste buds adjust, told that long ago

One day a car crashed in my ditch in front of my home, guy was eating a salad as he drove through the subdivision.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I don't know where 5 Guys comes in at with what they put in their food, but, they sure charge enough for it!
This is going around on another list I frequent.

$24 for a burger, fries and drink - is pretty much why I don't go there.

[Patty Hann]

I don't know where 5 Guys comes in at with what they put in their food, but, they sure charge enough for it!
This is going around on another list I frequent.

$24 for a burger, fries and drink - is pretty much why I don't go there.
Wow. Just....Wow.

[Brian Elfert]

Five Guys has been expensive for a long time. It was already $10 for a burger before COVID. I haven't been in years, but my co-worker and I would share the fries as they are a huge portion.

[Dave Anderson NH]

My wife and I used 5 Guys twice, once at each of 2 different locations. The food was expensive, greasy, and both "restaurants" were dirty. Overall a poor value with a lousy atmosphere. Now I don't go to a burger joint for the atmosphere, but I'm meaning high noise level and uncomfortable in addition to the overall dirtiness of the place.

[Pat Germain]

If you don't like fast food, you don't like it. That's cool. I find I can't eat much of it. My tummy complains.

But this guy is mostly full of BS. Suggesting cancers and heart disease was more rare in the past due because they didn't have, "Toxic Chemicals!" is just ridiculous.

Is this guy a nutritionis? No.

Is this guy a physicia? No.

Is this guy a biochemist? No.

So what is he? Yeah. He's a YouTube guy which means absolutely nothing.

[Ron Citerone]

https://www.paulsaladinomd.co/about

[Warren Lake]

Smarter than you think Pat. I clicked on it as was on the side bar, I ate the food to save time as my mom was dying and ate on the road to have more time with her, In two weeks I trashed my body.

I dont need his you tube to tell me its full crap. I saw the results. Ive been in the states a number of times driven from here to Key west and here to LA. You probably have more overweight people than anywhere ive ever been. I see this place starting to look the same.

[Pat Germain]

Smarter than you think Pat. I clicked on it as was on the side bar, I ate the food to save time as my mom was dying and ate on the road to have more time with her, In two weeks I trashed my body.

I dont need his you tube to tell me it’s nfull crap. I saw the results. Ive been in the states a number of times driven from here to Key west and here to LA. You probably have more overweight people than anywhere ive ever been. I see this place starting to look the same.

I’m not saying fast food is healthy. I’m saying the guy in the video is just spewing the old tired “Everything is bad for you!” Tropes. Before the Industrial Revolution, many people suffered from malnutrition and got food poisoning. Neither is healthy. And I’m sure many people died of cancer without ever knowing what was killing them.

I’m wondering if you had eaten homemade versions of the same food, would you have felt just as lousy? Maybe. Maybe not.

[Dave Zellers]

I’m wondering if you had eaten homemade versions of the same food, would you have felt just as lousy? Maybe. Maybe not.

My takeaway was that he is mostly commenting on modern additives that would have never been in anyone's food in prior years. And I'm sure he is right that many are not healthy. But I agree with you that his presentation is over the top as is everyone's these days.

We live in the age of hyperbole.

[Warren Lake]

well I didnt feel lousey, I felt fine. Better for me to eat than to not eat and the salt crap they put on the fries and all are kind of a treat, even if it tastes fake. Im telling you for sure in two weeks I had a whack of fat on the mid section that was not there before from my usual diet. I ate that food same thing every time and every day at least once and a few days twice. It was a two hour drive each way, beautiful back roads no cars.

This happened past with Tim Horton Ice Capacinios. I was working way too many hours all nighters. I showed up a friends shop and when i was going into burnout id go get an ice capacino and I could work another four hours then go into burn out have another and keep going. Im not used to those things, they taste good and they gave me a bunch of fuel to keep working. Doesnt take long for those to pack fat on you as well and sure there is just about nothing good in them.

I didnt think too much of the presentation either way I didnt notice it its on in the background in most cases. If you at look at many of them down the side bar a great deal is nonsense to get you clic., creative couple his wife in yoga pants butt to the photo or others are most woodworkers dont know this or or their titles alone are a certain way. Ive clicked a whole whack of content creaters but the ones I want to see are the real guys from the trade. They exist just harder to find.

I eat pretty well already, worst is from the past Id get focused on work and then not eat and hurt myself more doing that than putting in crappy fuel. He deosnt have to be a scientist, if hes telling the truth and those chemicals are in there I cant see how anyone can think anything positive in that

I saw the results and that alone was enough for me to leave it to a few times a year and thats enough. This was a one shot thing, to have more time with mom. It served its purpose saving time. Maybe it should be called Fat Food instead of Fast.

[Patty Hann]

...Maybe it should be called Fat Food instead of Fast.

No, it should be called Fast Fat Food. Or Fat Fast Food.

[Curt Harms]

My takeaway was that he is mostly commenting on modern additives that would have never been in anyone's food in prior years. And I'm sure he is right that many are not healthy. But I agree with you that his presentation is over the top as is everyone's these days.

We live in the age of hyperbole.

For me at least as the level of hyperbole goes up the degree of credibility goes down.

[Dave Zellers]

For me at least as the level of hyperbole goes up the degree of credibility goes down.

Absolutely.

[Stan Calow]

There's nothing new here. Those additives have been used for many years and there's no reason to believe they aren't in your restaurant slow food or the food you bring from the store. Google dextrose in salt for the reason it's used. The statement that aluminum is "associated" with brain issues is a way of saying "it's been said" without any basis. The studies that seemed to indicate that were discredited many years ago.

Too much sugar and fat? Absolutely. But it's not a conspiracy - it's what people will always choose.

[Pat Germain]

"Large amounts of sugar, salt, fat and starch are not healthy!"

Thank you Captain Obvious.

[Patty Hann]

Had to check my salts...
TJ's Sea Salt...99% Salt, aka Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
Morton's Table salt ... Salt, Calcium Silicate, dextrose ( + potassium iodide if you get the "iodized version") .

TJ's is my "food salt"
Years ago I stopped using Morton's (or the equivalent generic/house brands) on/in food. I use it only for cleaning.

Morton's Salt labels... interesting
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-ingredients-in-Morton-salt

[Lee DeRaud]

I had a professor once who walked into a class and saw a CocaCola can on someone's desk. He made some idle comment about how "they" put something in it to make it addictive, presumably having heard about it containing cocaine many decades earlier. (Brief aside: true, or urban legend?)

I made some remark to the effect that, yeah, it was probably the same stuff they put into McD's burgers. The blood drained out of his face as he looked down at his open briefcase and tentatively pulled out a Big Mac like he was defusing a bomb. :)

[Patty Hann]

I had a professor once who walked into a class and saw a CocaCola can on someone's desk. He made some idle comment about how "they" put something in it to make it addictive, presumably having heard about it containing cocaine many decades earlier. (Brief aside: true, or urban legend?)

I made some remark to the effect that, yeah, it was probably the same stuff they put into McD's burgers. The blood drained out of his face as he looked down at his open briefcase and tentatively pulled out a Big Mac like he was defusing a bomb. :)
Per Wikipedia... the original formula used coca leaves and Kola nuts (for caffeine) Hence Coca-cola.

[Warren Lake]

doctor stuff past had cannabis and more in it. I watched a you tube on a guy that put cannibis oil on nasal cancer who did not want to use chemo cream. At the end showed bottles from the past and what was in them.

[Jim Becker]

Had to check my salts...
TJ's Sea Salt...99% Salt, aka Sodium Chloride (NaCl)
Morton's Table salt ... Salt, Calcium Silicate, dextrose ( + potassium iodide if you get the "iodized version") .

TJ's is my "food salt"
Years ago I stopped using Morton's (or the equivalent generic/house brands) on/in food. I use it only for cleaning.

Morton's Salt labels... interesting
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-ingredients-in-Morton-salt
I pretty much only use Kosher salt and I do use the Morton version because I prefer the flake and am used to it relative to how it performs. Diamond and others have a different crystal/flake and one needs to use different quantities.

[Rick Potter]

Not to defend fast food, but partially your situation?

I suspect some of that sudden weight gain may have been contributed to by four hours in the car daily, most of the rest of your waking hours sitting with your mother, and the remainder of the time sleeping.

I am assuming your daily routine is quite different.

[Jim Becker]

I haven't commented previously on the primary topic here. I occasionally have "fast food" when it's time for a lunch and it's convenient because I'm out and about; maybe once a week. But it's not frequently like with some folks...my older daughter would eat it every day if she had the choice. I'm selective in what I eat, too. I only get the Deluxe McCrispy Chicken Sandwich from The Clown...I will NEVER eat their "burgers". If I need/want an affordable fast food burger, it's The King. (I really like Five Guys, but they have priced themselves out of my wallet other than very, very occasionally) A quick burrito from Taco Bell is also fine, but there are none nearby. While their food is tasty, I do not do Chik-Fil-A for personal reasons. The big issue with Fast Food comes with it being the primary food source because too much of "that stuff" brings bigger risk to health. So occasionally it's kewel when it's a means to an end, but that's about it for me.

[George Yetka]

Moderation. Once every few months fast food is OK but you cant have it twice a day. Unless its chick fil a

[Lee DeRaud]

We usually do two driving vacations oer year, both one day's drive each way. Those four days usually involve a Carls Jr lunch: burger for me, fish sandwich or salad for the wife.

Otherwise, maybe once per year for anything I normally think of as "fast food". (Unless you count Subway/Togos/etc...I don't, at least for the kind of sandwiches I buy there once a month or so.) Mind you, I have home-grilled burgers or hot dogs a couple times per year, typically summer holidays.

[Pat Germain]

When I was a kid, my family would stop for fast food when were on road trips. My dad wouldn't even let us get out the car to use the bathroom! And he always got us kids something we hated; like chili burgers from Taco Bell. Barf!

When my kids were young, we used to stop for fast food on road trips. I was sure to let them use the bathroom and order what they wanted. Eventually, I got tired of that stuff and decided to just take the time to find a basic, sit down restaurant. Even stopping at an IHOP was just WAY better than the proverbial Smack Happy's. :) I still do this. When I drive to visit Oklahoma, there's an Appleby's in Hayes Kansas right off the Interstate. I stop there for lunch because it's apparently the only sit down restaurant along I-70 for hundreds of miles. There's also a steakhouse in Hayes, but that would make me want to fall asleep on the road.

[Warren Lake]

when i drove to LA, a number of times I sat and ate with truckers, the restaurants they picked were good and I found sitting with them even if not one of them they great to talk to.

[Frederick Skelly]

One day a car crashed in my ditch in front of my home, guy was eating a salad as he drove through the subdivision.

I once saw a woman in a big Lincoln Towncar pull out of McD’s. She was eating pancakes with the plate balanced on the steering wheel, using a fork and knife.

[Mel Fulks]

I once saw a woman in a big Lincoln Towncar pull out of McD’s. She was eating pancakes with the plate balanced on the steering wheel, using a fork and knife.

Obviously she had “ tilt wheel” .

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We try to think of alternatives to fast food when traveling and take a cooler. It takes some effort. There is a vending machine at a rest stop somewhere near Erie PA on I-90 that has sardines, tuna, garlic crackers, little cans of processed cheese, Vienna sausages, Fat Freddy hot sausages, pickles, pickled eggs, and some other interesting items. That vendor knows truckers.
My F.I.L. has forgotten a lot but he still remembers getting fried chicken box lunches from hard working Southern Ladies who had box lunches for sale at the buss stops all along Route 1 starting in Virginia all the way down to Key West. He took a buss ride from NH to Key West and back just for fun in 1948 when he was 13. He still loves homemade fried chicken. It is almost impossible to get him to eat Macdonalds.

[Patty Hann]

when i drove to LA, a number of times I sat and ate with truckers, the restaurants they picked were good and I found sitting with them even if not one of them they great to talk to.

I drove to San Diego with a friend. We went to see an exhibit at one of the Museums in Balboa Park.
Neither one of us had ever been to SD. First morning (we were staying at a hotel in The Loop) we are wondering which of the many nearby restaurants is any good.
I wander up and down the street aways and I see one place with three SD police cars parked outside it.
After making certain there was no "criminal activity" going on I went back to the hotel and told my friend, "I found the restaurant we should eat at." :D

[Warren Lake]

drove from north of Toronto to LA, Stayed in Mission Viejo and furthest south ate at Charo CHicken in San Juan Capistrano. Had a friend in Santa Monica and one in Culver city and one in San Fran. Nice to drive from here then spend time with three friends from here that lived there. Ate somewhere in Culver City and it was excellent. Was there three weeks in April, it was excellent, everyone was happy and the weather was stunning.

[Mel Fulks]

drove from north of Toronto to LA, Stayed in Mission Viejo and furthest south ate at Charo CHicken in San Juan Capistrano. Had a friend in Santa Monica and one in Culver city and one in San Fran. Nice to drive from here then spend time with three friends from here that lived there. Ate somewhere in Culver City and it was excellent. Was there three weeks in April, it was excellent, everyone was happy and the weather was stunning.

that’s when you need to play the ROUTE 66 theme ! I think it was Henry Mancini ‘s work. Never gets old.

[Lee DeRaud]

that’s when you need to play the ROUTE 66 theme ! I think it was Henry Mancini ‘s work. Never gets old.
Nelson Riddle, actually.

[Brian Elfert]

We try to think of alternatives to fast food when traveling and take a cooler. It takes some effort. There is a vending machine at a rest stop somewhere near Erie PA on I-90 that has sardines, tuna, garlic crackers, little cans of processed cheese, Vienna sausages, Fat Freddy hot sausages, pickles, pickled eggs, and some other interesting items. That vendor knows truckers.


My mom always packed lunch for the family when we went on family road trips. We always did vacations via car. I don't recall ever being on a plane as a kid except when my father was transferred to/from California. We sometimes also ate breakfast in our motel room to save money. We would eat out for lunch if the destination didn't allow for your own food. We always ate dinner at a restaurant. Us kids could have pop (soda) at dinner only. We had to have milk, OJ, or water for other meals. We never had pop at home.

My parents sometimes will pack food for a road trip these days, but they are more likely to buy food than when I was a kid. Today, bringing their own food is as much about nutrition as it is saving money.

[Andrew Seemann]

While I know eating fast food continuously probably isn't good for you, I have often wondered how much the associated lifestyle that tends to go with a lot eating fast food is as much a contributor.

The whole point of fast food is that it is fast. Needing food fast tends to go with not having a lot of time; being stressed because of not being having time to do everything you need to do; not getting enough exercise; not having time to relax; body full of cortisol from stress; drinking lots of coffee, caffeinated pop, or those god-awful energy drinks; and so forth. If you were to swap out "healthy food" for the fast food in that lifestyle, you're probably still not going to see much health improvement.

For example, wrestling season just finished up for my 17 year old. I've spent the last 4 months racing to meets after work (often with long car drives), spending 8 -10 hours on Saturdays at tournaments crammed on bleachers in high school gyms jammed between parents and school kids, eating concession stand hotdogs, pizza, candy bars, and over salted popcorn, eating fast food or gas station food (thank god for Casey's and Kwik Trip), and trying to get everything else done in the little free time I had left. Needless to say, I feel absolutely awful. Arthritis is flared up, I gained about 5 pounds, and I have no energy. Even if I ate "healthily" in that time, I doubt I would feel much better. As a side note, I knew at the beginning that all was going to happen, but it was still worth it:)

On the flip side, my 17 year old ate fast food constantly, just to try to keep weight on (he wrestles the heavier weights), and he is the picture of health. Hard to imagine for us old folks, but for a youngster burning 5000+ calories a day, it can be hard to eat enough.



Many studies on nutrition are by necessity (budget, practicality, ethics, etc) observational and can only find associations/correlations. They are also notoriously full of confounding variables which are almost impossible to exclude (it is even difficult to exclude confounding variables from randomized controlled studies). It can be difficult to come to useful conclusions from observational studies; the humorous example often given is that if you observe house fires, you almost always find the fire department. Therefore to prevent house fires, all you need to do is get rid of fire departments.

The human body is mind-bogglingly complex. Everytime we think we have it figured out, we soon learn how little we truly know. Think of trepanning, the 4 humors and bloodletting, miasma, spontaneous generation, mercury as medicine, phrenology, trans-fats are healthy, etc. and all the other outdated theories and treatments we now scoff at. What parts of "modern" medicine will someday be added to that list? Diet heart hypothesis? Glycemic index? Calories in vs Calories out?

There is so much that we don't know we don't know.

[Curt Harms]

When it comes to fast food, it's probably not a bad idea to pay attention to the calorie count. It really isn't hard to consume 1000 calories at a burger joint, or about half a day's recommended calories - and not a lot of nutrients except fat and simple carbs. One that kind of surprised me are the dinner salads at places like Applebees or Texas Road House. I always thought salads were supposed to be good for you. Their dinner salads can run 1300 calories or more.

[Bill Howatt]

It's not the salad itself, it's the dressing that adds the fat calories. IIRC, an investigation some time ago showed that the salad with dressing at MacDonald's was higher in fat than the Big Mac.
I'm not going to say to just ignore everything totally but if a person is wound up tight over what to eat or anything else, it is likely to have an equally severe impact on your mortality than what is of concern. Everything in moderation!

[Brian Elfert]

I'm not going to say to just ignore everything totally but if a person is wound up tight over what to eat or anything else, it is likely to have an equally severe impact on your mortality than what is of concern. Everything in moderation!

A teacher when I was in parochial school was naturally "big boned". She looked overweight no matter her actual weight. She ate almost nothing because she didn't want to look fat. She ended up dying fairly young around age 50. I don't know what she died from, or if her eating habits contributed to her dying fairly young.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

The main advantage of fast food these days isn't because they are fast and certainly not because they taste good but because they are convenient. The calory count of a burger and fries at "Speedy Food" is probably pretty close to a burger and fries made at home although most people go for that giant size burger at home instead of the paper thin one at "Speedy Food". I try to stay away from them but some make pretty good shakes and the coffee isn't bad at all.