Thursday, November 17, 2005

Typical Fast Food Venue



I recently looked up the nutrition facts again for my typical meal (shown above) at a typical fast food venue. No matter how many times I look up nutrition facts I am always blown away by the numbers. About two years ago, I went to the doctors. The doctor told me that I have alarmingly high blood pressure due to my sodium intake. I made an effort to cut back on the salt. You might think that you should skip the french fries if you want to reduce your sodium intake. You would be wrong.
As it turns out, my typical meal at the typical fast food venue contains 104% of my daily value (DV) of sodium. The french/riot/freedom fries only contain around 220 (mg) of sodium or 9% of my DV, whereas each double cheese burger contains 1140 (mg) of sodium 47% of my DV. Perhaps the most disturbing part is that this typical meal does not even fill me up, yet it provides me with 96% of my DV of total fat, 125% of my saturated fat, a healthy dose of 7 grams of trans fat (which by the way is so bad for you, products boast on their packaging "0 grams of Trans Fat", and the recommended daily value of trans fat is 0%) and 1270 calories. These nutrition facts are not very alarming as long as I eat during my other two meals of the day foods with absolutely no sodium, saturated fat, or fat at all for that matter. I am also allotted about another 1000 calories between my other two meals of the day. Abiding by the guidelines of the aforementioned two sentences is virtually impossible, especially for me. The conclusion is also disturbing; I may have to cut back on the frequency at which I eat at the typical fast food venue. Oh, Would you look at the time, I am late for a meeting. I guess I can grab a burger or two on the way.

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