Delia, in response to your question, how much can Americans stomach? The answer is, a LOT!
Way too much, in fact.
Like you, I am chagrined by the dominance of the fast-food industry in America, and not just because its ubiquitous presence every few feet along urban highways is an architectural eyesore. Like you, I happily eat some of it, and for cost, consistency and speed (in this era where a wait of five minutes seems a gross imposition), it can hardly be beat. But when I really look at what I'm eating, I know it's wrong.
And when I look at this country of capacious consumers, it makes me sad -- and mad. And when I think about reforming the health care system, it makes me even madder. Why doesn't preventive care -- and education of Americans about what they're ingesting -- figure higher on the agenda?
You may be annoyed by those 10-page calorie-listing menus, with choices to make the eyes glaze over, but more annoying to me are the copious portions of the servings: "Colossal" burgers, bowls of pasta that could feed three homeless people who hadn't eaten in four days, salads served on plates as big as those on a baseball diamond.
But it's not just the size that makes these meals bad for us, it's the ingredients as well. America's fast food is not only loaded with calories, it is saturated with salt, sugar and fat. David A. Kessler, a Harvard-trained doctor and the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, writes in his new book "The End of Overeating,'' that that is no accident.
He claims that the salt-sugar-fat combination alters the chemistry of the brain so that instead of satisfying hunger, it stimulates the eater to want more. And the food industry, he says, has manipulated this neurological response to get diners to keep eating -- more than they should or even more than they want. (How many times have you finished a meal and said, Why did I eat all that?)
There are those who take issue with the science that Kessler cites. But whether you believe there's brain manipulation or not, there's no denying the scientific fact that too much salt, sugar and fat in our diets causes high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and of course, obesity, the forerunner of all the rest, which is rampant in America. And the long-term costs of those illnesses in such large numbers of people is what is bankrupting the health care system.
If we still lived in the Paleolithic era, it wouldn't matter. The men would be burning more calories chasing dinner than they consumed in eating it, and the women would be busy collecting firewood, cooking and caring for their young (or perhaps running from the men). There were no cave potatos among the homo sapiens.
Today is different. The fact that nearly one-third of Americans tip the scale into obesity, while almost two-thirds are overweight, attests to two basic facts of the modern era: we eat too much and move too little. And in the fast-food nation, jumbo portions full of substances that are very bad in large quantities are a major culprit.
So where are the fast-food chains in the health care debate? Not in the forefront. They had to be dragged into disclosing the calories and fat and salt contents of their offerings. It's true that they are coming up with better choices these days: more salads, whole-grain breads and grilled meats. And I applaud their efforts. But there's still a lot of bad stuff out there. And a lot of misleading information.
Some of the numbers are truly astonishing. The Colossal burger at Ruby Tuesdays: 1,677 calories, 114 fat grams. A regular cheeseburger there is 942 calories and 62 fat grams. Just the dressing on the Caesar salad: 390 calories and 42 fat grams.
The weight of the average American woman is now above 160 pounds. For a person of that size, 50 grams of fat is close to the maximum allowance for the day. So Delia, if you ate the Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad at TGIF because it sounded like a healthy choice (it's salad after all), you would have consumed your entire day's allowance of fat.
And don't be fooled by some of the grilled options. At Taco Bell, the grilled stuffed chicken burrito is 670 calories, 25 fat grams and a whopping 2,010 milligrams of sodium.
Also, remember to read the fine print. The chicken quesadilla appetizer at Ruby Tuesday's is listed as 225 calories and 14 grams of fat. That doesn't actually sound so bad, but read on: that's for one-quarter of the dish. If you ate the whole thing, it would be 900 calories and 56 grams of fat. That's nearly your total fat content and roughly half the calories you should be consuming in a day. And that's just the appetizer!
In fact, for a woman of my size, 5-foot-2 and about 117 pounds, it's a lot more. According to an online calorie counter I checked, in order to lose five pounds to eliminate my love handles and make my pants fit better, I would be restricted to a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet.
I'm certainly not against cheap food, which is a good thing for those in this country who struggle to meet their monthly bills. In fact, it has been reported that fast-food profits have actually risen during the recession, as diners seek bargain options.
With so many Americans eating it, fast food, indeed, has become a very big business. According to Wikipedia, the National Restaurant Association estimated that Americans spent $142 billion on fast food in 2006. That's approximately what the president budgeted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009.
But our inexpensive indulgences today will have enormous future costs tomorrow. The chronic diseases the country faces carry a huge toll on the public health and on the country's health system. Until we rein it in, individually and collectively, and reform the food system – which means summoning the will to take on the fast-food industry and its lobbyists -- we will never get a handle on our health care reform.
As Michael Pollan, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, said in an op-ed article in Wednesday's Times, "One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry.''
At a town hall meeting in Ohio Friday, President Obama focused on economic recovery and job growth, while vowing to continue to fight for health care reform.
The president defended his proposal to...
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday the Senate will not take up health care reform again until Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown is sworn into office.
Speculation had swirled in...
The never-ending quest by the Democrats to create a universal national health care system was always reminiscent of Sisyphus condemned to roll the same boulder up a hill for eternity. But the...
Current Health Insurance is a Biblical Harlot riding on Americans. They (Harlot and Republicans) descriminate sick , poor and old. And you have to buy Afflac too!! But when you get sick They-Harlot supported by Republicans cancel Insurance and Americans 1.6 Million per year getting bankropted!. So now is a time for Insurance for all Americans! let us stop monopoly of Harlot and Rpublicans support of it.
God bless Obama and all Americans!!!!!!
Republicans are more conservative until conception, but after that Democrats getting all responsibilities for the rest of the life of new conception (person), so in conclusion -in Gods eye Democrats are far more conservative than Harlot-Republicans!!
Preachers confuse Americans and deliver them to Republicans in the form of votes, and they get kick-back in the form of "Base Faith Initiative" and this is their Conservatism!!!!
for us working Americans Republicans deliver "radioactive shafts" - mortgages, credit cards and Harlot Insurance.
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slfstx
12:35PM Sep 12th 2009
The public option isn't about socialism. It is about cost control. If you want costs to go up...oppose reform. If you want costs to be contained or even go down...support a public option. The status quo is unsustainable...more and more will go bankrupt..more will be denied care...and more employers will stop supplying health insurance. Can you afford not to support a public option?
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kathy
3:23AM Sep 12th 2009
If everyone got out and walked for a couple of hours a day and just cut back on some of the fats, we'd all be in better shape.
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PCL
6:20AM Sep 15th 2009
I'm with you on that kat--and then we can all go to McDonald's for a Big Mac, 'French' fries, and a chocolate milkshake, and not have to worry about gaining weight. Win Win.
Stay out of my stomach. It is nobody's business what I eat or where I eat. Health care reform is just another means to control every facet of our lives.
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bob
9:55AM Sep 12th 2009
Just about every fast food joint out there offers a salad of some sort that they can serve up just as quickly as the burgers and fries. Just about everybody knows that, given a choice between a burger and a salad, you're better off from a health standpoint with the salad.
Yet many of them choose the burger and fries despite knowing all that.
The proposed "public options" in healthcare are going to have to continue to deal with the ill advised choices people make in life and the costs associated with them. The only way around that would be to mandate healthy living and enforce such a mandate.
No doubt there are those who actually think that's not only possible, but the right way to go. Those folks also believe it when they're told that a public option would be self-supporting and that it won't increase the deficit. You can't fault their good intentions. But, goddamn, are they ever naive.
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grammashan
10:10AM Sep 12th 2009
No wonder I have taken to eating out less. And at home, if I don't feel like cooking, Lean Cuisine is my feast. We don't move around like the old days when women had babies and went out to plow on the same day. And I am very thankful for that! Good article.
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jhinds6056
10:43AM Sep 12th 2009
Reform the food system! Yes, brought to you by those progressive leftists that will tell you what to eat, where to eat and how much it will cost you. After all Life expectency may be 88 if it wasn't for that Big Mac. They are going after them the same way they went after tobacco. Will you do gooders get a life of your own?
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Tammy
11:15AM Sep 12th 2009
Oh, brother! I can't even believe the extent these liberals will go. You never stop, do you? You never quit. You just keep pushing it long after you've run past the end zone. Stop already! If you don't like America then move. There's plenty of countries that might be more agreeable. Stop trying to control every facet of everybody's lives, for Pete's sake!
No mention whatsoever of fatal and non-fatal sexually transmitted diseases, some requiring extremely expensive treatments. I haven't seen any progressives lecture homosexuals and prostitutes, or suggest rationed care for people dying of AIDS, yet they complain about overweight people. What about extreme sports? Will they be prohibited? No more fast food establishments that employ millions of people but let's go hang-gliding and bungee-jumping. What about street gang warfare bloodying up our trauma units with knife and gunshot wounds? How about drug and alcohol abuse? Will there be government mandates on how many beers we can have at a baseball game?
Tell you what, Ms. Battaile, let's try to curb waste, fraud and corruption BEFORE we go after aunt Sally for wolfing down a few too many fries, shall we? And let's start with ACORN, the SEIU, Pork Spending, Medicare Fraud, Welfare Fraud, Housing Fraud, TORT Reform, and so on and so on....
As another member stated so eloquently....stay the hell out of my stomach!
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chris1060
11:50AM Sep 12th 2009
If conservatives want to stuff themselves with fast food and die an early death I say let 'em! That'll show Obama and all the other lefties. Oh yeah, please smoke more too.
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Paul Hawkins
12:08PM Sep 12th 2009
Obama is a liar and an America hating communist who could care less about our well being. Check this story and quotes from Obama out. This is very telling as to what Obama's true mindset is towards Americans and how he could care less about our well being.
Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal.
"Look, it's an all volunteer force," Obama complained. "Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn't compute.." "I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country, "Obama continued. "I wasn't asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I'd have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation's deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans."
BUT OBAMA PLANS ON GIVING ILLEGALS FREE HEALTH CARE, WHILE ALSO ALLOWING DEGENERATE MINORITIES WHO ARE TOO LAZY TO FINISH SCHOOL OR GET A JOB AND WHO DON'T PAY TAXES HAVE FREE HEALTH CARE AS WELL. AND HE PLANS ON MAKING THE REST OF US WHO DO WORK HARD AND SACRIFICE OUR LIVES FOR THIS COUNTRY PAY THESE ILLEGALS WAY.
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joedenver60
12:15PM Sep 12th 2009
This is an excellent and informative article. I had not even thought about the problems of eating fast foods and the toll it will have on our health system, and specically ourselves. If we are going to have any kind of health reform, this must be taken seriously for preventive measures
Yep fast food is definitely not good for ya thats for sure,on a lighter notte though did you know there was an eagle 500 years ago that wieghed in at 40 plus pounds?Called the Haast Eagle it has been surmized that it more than likely ate not only non flying animales but most likely also the rather unlucky human as well
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DeeDee
12:32PM Sep 12th 2009
Right on, Janet.
People trying to quote numbers to suggest that our health care system is the worst in the world are teaching us to lie with politically-motivated statistics. Our Cancer survival rates, heart attack survival rates, and stroke rehabilitation rates are by far the best in the world. That is what a health care system does.
A health care system does not choose whether or not its population chooses to smoke or eat a Big Mac and Supersized fries along with a Supersized Dr Pepper.
I will argue that the American diet has a lot to do with our American lifespan being lower than expected, given the quality of our healthcare system.
I feel strongly that we are shooting ourselves in the foot, trying to rebuild our healthcare system simply because it is too expensive when there are cheaper ways to do it that will not risk the quality we have developed.
It seems to me that the American people are choosing to risk drastic decreases in the quality and innovation of their healthcare system to preserve their double bacon cheeseburgers. I think that's a risky proposition.
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ettu
2:45PM Sep 12th 2009
In the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections, we need to make our Federal Government understand that we will elect those people who seem most willing to throw their special interest groups under the bus, and who will truly work for the good of the majority. Surely, whatever party you embrace, or if you are independent, you understand that the person who gives you your paycheck is the one that gets to call the shots. WE PAY THESE PEOPLE IN WASH., DC to do what is best for the people, not what is best for their re-election prospects or best for increasing their own net worth. Vote them out America, if they are not willing to do their jobs with integrity.
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ettu
2:52PM Sep 12th 2009
People, do you want government telling you what to eat, what job you can have, how much you can make at that job, what you should wear, what college you should attend and what profession you should aspire to? That is what is coming. Obama says EVERYONE will be given the funds to attend college. However, what he does not tell you is, you will get full funding if you earn your degree in that field the government believes we need more people, you will get 80% funding if you choose the second most needy field, you will get 50% for the 3rd choice, etc.,etc. In this way, they will direct you toward what they think necessary. If you go to your doctor, do you want the doctor to tell you that you need to lose 15 pounds before you can be treated for your malady? Do you want to take your elderly parent, or grandparent, in to be put in line for a liver transplant, and find out they will be put near the bottom of the list because of their age? We all want the possibility of making our lives better, but this government agenda will turn us into a bunch of robots who will be directed by the wealthy and powerful elitist few, who believe they deserve the best, while we deserve what they think is good enough. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO AMERICA.
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Ruby
3:38PM Sep 12th 2009
It is not just fast food that is causing the obesity epidemic and the resulting high cost of health care insurance. The US government's food pyramid which comes from the US Department of Agriculture and the giant food industry is also a sure path to gaining an unhealthy amount of weight. The ignorance about nutrition on the part of the medical establishment borders on absurdity.
The only healthy diet I have seen that is guaranteed to help you attain your ideal weight without ever being hungry is the "no sugar no flour" diet that consists of vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, low fat dairy, and some whole grains like brown rice and quinoa. How you eat is of course a personal choice for each person to make. But at least the government and the food industry should not mislead the people.
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Alice
4:09PM Sep 12th 2009
NO ONE is saying preserve the status quo. NO ONE! We are saying we want TORT REFORM, we want INTERSTATE ACCESS to health insurance, we want SOME REGULATION and STRICT OVERSIGHT of insurance company tactics, we want them to DETECT, INVESTIGATE, and ELIMINATE the fraud, corruption, and inefficiencies in the current social programs of SS, Medicare, Medicaid, VA Services, and all social programs and agencies currently operating. We want Congress and the President to THROW THEIR SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS UNDER THE BUS, and actually do something for the American citizens, for a CHANGE WE CAN SUPPORT. Stop protecting those big supporters of your re-election, who promise you the means to increase YOUR OWN wealth and power. Show some integrity in doing the job the people have elected you to do.
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reybasura
4:28PM Sep 12th 2009
I have a scenario for you: A patient comes into his doctor's office in early stages of type II diabetes...the doctor hands him a diet sheet and tells him to follow it if he wants to live and that he must do 1/2 have hour of aerobic exercise daily. A very cheap prescription that will take care of the diabetes and many other associative conditions. But...what happens is the doctor will prescribe drugs; the patient will continue his habits and will deteriorate; more drugs will be prescribed, same habits, patient will continue to deteriorate, etc, etc.....which is more costly? which is more effective? A hard line stance regarding individuals taking responsibility for their condition and changing their lifestyle will save countless millions in healthcare costs and will save many many people. But, will this happen? People want the freedom to eat and live as they want and will take expensive drugs thinking this will save them......wrong!!!!