Study Exposes Fast Food Health Dangers

[Lady C]

This is just to remind ourselves . . . . when you get tempted then just think about this.

Participants who consumed fast food two or more times a week gained approximately 10 more pounds and had twice as great increase in insulin resistance in the 15-year period than participants who consumed fast food less than once per week.

For story click here or http://www.thelancet.com/

[sooner_ed]

I find it very interesting what this country will spend money on to study. I would bet anything that we all knew this even before it was ever studied. But I know sometimes people just need proof before they will believe it.
Unfortunately, we have become a people of convenience. Let's make it fast and easy and we will worry about the consequences of our choices later. It's really sad that it has to come to that and I will be the first to raise my hand and say I was guilty---until January 12th, 2004.
Never hurts to be reminded though.

[furball]

Some of these studies crack me up....I think I am going to get funded for a study that says cigarettes may cause lung problems...anyway, it is truly amazing how bad fast food can be for us....but it just tastes so damn good to me...but if you want to be healthy and look good I guess you just need a little will power...

Had a lifting buddy a few years back at school...that never ate Fast Food but would sometimes buy some fries to smell them and would even chew them up and them spit them out....that's a little strange but he said it helped him get over the cravings to eat that crap....I always joked with him and said he had bulimia so bad that he wouldn't even wait for the food to go down before he threw it up...

[Gilogy]

Yea -- People are very much aware of how bad these foods are and simple choose to ignore it. Because I reduced my weight significantly this past year, I still get a lot of people asking how I did it. Lately, my response has been jokingly, "Gave up McDonalds". It is amazing how many of these people are ready to believe and accept that as a simple and valid method for losing weight.

[furball]

Went about a span of three years with no fast food, then I met my wife and somehow she got me off that diet and man do I pig out on that stuff...but I know I needed to get away from that junk and I just hope I can stick with it and get back to a healthier diet before I get too old that I cannot metabolize the 3 doublecheese burgers and fries I eat in one sitting....man am I gonna miss those things...

The fast food did help me with my goal to bulk up and get some decent size...but it is time to lean this body out and see what gains I really made...

[CliffStamp]

This is yet another example of junk science. The reason people who eat a lot of fast food are unhealthy is not because of the food but beacuse of the rest of their lifestyle. People who eat a lot of fast food are in general less active, get out less, indulge more in smoking, drinking, etc. .

It is basic statistics, correlation does *NOT* imply cause and effect. Does anyone really think that if you ate massive amounts of healthy foods and did nothing that you would not be fat, out of shape and quickly see health erosion.

Not to argue that fast foods joints serve ideal meals, mainly they suffer from hydrogonated fats, over heated poly fats, and a lot of refined foods. However these are the same three big problems with almost every cooked meal.

Open an modern recipe book and see how much white flour/sugar. margerine and canola oil is present. Its not like cooking this at home is better than fast foods. Plus of course there are always alternatives youc an choose even at McDonalds like salads, whole wheat buns, grilled rather than fried, etc. .

-Cliff

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by CliffStamp

This is yet another example of junk

And here is another example of junk posts. No where in that study did it talk about other possible vices that people might have. Jumping to conclusions again!

Originally Posted by CliffStamp

Does anyone really think that if you ate massive amounts of healthy foods and did nothing that you would not be fat, out of shape and quickly see health erosion.

Where did it say they ate massive amounts of anything?

Please read it as it is written NOT what you want it to say or believe!

[CliffStamp]

Originally Posted by Lady C

No where in that study did it talk about other possible vices that people might have.

Yes and that is the problem. When you test for cause and effect by correlation you have to make sure that you eliminate random chance and parallel causation, this is basic first year statistics. This was not done in the above study and therefore the correlation could be by many other factors as noted.

All the above says is that people who eat more fast food are more likely to be unhealthy and/or overweight. It does *NOT* state that eating the food is what is doing it - it is *NOT* a cause and effect arguement.

If you wanted to show that assertion (which would be *really* hard) you would have to take into account factors such as exercise level, food consumption, age, drugs (some like prednisone make weight gain likely), history of obesity, vices, etc. .

Now if you still have a positive correlation when all of those factors are removed then you have the *start* of a cause and effect arguement.

-Cliff

[Lady C]

If you read it the study stated that they couldn't test for it. They were tesing for insulin resistance & bodyweight changes instead.

Surprisingly few studies have investigated the effects of fast-food consumption on energy balance or bodyweight,17-20 and most of these are of cross-sectional design. To our knowledge, no data for fast-food consumption and diabetes-related endpoints are available. For these reasons, we aimed to investigate the association between reported fast-food habits and changes in bodyweight and insulin resistance over a 15-year period in young black and white adults in the USA

I don't have access to the full article. Do you? I couldn't tell you the correlation factor or p-value. If you have access then maybe it is worth discussing otherwise it is just garbage assumptions.

[CliffStamp]

The p-value is meaningless in terms of the arguement you are trying to make, it only shows correlation not causality, the former does *NOT* imply the latter, again this is basic statistics.

As a trivial example, you look at the results of people working out in a highschool gym in terms of strength and size. It shows extreme correlation with greater gains on monday / wed / friday, vs tues / thurs / saturday.

The p-value is < 0.01 . Does this mean if you switch that you will have better gains? No. It could be simply for example that the football team schedules those workouts around practices.

You are the one making the assumptions about causality from correlation, as I noted in the above this arguement can *NOT* be made without a much stronger study to remove parallel causality.

The above study offers no evidence that fast food causes obesity or a reduction in health. As well as noted, you can easily choose fast food which is healthier than much of what people cook for themselves.

McDonalds does not make people fat.

-Cliff

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by CliffStamp

McDonalds does not make people fat.

That is Bullsh!t, of course, it does. Show me your study that prove it doesn't. You're just full of it! Go away you are buggin' ALL of us.

[sooner_ed]

Originally Posted by Lady C

That is Bullsh!t, of course, it does. Show me your study that prove it doesn't. You're just full of it! Go away you are buggin' ALL of us.

Now I have not always agreed with Cliff, but please don't speak for me. Cliff is not buggin' me. Sometimes he gets me thinking.
Let's re-read his statement...McDonalds does not make people fat. That statement, in and of itself, is a true statement. Here is a true statement:

McDonalds food, in excess, makes people fat.

Now true enough, there are other factors involved, such as activity level. I would be willing to bet, that with my activity level, I can go to McDonalds once a month (and supersize it!) and not gain any weight. I would be willing to bet I could go every other week and get the same meal and not gain any weight. Now at some point in there, moderation would lead to excess. And that point is different for everyone, especially considering a person's activity level.
Not to mention the fact, that no one forces us to eat at McDonalds. At some point in time, people need to quit blaming the makers of the food and blame themselves for eating it to begin with. As we always say around here, everything in moderation is ok. Are we changing that to only certain foods in moderation is ok?
So I agree with Cliff. McDonalds does not make us fat. McDonalds in excess and especially without exercise will make us fat.
And I think we read too much into all of these studies. We study this and study that. The bottom line is everyone is different. What will make one person fat will not necessarily make another person fat. There are too many factors involved.

[B.A.]

As Cliff & sooner_ed have already noted, not only does McDonalds not make people fat, but you can also lose weight on a typical McDonald's diet of burgers and fries.

~ B.A.

[Lady C]

I repeat

Originally Posted by Lady C

Go away you are buggin' ALL of us.

(except for Ed and Tim).

[sooner_ed]

Originally Posted by B.A.

As Cliff & sooner_ed have already noted, not only does McDonalds not make people fat, but you can also lose weight on a typical McDonald's diet of burgers and fries.

~ B.A.

I really hadn't thought about that. We keep saying that losing weight is simply a matter of burning more calories than we consume. So if a typical diet of McDonalds burgers and fries ends up being fewer calories than we burn, then it would be logical that we lose weight.
I think where some people are getting confused is between weight loss and health. Anyone can lose weight and not necessarily do it in a healthy way. We all know that McDonalds does not serve the healthiest food (although they are making strides to create a healthier menu while keeping their main staples which are not that healthy) and eating it daily can present other health factors (such as higher cholesterol), but that does not mean it will make us fat.
I will give you an example. I married my wife 5-1/2 years ago. She had three children when I married her. Because she was a single mother of three, she had to rely upon babysitters while she worked because she chose not to accept any type of governmental assistance. Because so little time was spent at home (between work and the babysitters), she kept little to no food in the house. You can bet one of the main places for them to eat was McDonalds. Even after we married, we frequented McDonalds quite often. Our three boys, now 16, 15, and 13, are not fat in the least. And they have had MORE than their fair share of McDonalds!! and Arbys and Taco Bell and CiCi's Pizza!! My 13 year old has abs that many adults are here dying for and he doesn't even work at it! So to make a blanket statement and say that McDonalds makes people fat is very false.
So I guess I could see where a daily diet of McDonalds could result in a weight loss as long as calories expended exceeds calories consumed. It just wouldn't be the healthiest way to lose weight.