Alarming findings about the "healthier" fast-food option
I hate to be a spoil-sport but there really may be no such thing as a "healthy" choice at most fast-food restaurants.
Grilled chicken may be lower in fat and calories than hamburgers or fried chicken but there's another reason to be concerned. Grilled chicken can be especially high in heterocyclic amines, harmful compounds formed when animal protein is exposed to direct heat.
Researchers recently analyzed menu items from several popular chain restaurants and found that grilled chicken can be a significant source of these chemicals. (New Study Finds Dangerous Compounds in Fast-Food Grilled Chicken)
I've posted in the past about the danger of carcinogenic chemicals in grilled meats. See my post for how to minimize this risk when grilling at home.
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Posted by: jonathan benson | Oct 6, 2008 8:40:41 AM
Everything can kill you - life is one long calculated risk.
Are the heterocyclic amines in my George Formaned chicken breast I take with me for lunch every day worse than having refined junk in store sandwiches and crisps (that doesn't have the heterocyclic amines)?
Posted by: Dave | Oct 6, 2008 4:29:42 PM
Ray Peat, scientific researcher extraordinaire, addresses this fallacy issue in "Suitable Fats, Unsuitable Fats: Issues in Nutrition"
"The influence of the mass media on science can be seen in two issues that are currently well known.
A popular test used for evaluating diabetes is the measurement of glycated hemoglobin, the attachment of a sugar-like fragment to the protein of hemoglobin. This is used to judge whether blood sugar is being controlled adequately. The glycation of proteins is widely believed to be a central process in aging, and is often used to argue that people should reduce their sugar consumption.
Another well publicized problem supposedly involving the reaction between sugars and proteins has to do with the discovery of the carcinogen, acrylamide, in breads and french fries. The Whole Foods Market was sued in California for selling whole wheat bread without a warning that it contained a carcinogen.
But the changes in proteins that occur in diabetes are mainly produced by the breakdown products of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Acrylamide is produced largely by the reaction of PUFA with proteins.
Sugar, by reducing the level of free fatty acids in the body, actually tends to protect against these toxic effects of the PUFA. Diabetes, like cancer, has been known for a long time to be promoted by unsaturated oils in the diet, rather than by sugar. The seed oil industry has been more effective than the sugar industry in lobbying and advertising, and the effects can be seen in the assumptions that shape medical and biological research. "
Posted by: Dave | Oct 6, 2008 4:54:45 PM
The net-net above is to fry foods in coconut oil, lard, butter and other sat fat oils, NOT canola and other high polyunsaturated omega 6 oils.
McDonalds originally used lard then was forced to switch to the trans-fat "healthy" oils, now has switched to a new canola high oleic blend from Cargill which includes corn and soy oils.
See http://www.canola-council.org/uploads/classic_and_high_oleic_canola_oils.pdf page 2 for detailed comparison of various oils. Corresponds with Monica's findings on sunflower oil, not as much on safflower oil in terms of highly inflammatory omega 6 polyunsaturated oils.
Will take years to see how this affects all who eat fast foods.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 6, 2008 5:28:13 PM
PCRM, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, is anti-Atkins and anti-meat, pro-vegan. They smeared Dr. Atkins by saying his death was due to cardiovascular issues, not from a fall on his head against NYC concrete and they fund anti-Atkins websites and promote anti-Atkins lawsuits.
Hopefully, Monica won't fall for their scare tactics by promoting their anti-meat witch hunt. They even have an FDA petition that the recent tomato salmonella scare was due to meat contamination.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 6, 2008 5:30:57 PM
Lucky, I recently added D'Adamo's Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type plan. Chicken is not allowed for my bloodtype.
