[bandgeekin]

If there is one thing that bothers me it's people who try to justify their fast food or their cheap food.
I hear "well this Egg McMuffin is pretty healthy because it has protein and calcium!"
No. Just don't. I realize not everyone wants to be a vegan let alone a vegetarian. But I care about the health of others. I believe at the very least people should eat to the best of their ability. (although I believe that includes not eating animal products)

I was wondering if anyone has ran into people who try to justify their foods with "nutritional facts"?

My concern is I have a family member who I care for so much. I don't want him to keep lying to himself and continue to let him eat unhealthily. Do you guys have some nutritional facts/advice I could give him? My words just aren't ringing enough. But I want to see this person live a healthy life.

 

[jessandreia]

Point out to him the amount of cholesterol and sodium on the egg mcmuffin?
Is that person willing to be vegetarian? Because I honestly don't know what health advice to give to an omnivore in a vegetarian forum. I want to suggest that instead of him eating meat from junk foods, that he eats healthier, lean meats. But suggesting any type of meat eating in a vegetarian forum just sounds wrong. But again, if he's not willing to be vegetarian there's not much else you can do.

 

[bandgeekin]

Extremely true. I'll try to suggest to him to take steps to eating less and less meat.
Fast food alone is not only disgusting for humans but disgusting for animals.

 

[Tiger Lilly]

I have similar problems with my family, so at least you're not alone!

I've been told not to push my agenda, from family members eating KFC....AFTER A HEART ATTACK!

So this is how I come at it now-

"I'm eating this and it's almost healthy for me because Iron"

Me: Yeah, you know, I used to think that too but then I realised that animals that are used to supply fast food....Be it their products, or their bodies, they're really really sick. I just don't think it's healthy to eat unhealthy animals or their products, y'know? I mean, can you imagine what that might do to our bodies?

It doesn't always work, obviously because none of my family are vegetarian.

But, I just try and not make them feel completely out of their depth. Nutritional 'facts' come and go. But eating an unhealthy animal, that's never going to be good for someone. Plus, it gets them thinking about the reality of what they're buying into.

(I've heard the 30 Day Vegan Challenge is meant to be good, for helping veg*ns learn about nutrition in a way that's easy to pass on to carnists. It might be worth a look. I haven't done it, so I can't say for sure how good it is. But I'm definitely going to give it a go soon).

 

[Enthios]

Most people do and will express justification for the stupid things they consume. And many are not interested in changing. We are all on a different journey and different stages of healthy inclination. When it is at all possible I like to try and teach people how all food nutrition is derived from raw plant sources and then the more it gets processed the less amount of nutrition it has (cooking and exposing cut plants to oxidization kills plant nutrition). Animal products are very processed, plants that are chewed and digested by an animals labor.

 

[imagineaa]

What is your concern about Egg McMuffins (besides containing meat)?

 

[logic]

Most people, due to the way foods are marketed, tend to think of foods in terms of a few nutrients they contain and largely ignore the other things in the food that may have negative impacts on their health. An Egg McMuffin has 12 grams of fat (5 grams saturated), 260 mg of cholesterol and 720 mg of sodium yet is only 290 calories. So, yeah, it has protein and calcium but so does a bowl of granola and soy milk and it doesn't have all the saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and contains a number of other nutrients.

 

[bandgeekin]

What is your concern about Egg McMuffins (besides containing meat)?

My concern is that my family member is eating processed fast food while they could just as easily be eating healthier. I'm concerned about the lack of nutrients this person is getting.

 

[bandgeekin]

Most people, due to the way foods are marketed, tend to think of foods in terms of a few nutrients they contain and largely ignore the other things in the food that may have negative impacts on their health. An Egg McMuffin has 12 grams of fat (5 grams saturated), 260 mg of cholesterol and 720 mg of sodium yet is only 290 calories. So, yeah, it has protein and calcium but so does a bowl of granola and soy milk and it doesn't have all the saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and contains a number of other nutrients.

To add, eating fast food isn't always fastest. Sometimes you have to wait in lines. If you wanted, for example, something quicker than just eat some raw fruit or veggies, or already prepared meals.
The cost of fast food also adds up sometimes too, while you might not see it in the food area. Health concerns such as clogged arteries or heart issues can be acquired with excessive fast food. The cost of dealing with those issues is far more expensive than paying for some healthy food and not dealing with near as many health issues.

 

[Naturebound]

Also the eggs used in fast food industries are more than likely massively produced factory farmed eggs from birds that are kept in horrible conditions and fed an unnatural but cheap and convenient formula of feed. The nutrition in that egg is not going to be as great as from a grass fed animal (speaking purely from a health perspective here). For McDonalds, in some of their egg products, including the egg mcmuffin, they also add margarine to the product to prevent sticking when the egg mcmuffins are cooked in metal rings. So add that to the saturated fat content also.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/mcdonalds-dumps-mcmuffin-egg-factory-health-concerns/story?id=14976054

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food...de_of/your_questions_answered/dairy_eggs.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...-come-from-farms-accused-of-cruelty-1.2128930

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...on-cage-free-eggs/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

 

[sammymom07]

Processed foods are really unhealthy foods but I sometimes eat some of them to indulge myself once in a while but I make sure that I have regular exercise and drink lots of water to detox the harmful effect of them. Reading and knowing the nutritional facts of processed foods are good but i must say the fruits and vegetables are the best foods.

 

[Gita]

The language, or "rhetoric" of health is enough to convince the lazy minded. Most people do not eat ethically, and could care less about how chickens are treated. Thank the goddess you are among the enlightened.


Sent from my BNTV600 using Tapatalk

 

[cobalamin]

Magnesium is superior.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[Teganitta]

My concern is that my family member is eating processed fast food while they could just as easily be eating healthier. I'm concerned about the lack of nutrients this person is getting.

While I get your concern, this is kind of like the opposite of that other female who posted about the friend telling her "You know, people will make fun of you for eating vegetarian". It's kind of like.."well, who are you? The food police?" You know?

***No disrespect meant at all, but you can only say so much to one person, right? They have to learn to make better choices as far as eating is concerned, on their own.
Encouraging them to do other healthful things may also start to reflect in their eating habits, too.

Example; I notice when I have those days that I really feel amped to take that 5-6 mile hike all at once, I also feel like super duper cleaning house and enjoying more healthful foods and tons more water. An overall sense of wellness, I guess.

 

[imagineaa]

The language, or "rhetoric" of health is enough to convince the lazy minded.

Ha. I was just thinking that today, while looking at multigrain bread that appears to be not whole grains, and colored brown.

 

[Auxin]

My rule of thumb is to be instantly suspicious of anything that makes any health claim at all.
For instance:
Low carb margarine
Low fat sugar cookies
Sugary neon breakfast cereal with heart healthy flax seeds
Anything that claims to be healthy tends to have some even more unhealthy attribute.
My supermarket decided to put a 'GMO Free' tag on 'Himalayan' pink salt (no joke). Affluent foodies with hypertension can now rest at ease knowing their salt doesnt come from a... genetically engineered salt tree?

 

[Gita]

I personally think that blowing the fat or calorie count occasionally Is not going to lead to horrible health consequences. It is when people eat like this every meal, every day that it becomes a health issue. A "feast" will not hurt your health and may even be good for you. And as for the egg McMuffins (meatless I am assuming) dietary cholesterol was proven years ago to have very little bearing on chronic health issues. Having some free floating cholesterol in the blood stream for one day is not going to harm anything. Having it in there all the time will. Neither will smoking cigarettes one day out of the year (If it were possible).

Science is overly simplified for common consumption. X is bad, we are told, when it is more like X in the presence of Y only when Z occurs is closer to actual truth. Salt also does not "cause" hypertension, it contributes by causing water sparing in the kidneys or tissues which is needed in many cases. Why do you think they pump you full of saline solution when you are sick? Hypertension is actually the symptom of a larger systemic chronic syndrome.

 

[dcloebs]

The thing is,that just because someone is vegan, doesn't mean that they are healthy. There is so much processed vegan food out there and plenty of junk food options that are vegan. Yes, you need to learn how to eat whole foods in the right portions. I'm all for moving people toward a plant-based diet, but there has to be nutrition education involved too, not just what foods are right or wrong to eat.

 

[drsmokey]

My preferred method is to go, "Oh, I know they try to advertize that as healthy, but that isn't really that good for you." Then tell them why, keeping it factual. Then I suggest other things, including heathier meats! Something like, "Most beef and pork is high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Some fish can be quite healthy, and should definitely try to get lean cuts when possible (which they can't at a restaurant usually)."

The net effect is that, even though they know I don't eat meat, the friend/loved one knows I am not just trying to guilt them into eating straight up veggie. What I've seen happen a few times is the person may order something like fresh fish with veggies or a nice salad instead of the meat lovers pizza or cholesterol/saturated fat laden meal. For many people if you confront them with a straight up vegan alternative they will resist thinking you are perhaps being self-righteous or such a jump is either too much or not for them. Start them on the path and they may find the veg*n road by themselves.

 

[ktkun]

Make them watch the BBC 3 parter 'The Men Who Made Us Fat' as well as sugar documentaries on YT. These companies study food preferences like crazy and are feeding off of our evolutionary instincts to get us to buy more. This pretty much scared me off junk and fast food. Rarely have it anymore and am careful where I get it. There are probably a lot of good vids about hormones and overfeeding animals to bulk them up quicker - leads to fatty and/or unhealthy meats. What goes on in slaughterhouses - if not the killing, then the acceptable unsanitary practices such as floor meat and trace contaminants being OK. There must be some good vids about additives and preservatives (to lengthen shelf-life, improve taste) and links to cancer, cognitive disorders etc. Fast food is crap. You're paying a conglomerate for poison.