What’s Really in Your Fast Food?

I've never been a fan of fast-food or burger bars 👎....here's some of the reasons why.  If this doesn't put you off, I don't know what will!  😱

French Fries 
The humble potato, fried in a vat of simmering oil, and finished with a sprinkling of salt. What could be simpler? Apparently, quite a lot. Fast-food fries often have more than 15 ingredients, including sugar and artificial coloring. They also have preservatives like sodium acid pyrophosphate and tert-butylhydroquinone, which in high doses has been linked to vision problems.


Hamburgers 
Ground beef, right? Sure -- but there also may be growth hormones and antibiotics, which can end up in your system. And in one study, some burgers had over 100 calories more per serving than the fast-food places said they did.

Soda
It’s the same soda you buy at the grocery store. But when you get it at a fast-food chain, you get more calories because the drink sizes are so large. And we’re not talking “supersize.” A medium soda at a typical fast-food place is about 30 ounces and has about 300 calories. And studies show that if you order it, you’ll drink it.

Breakfast Sandwich
Some of the ingredients listed for what one national outlet calls a “fried egg” include modified corn starch, soybean oil, medium chain triglycerides, propylene glycol, artificial flavor, citric acid, xanthan gum, and -- oh yeah -- egg whites and yolks (listed separately). If you didn’t bargain for all of that, ask for the propylene glycol (also used in fog machines and to make polyester) on the side.

Hot Dog
What’s in them? Let’s just say they make full use of the animals that supply the meat. They’re also loaded with salt and saturated fat (which most Americans get too much of) and with nitrates, a preservative linked to diabetes and cancer.

Chicken Nuggets
A piece of chicken breast battered and fried to golden perfection? Not exactly. There’s meat in there, but there are also bones, blood vessels, nerves, connective tissue, and skin. And they have loads of salt and fat, which are linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Strawberry Milkshake
Besides milk and sugar, one leading fast-food outlet also adds high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives like sodium benzoate, and artificial flavors and colors to this drinkable dessert. One thing that appears to be missing: actual strawberries.

Sauces 

The first ingredient listed for almost any sauce served at a fast-food restaurant is sugar. It may be called sucrose, dextrose, maltose, rice syrup, barley malt, high-fructose corn syrup, or any number of other things, but the end result is the same: quick delivery of lots of calories with almost zero nutritional value.




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Tired of the Ups and Downs of Yo-Yo Dieting?

'Coaching' sessions seemed to help keep the weight from coming back, study found.

MONDAY, Feb. 20, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Anyone who has been on a diet knows the real challenge comes later, when you've got to fight tooth and nail to keep from regaining the lost weight.

Now, a new trial finds that regular "diet coaching" may help keep the weight off.

People were more likely to maintain successful weight loss if they took part in a series of post-diet coaching sessions conducted mostly by phone, said study author Corrine Voils. She is scientific director of the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program at the University of Wisconsin.
Dieters who received coaching had only regained about a pound and half, on average, a year after their initial weight loss, Voils said. Successful dieters who received no follow-up coaching regained about 5 pounds.

Typically, most people tend to regain weight at a rate of about 2 to 4 pounds a year, the study authors said in background notes.

"The program did slow the rate of regain over that period," Voils said.

Previous research has shown that people who are taught specific behavioral skills can better maintain weight loss, Voils said.

For this study, Voils and her colleagues combined several of those skills and regularly reinforced them with successful dieters during a 42-week period.

The participants were 222 patients at VA clinics in North Carolina who lost an average of 16 pounds as part of a structured weight-loss program.

Following their weight loss, these folks were randomly assigned to receive regular coaching from dietitians or were left to their own devices.

The coaching included a few group visits at first, but quickly transitioned into regular phone calls, Voils said.

"We started out with biweekly contacts, and then decreased to monthly and then to every two months," she said.

The coaching hit on four major themes for weight-loss maintenance, Voils said.

The first involved weighing oneself regularly to identify any sudden weight gain. Patients were told to react if they noticed that they'd put back on 3 pounds.

"Once you regain 3 pounds, this means that you're on a trajectory to regain weight. You need to go back to your weight-loss effort," Voils said. "It's easier to recuperate from a small slip than it is from a 20-pound slip."

Participants also were encouraged to:

• Plan for situations where they might slip into old eating habits, such as holidays, travel, parties or church buffets.
• Ask a friend or family member to help them maintain healthy habits that would keep weight off.
• Make a list of the personal benefits from weight loss they'd experienced, as a way to keep them motivated.

Many weight-loss programs feature one or more of these strategies, but they are rarely combined and usually are emphasized during the initial weight-loss period, not as a part of long-term maintenance, Voils said.

After 42 weeks, patients were left alone for 14 weeks and then weighed again to see whether they'd experienced any weight gain.

Voils said the program was low-cost -- about $276 per participant for 56 weeks -- which makes it a fairly inexpensive way to help people stay healthy and fit following a weight-loss program.
"There could be a distinct phase after initial weight loss where this could benefit," Voils said. "There's accountability by somebody calling you regularly."

Dr. Donald Hensrud, editor of "The Mayo Clinic Diet," said the study "demonstrates that some follow-up in this period through telephone calls could be beneficial."

Hensrud also directs the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, a wellness program that offers six months to a year of follow-up from coaches.

"We haven't done a research study like this, but we designed it [the program] for similar reasons," Hensrud said. "We think that staying in touch with people during this so-called maintenance phase is important. People respond to it."

Voils couldn't say whether people who've lost weight would require such coaching for the rest of their lives, to prevent regaining those pounds.

"I would love to do that next study to figure that out," she said.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the results were published Feb. 21 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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