Triple-Double Bacon Burger With Large Fries and a Diet Coke

It's been 'bout eight months since I swore off those nasty fast food megachains. The conflicting nature of the media about the industry itself always perks me up: here's an article about the increasing (thus increasingly unhealthy) portions meted out by places like McDonalds and Hardees aaaaaannnnnnnddddd...are you a Big Mac maniac or a Whopper lover? Vote here!

In other words, which burger makes artery-clogging so damn tasty? Which franchise do you love to revisit so much that you think "grease" is the fifth food group?

Thanks need to be given to the So Good blog for hipping me to these links, which led me to even more articles, ad infinitum. I've blogged on the mania surrounding trans fat before, my interest in it stemming from a life spent at the altar of the Arches. Viewing "Super Size Me" and reading Fast Food Nation did their part to convince me that I needed to make serious lifestyle changes. But I don't think anything is so effective a deterrent as actually perusing the nutritional menus of fast food chains.

Take the McDonalds info; the amount of sugar that goes into their items is just gross. And if you don't know about the legend of the Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese, well, 720 calories should let you know. Also, the salads are heavy on the carbs, sugars, and calories. So there goes the assurance of "oh well, it's a salad; gotta be healthier for me than a burger."

The recommended calorie intake for the average person is 2000 daily. For women seeking to lose weight, 1200-1500 is suggested, while for men it can go 1500-1700 (the logic being that men burn calories quicker). One can figure, then, that a non-dieter can handle three meals up to 650 calories each, while those trying to trim down should work out portions of no more than 400-500. Willpower is another thing entirely, completely outside the helpful advice and admonition of the medical community, but the numerical rationale is easily understood.

McDonalds has two milkshakes that surpass 1000 calories on their own. And I bet they are tasty, in their own inimitable "cup o' sludge" way. Look at the greatest offender, the 32 oz. chocolate Triple Thick shake. 1160 calories (almost covering your humble blogger's personal daily intake) and 168 grams of sugar. The last stat is the most shocking, if you'll pardon the mild pun. According to the doctors I've consulted with, a person with a regular metabolism who doesn't fit an exercise program into their daily routine should not exceed 40 grams of sugar in a day's worth of consumption. One shake from McDonalds gives you four times that. Check out the sugar stats for McDonalds, consider how many people make it a part of their diet, the convenient and "homey" vibe the restaurant emanates (well, except that one on Georgia Avenue in DC)...no one wants to hop on the fast track to heart disease and diabetes, but that patch of road is growing more and more congested every year.

(I'm not picking on the House That Ronald Built, either. Check the Hardees page for even more insane numbers, specifically those for the Monster Burger.)

But in the end, it's similar to a person's decision to use drugs. Or have casual sex without the benefit of protection. The information at our fingertips is multitudinous, as are the sources we can access it from. When the brain is done processing it, when the pros and cons are weighed, the benefits and detriments considered, it's up to the individual.

McDonalds Hardees Burger King Diet