Better than taking statins with fast food....

Today's Post: Monday, 8-16-2010

In the last few days, there was a news item in the online health news about some doctors in the UK who seriously suggested that people who eat fast food hamburgers should take statins to counteract the bad fats in them such as saturated fat.

There are so many things wrong with this idea and so many better ways to solve the problem it’s hard to believe.

Here’s just a small list.

1. There are far worse things in fast food than saturated fat, though excessive saturated fat IS bad for your heart.

Some fast food places still fry in hydrogenated oils or oils high in omega 6. Hydrogenated oils directly cause heart disease and are far more effective at doing so than saturated fats.

Their hamburger comes from grain fed cattle, which means its fat is very high in omega 6 oils. The inflammation that causes is damaging to your heart also.

The refined grain in the bun, the starch in the French fries many people add, the pastry many people add, and most commonly the high fructose corn syrup from the soft drink – or the large amount of extra sugary foods eaten later by people who think diet soft drinks don’t fatten – each spikes blood sugar, adds extra calories, increases insulin release AND new research shows directly cause heart disease just like hydrogenated fats.

2. Statin drugs have very undesirable side effects, are expensive, and are also NOT very effective preventers of heart disease or heart attacks. I’ve read that something like 100 people have to take statins to prevent 3 heart attacks and about 3 people who would not have gotten cataracts without taking the statins will get them. And, most people who take statins for a long time begin to feel older and tireder and have less energy. They also can trigger serious muscle damage, serious memory loss, and heart failure.

So their solution is weak and is much like fighting a tidal wave with a spoon that gives you electric shocks.

You need to use a much more effective solution that does far more, more safely than taking statin drugs.

3. The best solution given today’s fast food places is to set up your eat on the go foods and lunches at work at home and simply don’t go to fast food places.

It can cost you less to do that each week-end before the upcoming week than to eat at fast food places. You’ll spare yourself the illness producing and fattening effects of their food.

You can eat things like boiled eggs, raw cauliflower florets, raw broccoli florets, raw walnuts, raw pecans, raw almonds, and dry roasted almonds and a LOT more things that have health benefits instead of causing you damage and excess fat.

4. But, if you want to or must eat at a fast food place, there are far better ways to combat the effects of eating there than statin drugs. And, you can do them right at the fast food place itself.

Here’s just a small sample.

The overall two statements that includes them all are simple.

Eat meat and produce and drink water or orange juice at fast food places – but nothing else on the menu.

Think of the other stuff as slow poisons and do NOT order them; do NOT pay your money for them; & for your health’s sake do NOT ingest them!

Hamburgers are not that good a protein source; but they are dramatically less harmful than the bun and sauces and the extras such as French fries, a pastry, and or a soft drink.

(Many of the “cheeses” in fast food places are made with soy protein or hydrogenated oils instead of real cheese. So I suggest NOT getting those.)

So, if you need to have lunch order the hamburger (or hamburgers if you are that hungry) Akins style on a plate. The best things to add are extra tomato slices and triple onions. The onions literally are a direct antidote to the effects of the saturated fat; & the tomatoes have fiber and some heart benefitting effects. (Onions have been found to act like anti-freeze when eaten with saturated fats; and they increase HDL and lower triglycerides.)

If they offer other vegetables such as lettuce, peppers, etc ask for some of the ones you like on the burger or on the side.

Some fast food places have a salad bar or offer salads. Get no dressing or anything with sauces. But do get any real kinds of produce you like or just eat those things out of the premixed salad and leave the rest.

Some fast food places charge a minimal charge for water while some offer it free. Some even sell bottled water or water that has been carbonated only. Some offer real or decaf coffee which also works if you drink it black.

McDonalds has decently good orange juice – at least it did several years ago when I tried some; & they tend to keep things on the menu that sell. Orange juice does have some sugars; but it also has some flavor while being dramatically safer and better for you than regular or diet soft drinks. AND, the potassium in it will help balance the slightly too much salt likely to be in the hamburgers. So in this case, it’s actually a good choice.

If you need extra flavor, get mustard. Unlike the ketchup, it has no high fructose corn syrup; and unlike the mayo or special sauces, mustard has no bad fats itself.

Lastly, the best fast food place to eat this way is Subway.

They make it really easy to custom make your own sandwiches with a wide variety of veggies to put on it.

Simply order one the size of your appetite Atkins style on a plate and add an ample variety of the veggies you like. It actually makes a decent meal. And they have several kinds of meat including turkey – NOT just beef. In addition to onions which have a directly protective effect against saturated fat, and tomato slices, they have really good, small, sweet peppers, and avocado slices.

Note it is likely the best choice to get two hamburgers or the Foot-long size at Subway if you are really hungry. Why?

Because after adding the onion, tomato and other veggies to your taste, you’ll feel well fed after you eat which makes it MUCH easier to resist the health landmines they also carry such as French fries, other similar fried foods, desserts, and soft drinks and other sweet drinks.

5. Between eating right at your other meals, regular and vigorous exercise, and taking the right supplements you can protect your heart better with much more safely than you can by taking statin drugs.

We post on this subject regularly, such as last Thursday’s post for men.

But we also post regularly on fatloss which requires the almost identical lifestyle upgrades and directly on protecting your heart from time to time.

And, many of the foods that work to prevent cancer or Alzheimer’s disease also protect your heart.