Let’s start with McDonald’s:

 

McDonald’s is one of the main culprits in the fast food industry when it comes to serving us dodgy food. Renowned chef Jamie Oliver recently won a case against the global conglomerate.

 

According to Oliver, the McDonald’s process used to prepare their burgers is not fit for human consumption. McDonald’s uses Ammonium Hydroxide to ‘wash’ the fatty parts of the beef and then use it to fill the burger, creating an ingredient charmingly called ‘pink slime’.

 

Oliver also uncovered how McDonald’s produces their famous Chicken Nuggets: the remains of the chicken, which include the skin, fat and internal organs, are processed into what we know as ‘Chicken McNuggets’.

 

Nevertheless, the good news is that McDonald’s have officially pledged to change their recipes and production process.

 

Grossed out? Well, let’s go on to KFC:

 

KFC is famous for Colonel Sander’s secret spicy chicken – but how healthy is it? Keep in mind that KFC’s finger-lickin’ good chicken is deep fried chicken with a yummy coating, which is high in cholesterol, saturated fats, trans-fatty acids and carbohydrates.

 

The biggest problem that we have with KFC is that some outlets’ chicken tastes oilier than other chicken and often still tends to be raw, bloody and riddled with suspicious organs – a HUGE turn-off. To put it simply: KFC isn’t what it used to be!

 

After we watched Food, Inc. an Emmy award-winning documentary exposing the fast food industry, we were in utter shock! According to the documentary, the facts about how fast food is prepared are deliberately kept from us. The industry doesn’t want you to know the truth about what you’re eating – because if you knew, you may never want to eat it again!

 

“They basically brought a factory system to a restaurant kitchen,” says Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and co-narrator in Food, Inc.

 

 

Fast food is cheap both in price and quality. We’re accustomed to only three tastes: sweet, oily and salty. Schlosser says that the food industry blames obesity on a ‘crisis of personal responsibility’. Organic companies around the world are working together in order to get rid of the implementation of industrial food.

 

According to Medical News Today, women should consume an average of between 2000 and 2200 calories per day, and men between 2 500 to 2 700.

                                                                                     

Fast food outlets shouldn’t necessarily be banned from your life. There is a quote that all women use when they are dieting: “If you crave it, do not starve yourself. Eat it, but take it in moderation.”

 

Try healthier alternatives like smoothies or go to ‘healthier’ restaurants such as Kauai or Simply Asia.  It may be a bit more expensive, but in the long run it will have a positive impact on your health. It will also relieve that ‘fast food craving’.

 

 

Here are a few tips to eating healthy:

• Get nutrition-smart.

• Control your portion sizes.

• Prefer grilled over fried.

• Choose regular size meals.

Look for the ‘Heart Mark’ symbol on products