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Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Is There Healthy Food at McDonald’s?

July 31, 2008 12 Comments

*Amazon or other affiliate links may be included, see full disclosure after the post. I'm not a medical professional, so use anything you read here only as a starting point for your own research.

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Yesterday when the kids were watching Spongebob, a McDonald's commercial came on. It showed all the happy kids, and then said that they now offer “Happy Meals with 1% milk, chicken nuggets made with all white meat, and apple slices“.

My translation:

A sarcastic YIPPEE.

  • Milk with the healthy fats removed and replaced with powdered milk in order to get the milky consistency back – powdered milk contains oxidized (damaged) cholesterol…do we really want to give that to our kids? (Read more at the healthy milk post.)
  • Chicken nuggets from chickens fed who-knows-what and raised in confinement causing them to be so unhealthy that they need all sorts of drugs to keep them alive, which we then ingest.
  • Apples from who-knows-where and probably packaged months and months ago, but you'd never know it because of all the nasty chemical preservatives they're floating in.

photo by Cosmic Kitty

Yes, it's good that they're trying to offer what they think are healthier menu options, but I just don't want anyone to fall for it!

That Happy Meal is almost as crappy for your kid's bodies as a typical happy meal:

  • Burgers made with meat that is likely from thousands of different cows in every bite, all raised in confinement and fed junk, on a bun with refined flour and trans fats.
  • Poison sticks made with potatoes that were probably processed months ago, fried in terribly unhealthy fat. (I don't care if they end up offering a trans fat-free version, if it's a newer oil, like canola, soy, safflower, etc., it's still not a good option! Read about what Cheeseslave cooks her homemade fries in…yum!)
  • A pop chock full of high fructose corn syrup, not to mention preservatives, artificial flavors & colors.

What about McDonald's salads, you ask?

Compared to the menu items already mentioned, yes, the salads would be an improvement, depending on what's in those dressings (watch for high fructose corn syrup, MSG, trans fats, etc.) But compared to a salad with fresh ingredients from the farm market or your garden and homemade dressings…no comparison! (No comparison in taste, either, as you probably know.)

Deep breath…Ooooh, this is fun to get going like this!

Hopefully I'm not annoying you as much as I do our teenager: “Mom, don't start.”

OK, fine, I'll move on now…

In a related article, read this from the Los Angeles Times: Panel OK's one-year ban on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A.

  • My other fast food post – hopefully this disgusting information will really help you break the fast food habit.
  • Need healthier options than fast food? This is the list I refer to on those crazy days when it's 5:00 and I have no idea what I'm feeding everyone.
  • Enough about food (never thought you'd hear me say that, did ya?), let's talk about babies. I take care of a sweet baby girl in my day care a couple days a week and get the best snuggles. Do you know anyone who is pregnant? They might like to read this post about natural parenting. (And good nutrition info for preggies and babies.)
  • Speaking of babies, now let's talk about sex…want to know why & how to get the spark back into your marriage? It relates to nutrition, honest.
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Comments

  1. Kelly says

    January 13, 2009 at 2:59 PM

    Sorry about the Cheeseslave link! I just fixed it so it goes to her new site, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
    Kelly

    Reply
  2. Cammie says

    January 13, 2009 at 9:23 AM

    Yeah…. and it is still more expensive than just making a similar meal at home with much healthier and yummy ingredients.

    Reply
  3. Sandra says

    January 13, 2009 at 8:02 AM

    The Cheeseslave link says the blog has been deleted. Can you tell us what she does?

    Reply
  4. Kelly the Kitchen Kop says

    August 5, 2008 at 5:53 PM

    Jenn,

    I’m screaming WITH you!!!

    Kelly

    Reply
  5. Jenn says

    August 5, 2008 at 4:36 PM

    Another thing they’ve done to make the meal more kid friendly is peel all the skins off the apples, so kids don’t even get the full nutritional value.
    It’s so disappointing that they can’t even leave the apple skins on. Good grief!
    Also, just for added incentive to get kids to eat these tasteless, watery apples (which they are), the apple dippers also come with a “caramel” dipping sauce that is chock full of horrible ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup.
    I just want to scream: “When did a simple apple become the enemy? And why does it have to be stripped and then dressed back up to make it mored appealing?” Ugh, it makes me crazy!!!

    Reply
  6. Lady Why says

    August 5, 2008 at 4:03 AM

    Great article!! I’m linking to it from my blog so other people will see I’m not the only one! Ha!

    Reply
  7. Kelly the Kitchen Kop says

    August 2, 2008 at 8:15 AM

    Anna,

    Can’t wait to hear your take on the Mediterranean diet!

    Shauna, great idea! Anna, would you want to do a guest interview…what do ya say?! Let me know if I can email you the questions, then you can work on it whenever you have time. 🙂

    While we’re at it, Shauna, how about one from you?!

    Kelly

    Reply
  8. Michigan Mom2three says

    August 2, 2008 at 4:34 AM

    ohhhh anna – I’d really love to read that – guest interview Kelly???? I’ve always wondered if the “Mediterranean Diet” purported here was a politically correct one…. compared to what they really ate.

    I lived in France as a student, in a home, with a “mom” who cooked every day and kept a fine vegetable garden. What Americans think the French eat is NOT what the everyday Frenchman eats. There’s a good reason that there aren’t any overweight French people! 😉

    Shauna

    Reply
  9. Anna says

    August 1, 2008 at 4:41 PM

    Hi Kelly,

    Funny you should mention this … a few days ago I ate at a McDonald’s at the Chicago airport on the way back from an overseas trip, not out of choice, but out of necessity (and cheapness – the McD salad was under $5 and the chicken caesar salad at the place next door was $8). I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lettuce, a mix of quite fresh baby leaves and chopped romaine that one might find in any reasonably nice restaurant. I knew the Newman’s Own Bacon Ranch dressing was full of soybean oil and junk ingredients, but I don’t like “naked” salad so just this once … and the chicken breast strips at least seemed to be ordinary chicken, but I didn’t care to check too closely (sometimes ignorance is bliss).

    Well, my guess is that the chicken has some “extra” ingredients of some sort (injected sugars and flavor enhancers?), and the dressing must be pretty high in sugars despite the savory flavor (probably HFCS), because I ran a surprising BG of 156 mg/dL after the lunch, which would never happened if I made a similar salad at home with homemade ranch dressing and grilled chicken breast (more like 100-110 mg/dL or so). Good thing I don’t have to resort to McD’s “healthy” food very often.

    Btw, I’ll be blogging about the recommended so-called “Mediterranean diet” fairly soon (when I get a bit caught up at home), at least my observations of the Tuscan and Roman versions as I experienced it. I’ll keep you posted.

    Reply
  10. Kelly the Kitchen Kop says

    August 1, 2008 at 12:04 PM

    Holly,

    Is that the same driving force that “made me” eat another piece of blueberry pie by any chance?!

    Jeremy,

    You make me laugh, as always. 🙂

    Reply
  11. Metroknow says

    August 1, 2008 at 7:38 AM

    Our kids may be better off eating the pack of stickers and the box.

    🙂

    Great post Kelly! You just put the K right back in Kop!

    Reply
  12. Holly says

    August 1, 2008 at 6:49 AM

    Even if they do offer healthier alternatives, the driving force that makes me order a QP with cheese is still there!

    Reply

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