A good reason to eschew fast food/drive-thru food

G

GeorgiaXplant

Well-known Member
Location
Georgia
A lab test I had done on Monday has come back positive for e.Coli. I mentioned before that my daughter doesn't like to cook and rarely does and that I've volunteered for that particular duty. The problem with cooking at home is that she, my son-in-law and my g'kids will eat fast food all day every day over anything prepared at home. It's not a matter of my not being a good cook, honest!:D

When I mentioned it to my daughter just a little while ago, she got mightily incensed and stated that I "don't eat drive-thru food very often". Um. Drive-thru is what's on the menu four/five/six nights a week here and my joining them might be once a week.

Consider this: none of them have had an e.Coli infection even as often as they partake of mostly-disgusting factory food of usually-questionable origin. I did get one, even though I participate in those "meals" maybe only once a week.

IMO it's only a matter of time before one or all of them suffer from a bout with e.Coli. Even if or when that happens, it isn't very likely that dining in will take over from the drive-thru.
 

Not only that, but they will become nutritional deficient which will probably lead to obesity and illnesses caused by it. Don't know how you stop them but it isn't cheap eating out that much, even at drive-thrus. Maybe their finances are an angle that someone might be able to get through to them on...
 
Ralphy, I wish I could get through to them. As carefully as I have tried to approach the subject over the years, it just is NOT heard. And their finances could stand the break, believe me. As for obesity, my daughter and son-in-law both come from families that are long and lean. The kids are still long and lean, but my daughter and son-in-law? They are obese. Not just overweight. Obese.

Having been obese myself at one time, I leave that alone. It's one of those paths that we each have to find on our own.
 

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/e-coli-infection-topic-overview

Unfortunely there are many way for e-coli to be spread even with the foods you cook at home. Fast food constantly is not the greatest idea because of all the fat, etc. it contains too. Yet with so many families, it has become a staple because they don't have time to cook after work and after school activities, etc. Life now days is far different from when we were young and families now days go for whatever is convenience and saves them time. And with their busy schedules...I can understand why.
 
Babsinbloom65 said:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/e-coli-infection-topic-overview

Unfortunely there are many way for e-coli to be spread even with the foods you cook at home. Fast food constantly is not the greatest idea because of all the fat, etc. it contains too. Yet with so many families, it has become a staple because they don't have time to cook after work and after school activities, etc. Life now days is far different from when we were young and families now days go for whatever is convenience and saves them time. And with their busy schedules...I can understand why.
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My daughter in law does fast food all the time, and she wonders why she is gaining weight -- DUH . . . All that fat -- french fries, etc. And one of my grandsons (age 20) is overweight and has popped up with Type II diabetes. There are a lot of things you can cook at home that are pretty simple and fast that are a heck of a lot better for you than fast food, and a lot cheaper, too. I think the "I don't have time to cook" thing is frequently a cop out. Once in a while, yes, but if you never have time to cook, then maybe you'd better rearrange your schedule so you do.

Just my rant re fast food.
 
E. Coli is a really bad one to have! Hope you are okay Georgia.

I understand completely about not being able to get through to family. My son, his wife, oldest granddaughter are obese. The 5 year old is just a bit tubby right now. Stepgrandson is average size. I've tried to talk to them, especially about how granddaughter's health is at risk. My son is going to end up having a stroke. They do eat fast food, but when they cook it's junk - tons of cheese, tons of sugar, all processed food. Anything that is fast and easy.
 
My daughter and her b'f are currently travelling around America. They are gobsmacked at the number of fast food outlets and the size of the servings. They are also surprised at how expensive it is to eat healthily. He is a chef and has been disappointed at the lack of variety in the meals. I felt the same in France.......after expecting to be blown away because of the reputation of French cooking............we can eat so well in Australia because of the availability and price of the ingredients. I'm not saying junk food isn't readily available but so are healthy alternatives at reasonable prices. My daughter did say it's much easier to eat well in the bigger cities.
 
Mitchezz, Europeans always comment on the huge portions in the US. And Americans comment on the small portions on Europe.

Last time I ate at a fast food place was McDs in Oz in 2009. It was actually good and tasted like real beef.
 
Butterfly said:
My daughter in law does fast food all the time, and she wonders why she is gaining weight -- DUH . . . All that fat -- french fries, etc. And one of my grandsons (age 20) is overweight and has popped up with Type II diabetes. There are a lot of things you can cook at home that are pretty simple and fast that are a heck of a lot better for you than fast food, and a lot cheaper, too. I think the "I don't have time to cook" thing is frequently a cop out. Once in a while, yes, but if you never have time to cook, then maybe you'd better rearrange your schedule so you do.

Just my rant re fast food.
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I agree with you Butterfly...but it isn't me you have to convince. And you know our adult kids don't listen to their parents wisdom anymore than we listened to ours. Some things change but some things remain the same. What we may see as a cop out...is not a cop out to our adult children...it is saving them time which is what seems to of greater importance to them now.
 
"Fast food" is ok....once in awhile. However, those who make a habit of "dining" at McDonalds, Wendys, Arby's, etc.,etc., are gambling with their health. I really like to stop at a McDonalds for a Sausage Egg McMuffin...about once a month, but I am sure that making that a daily habit would be asking for trouble.

One of my neighbors was a truck driver before he retired. When he was on the road, you could almost set your clock to the times when his wife headed for town to "dine" at McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She ballooned up to over 300 lbs., became diabetic, and began to suffer all sorts of health problems. When he retired 3 or 4 years ago, his days were consumed with taking her to the doctor/hospital. She eventually passed away a few months ago, leaving him with 10's of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Living on fast foods, and TV dinners, etc., may be "convenient", but there is usually a "side effect" to such a lifestyle.
 
Don M. said:
"Fast food" is ok....once in awhile. However, those who make a habit of "dining" at McDonalds, Wendys, Arby's, etc.,etc., are gambling with their health. I really like to stop at a McDonalds for a Sausage Egg McMuffin...about once a month, but I am sure that making that a daily habit would be asking for trouble.

One of my neighbors was a truck driver before he retired. When he was on the road, you could almost set your clock to the times when his wife headed for town to "dine" at McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She ballooned up to over 300 lbs., became diabetic, and began to suffer all sorts of health problems. When he retired 3 or 4 years ago, his days were consumed with taking her to the doctor/hospital. She eventually passed away a few months ago, leaving him with 10's of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Living on fast foods, and TV dinners, etc., may be "convenient", but there is usually a "side effect" to such a lifestyle.
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Yes, and one of the side effects is early diabetes and heart disease.

My DIL -- and don't get me wrong, I love her dearly; she is one of the kindest people I know and has gone WAY out of her way to help me out, particularly when I was so crippled up with my hips -- will go to the gym for an hour and then stop by McDonalds for a Big Mac, large fries and chocolate milkshake and think it all evens out. According to the internet, that "meal" is pushing 2,000 calories. No way are you gonna burn 2,000 extra calories in an hour at the gym.
 
Butterfly said:
Yes, and one of the side effects is early diabetes and heart disease.

My DIL -- and don't get me wrong, I love her dearly; she is one of the kindest people I know and has gone WAY out of her way to help me out, particularly when I was so crippled up with my hips -- will go to the gym for an hour and then stop by McDonalds for a Big Mac, large fries and chocolate milkshake and think it all evens out. According to the internet, that "meal" is pushing 2,000 calories. No way are you gonna burn 2,000 extra calories in an hour at the gym.
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Yeah, in order to burn off all the calories taken in with one of these fast food "meals", a person would almost have to run the Boston Marathon. According to the CDC, Obesity is becoming an Epidemic, and almost 40% of our nations health care costs are related to excess weight. If/When Medicare gets into a financial crisis, we can thank the millions with bloated waistlines. If a persons waistline is more than half their height, they are headed for trouble.
 
SifuPhil said:
Again, a First-World problem.

I haven't had fast food for years - don't really miss it.
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I don't eat fast food, either. I never ate much of it because most of it disagrees seriously with me (I've never been able to tolerate fatty foods, or anything fried -- perhaps that's a blessing!). I hardly ever eat out, either -- it just got too dang expensive. No fun by yourself, anyway.
 
Butterfly said:
I don't eat fast food, either. I never ate much of it because most of it disagrees seriously with me (I've never been able to tolerate fatty foods, or anything fried -- perhaps that's a blessing!). I hardly ever eat out, either -- it just got too dang expensive. No fun by yourself, anyway.
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That's interesting - the food disagrees with me the same way. Always thought it was my gall bladder that it affected, because of the grease.

Too expensive, true. I'm used to eating by myself, though. ;)
 
Ameriscot said:
Mitchezz, Europeans always comment on the huge portions in the US. And Americans comment on the small portions on Europe.

Last time I ate at a fast food place was McDs in Oz in 2009. It was actually good and tasted like real beef.
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AS they advertise it as 100% Aussie beef.........don' t know if that's actually true. I haven't eaten Maccas for years......it just seems to sit in my stomach for ages.I will say I don't mind their McCafes.....good coffee.
 
mitchezz said:
AS they advertise it as 100% Aussie beef.........don' t know if that's actually true. I haven't eaten Maccas for years......it just seems to sit in my stomach for ages.I will say I don't mind their McCafes.....good coffee.
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When in Oz we travel around with BIL and SIL and BIL likes to spend as little as possible on eating out. SIL would go to a proper restaurant but we all give in and just go. This is only on the road usually though. Otherwise it's healthy food.
 
SifuPhil said:
That's interesting - the food disagrees with me the same way. Always thought it was my gall bladder that it affected, because of the grease.

Too expensive, true. I'm used to eating by myself, though. ;)
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I've wondered about the gallbladder thing, too. Who knows? I'm used to eating by myself, too -- I just don't particularly enjoy eating by myself in restaurants. I always thought of eating out as a social thing you do with others -- seems kind of pointless to do it alone.
 
Butterfly said:
I've wondered about the gallbladder thing, too. Who knows? I'm used to eating by myself, too -- I just don't particularly enjoy eating by myself in restaurants. I always thought of eating out as a social thing you do with others -- seems kind of pointless to do it alone.
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I used to feel uncomfortable eating out at certain types of restaurants alone, but I've gotten over it.
 
I was eating fast food a lot for awhile but it really doesn't even taste good, aside from Arby's Classic Fish sandwich witch is yumm, most of the time. I made a big pot of lentil soup this week and it's got a lot of veggies in it and very nutritious. There are so many things that are not good for us. Meat has been shown not to be very good for us and the FDA recommends a vegetarian diet now. I am not a vegetarian but am trying to cut down on the meat.
 
I think e.Coli is likely to be the least of their problems long term. There is so little nutritional value in fast foods that they inevitably will damage their immune systems.
 
My worst experience with fast food wasn't actually about the food itself, but the patrons. We were third in line for the drive-through, stuck in the line because of a curb to the right of us and other cars behind us. A fight broke out between the lady who was pulled up at the window and who was refusing to pull away because she was arguing with the employee and the redneck in the pick'em-up behind her. Yelling turned into racial slurs. Racial slurs turned into physical threats. Finally, a gun was pulled and we decided that it was time to jump the curb and get the hell out of McDonald-Land. Thank goodness we had four-wheel drive. At that point, I wasn't concerned with damage to the car.

So yes, fast food CAN kill you. The patrons can, too.
 

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