As an individual trying to live a healthier lifestyle, I have become more and more aware of the scary truth about fast food, and was fascinated to read this recent article on the top 10 fast food ingredients – have a look at this summary:

10. Citric Acid – the most common preservative, but not a major issue as it is an organic acid found in many fruits, and does not harm organisms that ingest it.

9. High fructose corn syrup – massively high in calories, and extremely low in nutritional value, found in a myriad of fast foods and beverages.

8. Caramel Colour – the most common colour additive, and hardly a single fast food item does not have at least one artificial colour found somewhere in the list.

7. Salt – The most common flavour or spice, not always first on the ingredient list, but mostly always there – even in sweet foods! I don’t need to tell you how bad too much salt is for your blood pressure…

6. Monosodium Glutamate: The Most Common Flavor Enhancer, has no distinct taste itself, but serves to amplify other flavours, particularly chicken or beef flavouring.

5. Niacin: The Most Common Nutrient, and the most unnecessary? A side effect of all the over processing means that nutrients are lost, which often leads fast food chains to add this nutrient to their food items. Bizarre.

4. Soybean Oil: The Most Common Oil or Fat – a fast food staple ingredient used frequently for deep fat frying, and a key ingredient in margarine, pastries etc. A pretty unhealthy mix of unsaturated fatty acids leading to a link with heart disease.

3. Mono – and Diglycerides: The Most Common Emulsifiers – generally recognised as a safe ingredient.

2. Xanthan Gum: The Most Common Stabilizer or Thickener, creates a smooth pleasant texture in foods, but is not recognised as causing any undesired side effects.

1. Chicken: The Most Common Meat Product – what concerns me here is the welfare of the chickens that serve the fast food industry. You can bet they are not generally free range, and certainly not organic!

Granted, it takes more effort, and time, to buy, create, and cook, a healthy meal. I would argue that it is cheaper though, and certainly in the long run – much better for you. Buying fresh ingredients means you know exactly what is going into your food, and ultimately you can be assured you are getting maximum nutrition, and not the weird and wonderful concoctions listed above!

Success for one of the USAToday weight loss challenge dieters – reduced calorie intake to about 1500 a day and regular exercise has helped one dieter drop 16 pounds.

From Forbes –

Jenny Craig will end an ad campaign featuring actress Valerie Bertinelli as part of a legal settlement with Weight Watchers International.

The settlement ends a federal lawsuit filed by Weight Watchers against rival weight loss company Jenny Craig over an ad campaign that Weight Watchers said was supported by neither fact nor science.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/05/jenny-craig-weight-markets-equities-nutrisystem.html?boxes=marketschannelnews