Drive Thru Diets

What has our world come to when all of the fast food chains are offering a "diet" menu. I just saw the epitome of great marketing. Taco Bell (yes, that horrible, E-coli laced "restaurant") has just announced it's "Drive Thru Diet" plan. Christine (their version of the Subway Jared) lost 54 pounds in 2 years by eating at Taco Bell! What a diet!!!

Taco Bell has artfully come up with 7 new options with less than 9 grams of fat per serving. Sounds semi healthy doesn't it? Especially since those 9 grams of fat will cost you about $2; yes for the low, low price of $2 you too can get 9 grams of fat. It's such a steal! But, let's not forget that 3 of the 7 options have 1/2 of your daily value of sodium. So, not only will you risk the health of your gut by exposing it to E-coli, but you will also be increasing your blood pressure. What a deal!

Let's say that you do try this "diet" but are you just going to eat that Fresco Bean Burrito? Probably not; you will go for the Fresco Bean Burrito (340 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 1290 mg of sodium), Nachos Supreme (at 440 calories, 800 mg of sodium, and 24 grams of fat), and a 40 ounce Diet Pepsi (after all, you are on a diet!). But that Diet Pepsi will pack 125 mg more of sodium (but has 0 calories). So, if you just partake of those 3 items, you are consuming a total of 780 calories (actually not too bad all things considering), 2215 mg of sodium (just 85 mg shy of your daily value - which means you have to have just water the rest of the day, no food, nothing, just water in order to not exceed the daily value), and 32 grams of fat. But let's face it, you probably aren't going to have just one Fresco Bean Burrito, you may have two, or you may upgrade your nacho supreme to a Nacho BellGrande, but the good thing is you will probably stick with the Diet Pepsi. Good for you! If you go for any other beverage (besides water) you will add at least 200 more calories and God only knows how much sugar and sodium.

Now, let's talk about your vegetables and fruit. Where are the veggies and fruit in your meal? Um, nowhere! How about the fiber? The average adult should be consuming about 35 grams of fiber a day. The previously mentioned meal has 19 grams of fiber, not too bad for a meal. But you have to remember beans have fiber. So, if you opt for a different option on the Fresco menu, you won't get as much fiber; in fact 4 of the 7 options have 3 grams or less of fiber. Hmmm, how are you going to poop if you don't get fiber? Oh right, stool softeners. Don't even get me started on the prescription drugs we have to take because of our diets.

I have provided the link to the Drive Thru Diet for you to peruse. Oh and I also provided the link to the government's MyPyramid (previously known as the Food Guide Pyramid). Please enjoy!

http://drivethrudiet.com/

http://www.mypyramid.gov/