McDonald's v. School Lunches: Which is Healthier?

Proposed elementary school lunch, courtesy of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010:

Chef Salad
(1 cup romaine, .5 oz low-fat mozzarella,
1.5 oz grilled chicken) with Whole Wheat
Soft Pretzel (2.5 oz)
Corn, cooked (1/2 cup)
Baby Carrots, raw (1/4 cup)
Banana
Skim Chocolate Milk (8 oz)
Low Fat Ranch Dressing (1.5 oz)
Low Fat Italian Dressing (1.5 oz)

The nutrient composition of this lunch (info from nutritiondata.com):

Carbohydrate: 138g
Fat: 16g
Protein: 37g
Fiber: 10g
Net carbohydrate (ie., digestible): 128g
Calories: 886
CPF composition by calories: approximately 62:17:16

Assumptions: 1 slice commercially prepared whole wheat bread, 1 oz carrots, low fat ranch dressing

Let's look at the nutrient composition of a McDonald's quarter pounder with cheese, small fries and a diet drink or water:
Carbohydrate: 69g
Fat: 37g
Protein: 32 g
Fiber: 6g
Net carbohydrate: 63g
Calories: 740
CPF composition by calories: 37:17:45

To be sure, neither of these meals is health food. Nevertheless, if I had a child, I'd rather he eat the McDonald's meal. Why?

There's a boatload of carbohydrate in the school lunch. Much of it is sugar; the soft pretzel will dissolve into glucose (sugar) in short order once it's down the hatch. In one study, "...a concentrated dose of sugar resulted in a dramatic increase in blood levels of adrenaline in children..." and "...nearly all the children complained of feeling weak and shaky." Another study showed pretty much the same thing. The need for carbohydrate in the human diet: none. Carbohydrate also leads to insulin release, which can lead to fat storage. It's probably no coincidence that kids who eat school lunches are more likely to be overweight.
The grains in the whole wheat bread and pretzel contain nutrient blockers in the form of phytic acid. (In fairness, so does the bun on the burger.) The nutrient blockers glom onto certain minerals and keep them from being absorbed.
Pretzels are made with high-gluten flour to make them chewy. Even if you aren't celiac, gluten isn't good for your guts.
There's less fat in the school lunch. Dietary fat is important for satiation and good health.
There may be more vegetables in the school lunch, but a real chef's salad (romaine lettuce, other greens in season, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, celery, cabbage, and seaweed) is a standard part of dinner at my house.
With 146 fewer calories, there would be more room my nutritious meals.
Remember school lunches? I would not ask a child to eat anything I wouldn't eat.

Sources:

"Health: New Data on Sugar and Child Behavior," by Jane E. Brody, New York Times, May 10, 1990.
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/10/us/health-new-data-on-sugar-and-child-behavior.html

"Study Sees a Sugar-Adrenaline Link in Children," by Jane E. Brody, New York Times, March 15, 1995.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/15/us/study-sees-a-sugar-adrenaline-link-in-children.html?src=pm

The Thirty-Day Low-Carb Diet Solution by Michael Eades, MD and Mary Dan Eades, MD. 2003.

Fat: It's Not What you Think by Connie Leas. 2008.

"Gliadin, zonulin and gut permeability: Effects on celiac and non-celiac intestinal mucosa and intestinal cell lines" by Sandro Drago et al, Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, March 2006.

"Children, Parents and Obesity" by Julie Gunlock, National Affairs, Winter 2011.

Comments

Winning! Read some good news!

The good news keeps on coming. After four years of the country being in the biggest mess that most of us have lived through, it feels like spring is here early. The cold wind is refreshing, the snow is sparkling, and the days are getting longer. Photo from Pixabay . If you're getting this post by email, click here to see embedded videos from X. Trump bans the chemical and surgical mutilation of children in the name of "gender affirming care." This is just an executive order, which the next president could overturn; we need Congress to pass a law. The CIA admits COVID was mostly likely a lab leak after all. "The CIA analysis supporting lab origin of COVID was completed and published internally during the Biden administration. It was withheld from the public by the Biden Administration in violation of the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023, which mandated release," said Richard H. Ebright on X. The CIA now says lab leak is the most likely explanation for COVID-19. R...

Not Only Cheaper, But Easier

A while back, I wrote about saving money on break time coffee and snacks. I haven't done very well putting it into practice. But a post by James Clear today got me thinking about it again: Warren Buffett uses a two-list system to prioritize things. Check it out --and follow the instructions. Using Buffett's two-list system, two of the goals I ended up with were taking care of myself and saving $400 more per month than I already am. As I said, I've been wanting to save money, and the system made me really focus on this. I came up with 11 money-saving ideas, six of which had to do with food. Buying hamburger in bulk. Ranch Foods Direct sells one-pound packages of 80% lean pastured ground beef in bundles of 20 for a lot less than Whole Foods. Sprouts only carries super-lean beef that's grass-fed, and it's more expensive, too. Not driving to Whole Foods. Whole Foods is out of my way, and saving a weekly trip saves gas. Coffee at home, tea at work. Tea is fr...

Let's Grow Vegetables from Seed

MAHA may be a great idea, but what you do at your house is more important for your health than what's happening at the White House. Growing your own vegetables provides food that's fresher and tastes better than store-bought and helps you get some fresh air, sunshine and exercise. If you grow enough, you can even can your own sauces and soups that don't have any franken-food ingredients. My first time growing celery from seed. Here in central Indiana, it's time to plant celery from seed since the average last frost date is 10 weeks away. In a few weeks, it'll be time to plant tomatoes. There are a couple of ways to figure out when to start various seeds where you live: You can find out when it's time to plant things by 1) looking up your average last frost date, 2) getting a seed packet and looking at the instructions for starting the seeds indoors, and 3) counting backwards on a calendar by the number of weeks indicated. You could also ask Grok (X's AI fea...

Blog Lineup Change

Bye-bye, Fathead. I've enjoyed the blog, but can't endorse the high-fat, high-carb Perfect Health Diet that somehow makes so much sense to some otherwise bright people. An astrophysicist makes some rookie mistakes on a LC diet, misdiagnoses them, makes up "glucose deficiency," and creates a diet that's been shown in intervention studies to increase small LDL, which can lead to heart disease. A computer programmer believes in the diet and doesn't seem eager to refute it because, perhaps, scientists are freakin' liars and while he's good at spotting logical inconsistencies, lacks some intermediate knowledge of human biology. To Tom's credit, he says it's not the right diet for everyone, but given the truckload of food that has to be prepared and eaten, impracticality of following it while traveling (or even not traveling), and unsuitability for FODMAPs sufferers, diabetics and anyone prone to heart disease (i.e., much of the population), I'm...

This Just In: Yogurt Doesn't Improve Health

A recent study from Spain finds "In comparison with people that did not eat yogurt, those who ate this dairy product regularly did not display any significant improvement in their score on the physical component of quality of life, and although there was a slight improvement mentally, this was not statistically significant," states López-García. Most yogurt is pretty much pudding with a little bacteria . Pudding is a sugar bomb. Hard to believe the stuff doesn't improve health outcomes, isn't it? But as usual, researchers are calling for...more research. "For future research more specific instruments must be used which may increase the probability of finding a potential benefit of this food."

Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Search This Blog