To follow up on my last post on how much of a problem bread, grains, and sugar are in the American diet, I’d just like to point out that when you get a fast-food burger like a Big Mac, or a Whopper, or a cheeseburger from Wendy’s, the unhealthiest part of the sandwich is the bun. Really, any time you have a sandwich or hoagie or any type of food from anywhere where there is bread included, the bread is the unhealthiest part of your meal. Yes, intermittent fasting can negate many of the problems with your diet, even if you consume things like bread and baked goods. But still, even while living a fasting-focused lifestyle, these food items are not recommended.
People will point out the low quality of the meat at fast food joints, and how they have hormones and other things in them that aren’t necessarily healthy, and that’s all true. However, I have two counterpoints against this.
First, as has been pointed out by Cole Robinson, Dr. Shawn Baker and others, no matter where you get your beef and other meat from, it’s STILL healthier than most other things you could be eating, and that includes when you get it from McDonald’s or Burger King. It’s definitely better for you than consuming sugar, grains, or processed packaged junk foods.
Second, when you order from those fast-food restaurants, literally everything else you could order off the menu, INCLUDING SALADS, but ESPECIALLY THE BUNS, are hurting you more than the low quality beef. The fries have trans fat and of white potatoes spike your blood sugar. Soda is just about the worst thing on earth that you can consume. We already talked about how bad the bun is for you. The sauces and ketchup are filled with sugar. Really, the only good things are the meat, pickles, and maybe a few other vegetables, along with the apple slices they might give you. The cheese in moderation isn’t even that bad.
Don’t Eat Bread While You’re Intermittent Fasting
If you are forced to eat at one of these fast food places due to financial reasons or for convenience, I would order a burger or two, or three if you’re doing OMAD (one meal a day), the cheese would be optional, keep the pickles and lettuce, and SKIP THE BUN.
In fact, as I said in the last post, if you do nothing else but start intermittent fasting at a relatively easy clip of an 8 hour eating window, and cut out bread, wheat, grains, and added sugar completely from your diet, and do nothing else, you will lose weight, feel better, and be much healthier. Try this for 4 weeks and see what happens. I doubt you will regret it. Sure, it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. You can even keep doing some other unhealthy practices you’ve been engaging in during this experiment, like not exercising, and JUST cut out the bread, wheat, grains, and sugar, and eat in a 6-8 window, and you will watch the pounds melt away, your inflammation decrease, and your health improve. Do it for a month, and it will change your life.