If your body can't put a big mac "to use," how are people who live off the stuff alive?
I don't see how what Emma Leigh said could be construed as wrong. Restated, IF a person meets the minimum nutrition requirements needed to reach their individual goals and for personal health, they CAN eat whatever they want. Generally, it is a lot easier with healthy food but you can get daily treats in. Using your Big Mac as an example:
The nutrition facts I have up for a Big Mac have it at 540 calories with 29g fat (10g saturated), 45g carbs (3g fiber, 9g sugar) and 25g protein. Most of us could eat at least 3 of those can be cool calorie-wise. Cool enough that we'd LOSE weight. Macros are pretty fat and carb heavy (33% fats, 33% carbs and 24% protein) and unless you're pretty small, you aren't eating the amount of protein most would recommend for muscle growth. You WOULD, however be getting plenty to live healthfully according to WHO. They wouldn't be wild about the amount of saturated fat or fiber in that diet, though. Not to mention all the vitamins and antioxidants you'd be missing out on by not eating all the fruit and veggie servings you're supposed to get in a day. Big Macs and ONLY Big Macs is a pretty extreme diet, though. ANYTHING so limited would eventually lead to nutritional deficiencies, even if you at healthy food! LOL
But lets say the Big Mac accounted for just ONE of your meals? And that you're a weirdo who isn't going to have fries and a coke with it...Maybe for breakfast you had 1/2 cup oats made with 1/2 cup skim milk and 1/2 cup blueberries and a cup of egg whites scrambled with a cup of spinach and a half cup of mushrooms. The Big Mac and a side salad with NO DRESSING was your lunch (maybe you'll be extra awesome and order the burger without sauce, too...who knows). For dinner, you have 1/2 cup of brown rice, 6 ounce chicken breast, and a cup of steamed brocolli. As a snack somewhere, you have a cup of 2% cottage cheese, 8 grape tomatos and 1/2 ounce walnuts.
^^^That's about the same amount of calories (1640)...this time providing 152g of protein, 132g of carbs and 56g of fat. Pretty much a 40p/30c/30f breakdown that a lot of people follow. The only real "damage" the Big Mac does is makes it so that if you get hungry more often than 4 times a day you could have some difficulty. I personally am not real wild about the saturated fat content of the burger and would probably start wanting more food like that if I ate a Big Mac every day. But I certainly could fit it in every so often with no issues. Another person person may bloat up due to sensitivity from the bread but bloating doesn't mean that they're setting themselves up not to lose fat while maintaining muscle. Just means if they don't want to be bloated, maybe they want to avoid the Big Macs for a week. Yet another person may feel sick or lack energy every time they eat a Big Mac. Erm, yeah. If that's the effect it has on your body, don't eat it. But if you can fit it in, feel good eating it, and don't crave more similar foods when you do...go for it.
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