If you're a loyal reader, you know that I love railing on the Atkins Diet and others of its ilk. Atkins, South Beach, The Hamptons, they're all about starving your body of some nutrients while loading up on others. Although the fad is starting to die, you can still see more of a focus on low-carb foods at restaurants and the grocery store with no mention of saturated fats or cholesterol.

It's been pretty well known for awhile now, and especially after the movie SuperSize Me, that fast food restaurants are not a good place to go for anyone who cares the least bit about their own health. Despite what the hip woman on the McDonalds ad claims in her lilting rhymes, the salad...may..be..green....but it comes...with...fattening ranch dressing.....and pieces..of..fried chicken.

The interesting thing, though, is that while McDonalds is bending over backwards trying to convince people that their food is healthy, they aren't *nearly* as bad as a lot of restaurants who people just assume are healthy because of their cuisine.

Take, for instance, P.F. Chang's China Bistro. There is a location across the street from me, and I can assure you that the food is delicious. People assume that Chinese food is healthy, especially with the amount of rice it comes with, but here's a comparison of a McDonalds Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese to P.F. Chang's Orange Peel Beef:

By any measure, Atkins or not, you're better off going to McDonalds (and not ordering fries) than eating "healthy" Chinese food. And I didn't just pick out the worst one, the vast majority of the food on the menu at P.F. Changs is much much worse for you than greased-up McDonalds specials. Except, ironically, for McDonalds' new "Chicken Selects". If the annoying paranoid guy in the commercial really wanted to keep his coworkers from eating his chicken selects, all he needed to to was tell them the nutrition information.

But how about a Chipotle (exactly like Tomatillo's in St. Louis) Vegetarian burrito. It's vegetarian, so it must be healthy, right? Well yes, but only if it's the only thing you eat all day. It has 1120 calories and 75% of your daily suggested intake of saturated fat.

Or how about Panera (St. Louis Bread Company) salads? It's Breadco, and it's a salad, but the Greek salad has a ridiculous 48 grams of fat. That's more than the double quarter pounder with cheese.

The point is that everyone is putting pressure on McDonalds and the "unhealthy" restaurants to serve healthier food, but those places never pretended like they were good for you. Places like the Bread Company specifically advertise the health benefits of eating there, and mock "unhealthy" eateries like McDonalds, then ratchet up the calories and fat behind the scenes. Because it seems like it should be healthy, no one asks any questions. And we haven't even gotten into any of the American, Crazy Crap on the Wall restaurants like TGI Fridays and Applebees that serve things like "Pizzadillas".

McDonalds may have worst ad campaign ever, but when it comes to nutrition they really aren't as bad as they seem. If you're really trying to lose weight, you're better off eating a stick of butter than going out to eat.

Posted by: rkc at February 16, 2005 4:38 PM

Posted by: Chris Hill Festival at February 16, 2005 8:11 PM