How and why fast food is killing you one meal at a time

(NaturalNews) When it comes to our diet, taste and health should go hand in hand, with each of them being considered equally before consumption. Sure, sugary and salty concoctions taste really good, but is it really worth sacrificing your health for something tasty?

Big Food thinks so. In fact, all they're interested in is creating products that are loaded with salt or sugar, or an intense combination of both, lighting up your brain like a Christmas tree, and not to mention generating a dangerous cycle of addiction that leaves you craving more.

Recently, Natural News blew the whistle on Starbucks' new Cinnamon Roll venti Frappucccino, a coffee beverage that contains an alarming amount of sugar with an astronomical 102 grams! The Cinnamon venti Frappuccino isn't the only drink raising concern, as the global coffeehouse chain recently rolled out several other diabetic-inducing dessert drinks.

"The new Lemon Bar Creme clocks in at 71 grams of sugar in one 24-ounce frap," wrote Natural News' L.J. Devon.

"The sweetness escalates from there, with Cupcake Creme totaling 79 grams, Cotton Candy Creme ringing in at 83 grams, and Red Velvet Cake Creme totaling 87 grams. Pushing the limits, Caramel Cocoa Cluster contains 97 grams, and Cinnamon Roll tops them all with 102 grams of sugar."

Drinking a Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino is basically the same as downing an entire liter of Coca-Cola, writes L.J. Devon, something that most people wouldn't do.

It's not unreasonable to assume that regularly consuming sugary drinks like the ones mentioned above will have some damaging health effects, including the potential development of type-2 diabetes and obesity.

Restaurant chain Red Lobster takes the cake for having menu items with the highest calorie, saturated and trans fat, sodium and added sugar counts

Unfortunately, it doesn't end with Starbucks' sugary drinks. Red Lobster's Create Your Own Combination meal, may contain up to 3,660 calories if you include their Lobsterita – a whopping count that far exceeds the number of calories that adults are recommend to consume each day.

The Lobsterita alone contains nearly 890 calories.



The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that men who are sedentary consume 2,000 to 2,600 calories per day. Women who are sedentary are recommended to consume about 1,600 to 2,000 calories per day. Man or woman, active or sedentary, Red Lobster's Create Your Own Combination meal will likely put you way over your daily recommended calorie count.

Named the "winner" of the 2015 Xtreme Eating Awards, Red Lobster reportedly serves menu items with the highest calorie, saturated and trans fat, sodium and added sugar counts, reports Health.com.

"They've taken seafood, which is a generally healthy meal, and turned it into this abomination. But what was so shocking to me is that the Lobsterita has 890 calories alone," said Paige Einstein, RD, a registered dietician with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit health advocacy group that conducts the awards each year.

Some restaurant menu items pack in more than a week's worth of sodium and saturated fat

Also in the running is Steak 'n Shake's seven-layer Steakburger 'n Fries, which contains seven meat patties stacked with seven slices of cheese – clocking in at a whopping 2,290 calories, 129 grams of fat and 4,980 milligrams of sodium!



If you decide to pair the meal with a Chocolate Fudge Brownie milkshake, which of course is encouraged by the chain, you're ingesting another 1,000 calories.



Outback Steakhouse's Herb Prime Rib, which includes a one-pound slab of meat plus sides such as a dressed baked potato and classic blue cheese wedge salad, contains 2,404 calories, 169 grams of fat, 3,565 milligrams of sodium and 35 grams of sugar. Eating all of that is equivalent to having three 10-ounce ribeye steaks and three sides of garlic mashed potatoes from Outback Steakhouse, reports Health.com.

Sources:

http://news.health.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com