The top twenty worst foods in America?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Not even eating two sticks of butter would measure up to the calorie and carb content of eating The Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing.

Just another reason why our country is so overweight.

The Full List.

[bakura_fan]

interesting. Most of it I'd never heard of cause I don't really eat out at restaurants, and if I do I choose between Olive Garden and Red Lobster. the first more so just cause it's my fave. Where I live we don't even have fast food. eh, small town...So whatever I buy I get at safeway, or the other grocery store. My parents did get me a gift card to chili's however, I can't even think of what i'd order there. We used to go to lots of big restaurants when i lived in CA (marie calenders, mimi's cafe, alcapolco *??havn't been back since I was 12...name not so sure on*, red lobster, chili's, etc.) but when we moved, didn't so much so I've kinda forgotten about everything...heh.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I thought it was because people won't control themselves.

[KeybladeWarrior]

Oh gosh, I certainly not going for the cheese fries at Outback.

[Cognitive Gear]

Just looking at this offhand it looks like they may be confusing "High Calorie", "High Fat" and "High Carb" with "Unhealthy". Depending on what kind of a diet your body needs, some of these may appear to be right up your alley, based on the information given. I also noticed that they don't seem to mention anything about "serving sizes". For all I know they may be measuring the entire deep dish pizza. Many of their alternative offerings may be lower in calories, but are also much, much smaller in portions.

It's not the food offerings at restaurants that is making our nation obese, it's the choices those people make. No one is forcing anyone to eat McDonald's everyday.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I've gotta make that at home one of these days.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I thought it was because people won't control themselves.

While I most certainly agree, do know most restaurants give you a larger serving size than one actually needs; whereas I believe in other countries, they may feed you much smaller portions of food. Also note the fact that many sit-down restaurants refuse to give out nutritional facts about their food.

[Cognitive Gear]

Browsing around the site, they do have some really useful looking information for those that just don't have the time to pack a lunch before work. See the "Eat this, Not That" section for a good variety of information on many restaurants, both sit down and fast.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Yeah. You'd never think that potatoes, cheese and ranch dressing as a meal might be bad for you without someone telling you.

[Raiden no Kishi]

I think (on a nation-wide level) that bad eating habits and unhealthy menus are a vicious cycle. Bad eating habits mean there is more money to be made selling unhealthy foods, which makes bad habits more accessible/cheaper/more common, which encourages bad habits, which brings us right back around.

Actually, I think many social maladies can be described this way. However, I do believe that all started with bad choices/habits.

.rai//

[Alexander]

Strange, I've eaten those before. And I'm still 20 pounds underweight...

[Shao Feng-Li]

I think (on a nation-wide level) that bad eating habits and unhealthy menus are a vicious cycle. Bad eating habits mean there is more money to be made selling unhealthy foods, which makes bad habits more accessible/cheaper/more common, which encourages bad habits, which brings us right back around.

Actually, I think many social maladies can be described this way. However, I do believe that all started with bad choices/habits.

.rai//

Hmm, that is true.

I'm in the wrong business...

[ChristianKitsune]

It also has a lot to do with family genetics... (the obese issue, not necassarily the food lol)

But it's more about self control...and you know what?

A lot of overweight people don't care! Seriously, if they cared then these servings would drastically increase...

Also, keep in mind that there are some members here on CAA that are overweight (to society's standards). So please don't say anything offensive.

I myself am a little overweight, but I am working on getting my weight down to a better range. It's a tough go for a lot of people. So.. yeah.

But yesh, I agree these foods are probably not the healthiest if you are looking to change your lifestyle.

But in reality some people just don't care. And that's their business.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Those Outback Fries or whatever don't look the least bit Aussie inspired.
Ranch dressing? Yeah, we have ranches over here. Blah.

[Sheenar]

This is the reason I try not to eat out very much (that, and to save money...). I'm trying to lose weight myself, so I buy food from the grocery store (though I admit mac and cheese isn't exactly the healthiest food...), but I buy what I can afford...

Sometimes it's hard to make healthy choices at restaurants ---the price of the healthy options is often much higher than the greasy, artery-clogging foods...
(ex: Jack and the Box salad =roughly $7-$8; Jumbo Jack = $1.29)

[NuclearPeon]

interesting. Most of it I'd never heard of cause I don't really eat out at restaurants, and if I do I choose between Olive Garden and Red Lobster.

Olive Garden?? My, you have great taste in restaurants. You happened to pick my favourite as well. Their breadsticks and salad is a meal unto itself.

[Doubleshadow]

Those Outback Fries or whatever don't look the least bit Aussie inspired.
Ranch dressing? Yeah, we have ranches over here. Blah.

To tell you the truth, I've wondered if their food is actually Australian. It's menu reads more like a general American family restaurant menu with Australian sounding vocabulary words tossed in.

And as far as weight goes, societal habits and misconceptions play a large role. For example, most people consider yogurt healthy, but the old giant size yogurt parfait at the Golden Arches had more sugar than their chocolate and strawberry sundaes. That feels like borderline trickery to me. And calories very by chain: the Big Mac has 29 grams of fat and about 540 calories, while the Whooper has 39 grams of fat with 670 calories.
Also, Americans are usually taught to clean their plates and not waste food and ample portions of food are still considered a sign of hospitality. This results in really chowing down in social settings a lot of the time; even though the shortages of food that prompted this type of thinking is now in a bygone era, it's influences on good manners regarding food remains.

[bakura_fan]

Olive Garden?? My, you have great taste in restaurants. You happened to pick my favourite as well. Their breadsticks and salad is a meal unto itself.

It has always been my favorite. I always order the soup and salad meal. Pasta vigoli(sp?) is the soup I always get. I've tried to stray to another item on the menu, but I just love the soup salad breadsticks too dang much! besides, it's an all you can eat! Not that I can eat that much...maybe 2 bowls of soup, 2-3 plates of the salad...and roughly 4-5 breadsticks...>_> ya know...now that I look at it...that is alot of food! XD

[Shao Feng-Li]

Restaurants aren't responsible for people's choices. If the servings are large, go once in a while, as for a special occasion and stuff like that. You don't need a movie to tell you that eating Big Macs for thirty days will make you over weight. If you made hamburgers at home and ate them all the time, you'd gain weight just as well.

Bread, beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, onions... Wait... where's the unhealthy part in a hamburger?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

You don't need a movie to tell you that eating Big Macs for thirty days will make you over weight.

Sadly, some people do.

[Gabriel 9.0]

The Big Mac, has about 500 calories......And the Whopper from Burger King is 670 calories. I even read that a certain fast food joints particular sandwich is roughly 3000 calories. Forgot which restaurant though.

[Nate]

I came in this thread expecting the worst foods, and yet all I saw was the best foods.

I demand a refund.

[Fish and Chips]

[Nate]

Fish has saved this thread.

[Radical Dreamer]

Thread over. Go home, everyone; there's always next year.

[Syreth]

I make frequent use of the "to-go" box option that many restaurants provide. Sometimes it just doesn't feel good to eat 3,000 calories in one sitting. Most of those restaurants are ones I never go to anyhow.

[termyt]

I didn't really need an article to tell me that chili cheese fries aren't good for me.

But wait - they said Outback. I never eat at Outback. So, the chili cheese fries I eat aren't probably that bad at all!

[EricTheFred]

<sigh>

I cannot digest most food people take for granted. Currently, (for health reasons, not weight reasons) I'm on a diet that says 'if you can't digest it, you can't eat it.'

Well here's what I can't eat:
Anything made from any grain. (Yeah, I can't take the bread in Communion.)
Anything made form any starchy veggie or tuber. (Yep. Cheese Fries are out.)
Anything containing uncooked or undercooked vegatable fiber. (No salads. No veggies that aren't soft.)
Anything containing Glucose, Sucrose, Maltose, or Lactose in any significant amount.
Most legumes, including anything at all containing soybeans.

The lactose thing means milk and cream are out, cheeses have to be the aged, hard kind. All commercial yogurt is out (not cultured long enough to consume all the lactose) so I make my own. All the normal cottage cheese, ricotta, etc. is out, because it has milk or cream mixed into it to make it 'creamier'.

The grain and sucrose thing means anything with 'high fructose corn syrup' are out, because it may say 'fructose' but it has tons of sucrose in it.

Basically, I have to make my own ketchup, yogurt, mayonaise, and pickles. So much of my diet involves meat and eggs that I have to be very picky about the type (cage-free eggs, wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, pastured chicken and lamb only) so I don't die of Cholesterol.

Maybe the only good thing in all of this is... I can't eat a single thing on this 'Twenty Worst' list. Wow. This living perdition actually has a bright side...

[uc pseudonym]

In all honesty, none of that looks good to me. Cognitive Gear said some of what I was thinking: are these items balanced by serving size, or did they just end up with a list of the biggest of the high-calorie foods? What about your deep-fat-fried twinkies and such?

But in reality some people just don't care. And that's their business.

I don't mean to attack your position, but food distribution is a serious world problem and it's tragic that some eat so wastefully while others starve. You're right that a lot of people don't care, but that isn't just their business.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Agreed. The US alone wastes about seven billion tons of food a year. It only takes like 3.4 billion tons of food to feed the entire world for one year.

I think that's a pretty upsetting statistic right there.