Battle between fast food over traditional lunches

April 22, 2014

Mayonnaise covered buns with a thin tasteless patty. Pizza soaked in grease. Cold salty fries. A sugary soft drink.

This may be what you think of when fast food is mentioned, but fast food can be a healthy if the right choices are made.
Believe it or not, it is possible to eat what you want and still be healthy. Burgers with only essential vegetables – no mayo, cheese, or “special sauce”– is healthier than a salad with ranch dressing, cheese, and croutons.

Fast food isn’t just burgers and fries. Many fast food joints provide healthy options for you to choose from like soups, salads, and wraps.

Croutons full of carbohydrates, high fat cheeses and creamy dressings are high in fat and sodium.

Nearby places like Chipotle, Subway, and Thundercloud are known for serving meals with fresh low-calorie ingredients.
Thundercloud Subs offers fresh produce including 100 percent vegan bread. Vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and sprouts are great options instead of cheese or bacon.
Chipotle is GMO-free and almost completely organic. It can be healthy if you choose wisely; however, a few things need to be avoided: Sour cream, cheese, and chips. One ounce of sour cream, cheese, and four ounces of chips can add up to 800 calories and 35 grams of fat to your order. One Chipotle flour tortilla has 290 calories and 9 grams of fat. With that said the best option is a bowl.
You don’t want to cheat your body by ordering cheap food. Value items are processed and easy to construct, making it a terrible option when trying to eat well.

To dramatically decrease your calorie intake the following must be avoided: Mayonnaise, ketchup, high fat dressings (Ranch, Thousand Island, etc.), cheese, soda, and sadly, bacon.
Chipotle is GMO-free and almost completely organic. It can be healthy if you choose wisely. It’s okay to eat fast food whenever you want. The important thing to remember is to make the right choices.

Hannah Kerns/ Jacob Sanchez

Battle between fast food over traditional lunches (Cont.)

Savannah Garza, Editor-in-Chief

Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Sonic, and Double Dave’s. These are only a few of the many options seniors have for lunch.

And how could seniors turn down half priced pizza rolls or food at the very low, low price of $1 from the value menus? Many seniors say it’s cheaper or better than school lunch food.

One pepperoni roll from Double Dave’s is 370 calories, one Big Mac from McDonald’s is 550 calories, and one Baconator from Wendy’s is 830 calories. Students also usually buy a drink with their meal, which adds almost 200 calories more to your meal, not to mention at least an extra $1.25, too.

It is no coincidence that students are commonly seen hanging over their desks, not wanting to do work, or feeling exhausted or sleepy. This could be related to fast food intake, which causes fatigue because of its lack of protein.

Fast food releases endorphins that make people feel satisfied, but not for long. These endorphins the food releases makes people crave it more and want to eat more. When you don’t get more, you start to feel sluggish.

Some people will try to make the argument that there are healthy options at fast food restaurants. At McDonald’s, a salad is no better than buying a burger. A standard burger from McDonald’s is 253 calories, while the caesar salad is 425 calories. The BLT Cobb Salad from Wendy’s, which has 740 calories, is worse than the infamous Burger King Whopper that has 670 calories.

I’m not saying it’s bad to eat fast food every once in a while. I go off campus occasionally.For the most part, I bring leftovers from home to lunch everyday, which tastes much better than cafeteria food and fast food.

Fast food may seem cheaper and better to eat during lunch, but eventually both the expenses and empty calories are going to come back to haunt you in the long run.