Jim, former head of McDonald's? Cantalupo died of a heart attack. Critics say that cantalupo's sudden death was the result of eating too many hamburgers and French fries.
The debate is not over yet, and shocking news comes one after another.
On may 5, McDonald's headquarters announced that the new president Charlie? Bella had an operation for intestinal cancer. In mid-May, a documentary called "Give me the largest size" began to be released in the United States, challenging McDonald's. In this documentary, American young director Morgan? Spoor Locke did an experiment with his own body: for 30 days in a row, he only ate McDonald's food and drank McDonald's drinks for three meals, and then in the form of a documentary, let everyone witness the harmful changes that eating McDonald's brought to his body.
Although no doctor proved that cantalupo's death and Bella's intestinal cancer were necessarily related to hamburgers and French fries, McDonald's admitted that they did eat a lot of these fast foods. Reuters reported that they had to eat McDonald's hamburgers for a long time: the headquarters of the huge McDonald's company is located in the suburbs of Chicago, and employees rarely have the opportunity and time to go out for lunch. The canteen in the company provides McDonald's products that have been listed or will be listed soon. Among these foods, some are things that can't be seen in McDonald's stores, and more are traditional Big Mac hamburgers, soft drinks and French fries. This restaurant is also used as a "tasting shop" for newly developed products, which must be tasted by senior company officials before being put on the market. It is said that Bella eats more hamburgers and French fries than her predecessor. The poor president has been working in McDonald's since 15 to earn some pocket money. Since then, hamburgers and French fries have become Bella's working meals.
Where's Morgan Spool Locke's documentary has intensified people's doubts about the safety of fast food that is popular all over the world.
In recent years, according to the statistics of relevant departments, diseases such as obesity, diabetes, tumor and cardiovascular diseases, which were common in the west in the past, have been on the rise in China in recent years, with a mortality rate as high as 50%, which has become a public hazard. Corresponding to its development speed, the development speed of foreign fast food such as McDonald's in China is equally amazing. So, is there any foreign fast food represented by McDonald's behind these diseases? This question mark hangs on each of us.
Against "Uncle McDonald"
Give me the largest size. In America, it is called "the movie that saved your life". This documentary is 98 minutes long and records Morgan? Spool Locke only ate McDonald's food for 30 days in a row. He named the movie because McDonald's employees always ask customers if they want the biggest set meal, and add some money to add drinks and French fries.
Morgan. Spoel Locke's experimental rule is this: 1. Only eat food sold by McDonald's, including drinks; 2. Don't buy an extra set meal or hamburgers or drinks unless the waiter offers; Eat every food on the menu at least once. In order to prove that it is not false, Spoel Locke specially invited three doctors to record the whole experiment process and follow up his health regularly. Then he went on his way and interviewed doctors, health consultants, chefs and children in 20 cities in the United States to discuss the relationship between health and fast food.
Before filming the documentary, Spoor Locke, who was 1.9 meters tall, was in good health and weighed less than 84 kilograms. Two weeks after the experiment, the doctor said that his liver was seriously damaged and he should stop the experiment. But he didn't follow the doctor's advice. After about three weeks, his heart began to be abnormal. The doctor told him to take two aspirin every day, but he refused because McDonald's didn't provide aspirin. Results After one month, his blood pressure increased greatly and his weight increased by 1 1 kg.
The influence of this film cannot be ignored. After the film won the Sundance Film Festival, in March this year, McDonald's announced that it would cancel the sale of "extra large" food in its restaurant and launch a healthier adult "Happy Meal", which includes vegetable salad, bottled water and pedometer. McDonald's also announced that it will introduce more healthy foods in the future.
Morgan. Spoor Locke said in an interview with the media: "My family is very thin. I have always been healthy and like sports. But in order to make this movie, I really paid a lot. I stopped exercising while filming this film. I just walked on the ground, but this kind of exercise is not enough for me. "
After watching this movie, many fans left messages on its official website. The first paragraph or the last paragraph of all film reviews are similar, such as "I will not go to fast food restaurants after watching this movie" and "I reduced the habit of going to fast food restaurants several times a week to once a week, and then I lost weight and felt much healthier. Thanks to the director, I recommend all American fat people to watch this movie. This is not an entertainment or social experiment. Watching this movie will save your life. "
Morgan. Spoor Locke said that one of the reasons for the increase in obesity worldwide is the export of American fast food culture. Taking McDonald's as an example, he said that this fast food chain provides food to 46 million people in more than 100 countries every day, only half of whom are Americans. "That is to say, 23 million people are in the United States and another 23 million people are abroad. Therefore, we are passing on our bad habits to the whole world. "
1 The toxicity of fried chicken legs is equal to 60 cigarettes.
There is no doubt, Morgan. Spoel Locke's experiment is too extreme because few people regard foreign fast food as the only food. Therefore, it has been pointed out that as long as it is not eaten every day or every day, it will not do much harm to the human body.
"This view is not correct!" Li Qingtian, director of the Nutrition Society of China, affirmed in an interview that foreign fast food is a typical "three highs" (high calorie, high fat and high protein) food, and such a diet structure is absolutely unreasonable in nutrition. "There are only a few kinds of foreign fast food, and we can analyze them in the same way." Li Qingtian explained in detail the classification of foreign fast food according to food types.
"The first killer is frying and baking food. Fried food such as French fries is the chief culprit of cardiovascular disease. Especially French fries, are high-fat foods. The original fat content of potato is less than 1%, but because of its high expansibility, the fat content after frying can reach about 40%. After food is fried at high temperature, it will produce carcinogens such as benzopyrene. Frying will also destroy vitamins in food and make protein denatured. However, grilled foods such as roasted chicken wings contain a lot of' tri-tetra-benzopyrene' (the first of the three carcinogens), which will lead to carbonization and degeneration of protein (increasing the burden on kidneys and liver). Some studies have said that 1 fried chicken leg is equal to the toxicity of 60 cigarettes. "
"White flour in hamburger base is refined food, and its key physiological function on human body is to generate heat. The history of human nutrition shows that people who overeat for a long time are prone to coronary heart disease, diabetes, arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Because hamburgers contain a lot of cream, only one or two pieces of lettuce or pickles are sandwiched in the middle, so the fat content is high and the vitamin content is extremely low. "
"The problem of salt cannot be ignored." Li Qingtian pointed out that McDonald's was also blacklisted by the British Times because of its excessive salt content. The World Health Organization recommends that the daily salt intake of each person should not exceed 5g, and the nutrition experts in China suggest that it should not exceed10g. "If you eat too salty for a long time, it will not only induce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, but also cause gastritis, peptic ulcer and other diseases."
"carbonated drinks in foreign fast food can be regarded as accomplices." Li Qingtian added. Carbonated drinks such as cola contain phosphoric acid and carbonic acid, which will take away calcium from the body, and the sugar content is too high, there is gas and there is not much nutritional value. I feel full after drinking, which affects eating. This is why many children refuse to eat well. Frozen desserts such as cones contain sugar and cream, which is easy to lead to obesity. Too high sugar content will also affect dinner.
Professor Zhao Lin, a nutrition expert in the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, also pointed out that hamburgers and French fries can cause hormonal changes in the body, making consumers addicted and it is difficult to control their food intake. It is also found that hamburgers, French fries, potato chips, biscuits, roast pork, brown crispy skin on fruit desserts, biscuits, cakes and other foods contain a lot of acrylamide. As we all know, acrylamide is a natural by-product of foods rich in carbohydrates after high-temperature frying, baking or baking. Acrylamide can cause gene mutation, damage the central and peripheral nervous system, and induce benign or malignant tumors. Experts believe that this discovery explains the high incidence of tumors in western countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) stipulates that the content of acrylamide per kilogram of food should not exceed 1 mg. However, at present, the acrylamide content in potato chips sold by McDonald's and KFC exceeds the standard by about 100 times, and the acrylamide content in bread, cakes and biscuits exceeds the standard by about 500 times.
Zhao Lin also pointed out that hydrogenated fats (shortening and margarine) commonly used in foreign fast food are even more harmful than saturated fats. He told reporters that Walter, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health? Willett published a paper as early as 199 1, clearly pointing out that hydrogenated fats used in foreign fast food and other foods are potentially harmful to human health. Fried food and baked food in foreign fast food generally contain hydrogenated fat. Willett said: "The controlled diet study on the influence of fat on blood cholesterol and the epidemiological study on the relationship between hydrogenated fat intake and the risk of heart disease and diabetes show that hydrogenated fat is worse than saturated fat."
The evil consequences of eating foreign fast food for a long time
"If you often can't sleep at a young age and get tired easily, you should pay attention to your diet." This is Li Qingtian's advice to young people now. He pointed out that nowadays, young office workers are becoming more and more lazy to make their own breakfast. They often eat together for lunch and go out for dinner, and the most common substitute for three meals is foreign fast food. After a long time, it is difficult to guarantee health. He said that an egg, a glass of milk and cereal are essential for breakfast, and the nutritional mix of fast food is extremely unreasonable.
For children, the most direct consequence of foreign fast food is obesity. Zhao Lin believes that with the increasingly affluent life of residents, extremely rich material supply, and the emergence of a large number of Chinese and Western fast food, soft drinks and convenience foods, the eating patterns and habits of residents have changed greatly. On the other hand, due to the convenience of transportation, the popularization of television and computers, and the decrease of physical activity, children's calorie intake increases and consumption decreases, which makes the occurrence of childhood obesity on the rise. A large number of children's obesity has become a problem that cannot be ignored in children's learning and growth. According to relevant surveys, in recent years, the incidence of obesity among primary school students in some cities in China has increased year by year, reaching 5%- 10%, and some cities even surpassed developed countries. Unconsciously, obesity, which has been popular in the west, has gradually become a public hazard in China.
Maybe some parents will say, "It doesn't matter if a child is fat when he is young, it's cute when he is fat!" This is far from the truth. Childhood obesity not only affects children's own growth and development, but also easily develops into adult obesity. According to the research, the risk of obese school-age children turning into obese adults is 3.9-5.6 times that of non-obese children, and about 42%-63% of obese school-age children will turn into obese adults. Obesity in children has also become the inducement of hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, gallstones, nephropathy, fatty liver, sudden death, breast cancer, gout and other diseases in adults. Obesity impairs children's cardiopulmonary function and aerobic capacity, and reduces children's athletic ability. Overnutrition can also lead to premature development of immune cells, premature aging of cells in middle age and rapid decline of cellular immune function. What's more, because the pituitary cells of obese children are gradually replaced by fat cells, the secretion of sex hormones is disordered, which can lead to feminization of boys and masculinity of girls. The impotence and reproductive impotence of this group in adulthood will not only destroy countless families that should be happy and healthy, but may even become a social problem.
Recently, researchers in Canada found that high-fat foods can damage children's developing neural channels, which may cause permanent damage to children's brain and ideological quality. Moreover, obesity can also lead to the decline of children's immune function and easy to get sick; Activity ability declines, and people are inflexible; And make children's psychological state poor, especially students are prone to inferiority complex. Li Qingtian pointed out that the establishment of a reasonable dietary structure requires the government to introduce relevant laws and regulations to rectify the food market; It also needs the self-discipline of the general public, and the advice of nutrition experts can't be eaten after listening; The media should control advertisements that are extremely tempting by food manufacturers; At the same time, food manufacturers are encouraged to develop more delicious and nutritious foods. Advocate the whole society to eat more light nutritious food with less salt, sugar and oil, and enjoy delicious food under reasonable nutrition. When eating, we must achieve the "balance between in and out", that is, the balance between nutrient intake and calorie consumption. Therefore, you can eat more animal and plant proteins, such as bean products, lean meat, fish and shrimp, milk, eggs and so on. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Be careful not to be picky about food, eat less greasy and fried foods, and eat less or no sweets. "The challenge for social and health experts is to educate consumers and persuade them to change their lifestyles." Dilts, a doctor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said. This is like a wake-up call. For us ordinary consumers, the most important thing is to change the unhealthy lifestyle. Saying goodbye to McDonald's is just one of the measures.