Have you ever wondered when driving by McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s which one is the healthier choice? Today, I am hear to tell you some of the nutritional facts of a few items in each of the restaurants and also help you make the right choice of food. If you are on a diet, you don’t have to complety eliminate all of these restaurants that we as Americans crave. If you don’t abuse the idea of fast food and make the right choices then you can continue to drop pounds off of your body. When figuring out what choices are best I am going to use calories.

First, I am going to start with McDonalds. Here is a list of some of the main items that people choose:

• The plain Hamburger is 250 calories
• The medium french fry is 380 calories
• A five piece chicken select is 660 calories

Next, is some of the popular choices at Burger King:

• Plain Hamburger is 290 calories
• The six piece chicken tenders are 270 calories
• A medium fry is 480 calories

Finally, Wendy’s nutritional facts are:

• Plain Jr. Hamburger is 220 calories
• 5 piece chicken nuggets is 230 calories
• A medium fry is 430 calories

I know you may look at this information and say that Wendy’s is the healthiest restaurant, but take into consideration that I don’t have any of the other ingredients except calories listed. To find out the other nutritional facts click on the resources below.

Now, its time to figure out how to incorporate fast food into your diet. Instead of picking a hamburger you could choice a grilled or a broiled chicken sandwich. Steer clear of anything that has to do with fried food. There is really nothing to choose that can replace that great taste of french fries, but they should be eliminated from all diets because of the salt intake instead make the right choice with a salad. If you do have a salad stay away from large portions of salad dressing. Also, avoid have the restaurant but the ketchup and mustard on themselves, ask for a small pack of ketchup to avoid excess ketchup.

I have given you all the resources that you need to eat healthy. Hopefully you will think about all of the choices that are available and make the right decision. Health should be one of our top goals in life so anytime you can make a good choice to help your body, you should take advantage of that.

Resources

<ref> http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html <ref>

<ref>  http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/NutritionalBrochure.pdf <ref>

<ref> http://wendys.com/food/pdf/us/nutrition.pdf <ref>

<ref> http://www.helpguide.org/life/fast_food_nutrition.htm <ref>

March 13, 2009
Hi I’m Shane Johns

My issue is against using growth enhancers in any beef, swine, poultry, or any other meat products.
I guess the only reason I can think of for being against this is how I was brought up and the way I was raised. You see where I come from I was taught that a little hard work never hurt anyone, always get the job done right no matter how long it takes, and never make somebody do something that you wouldn’t do yourself.
Now this is the way we do every thing in our farm, our day, and even our lives. So if you get beef or eggs from us you know there’s nothing that we wouldn’t eat. Statistics say that nearly 80% of todays beef has been injected with a growth hormone at some point in time.

For more on this go to www.beeftechnologies.com

So when you say that you’re using growth enhancers to help your beef along, I don’t agree with that. Neither would a lot of farmers I know, we raise our animals with the strength of our backs and the sweat of our brow, nothing more nothing less and it really ticks me off that some people do this kind of junk just to speed up the job.
I understand it’s just business but let’s think about it, would you eat some of the beef that you raise? Some of the stuff that these industrial farmers raise I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot-pole.

Another point against this is that commercial farmers use bleach so that they have more white eggs from their chickens. Nearly all of the eggs you see on the market today are bleached white simply because they look a little neater.Then they are all sprayed with a coating so that they look shiny and polished. Look brown eggs aren’t dirty, they’re just healthier because they aren’t sprayed with pesticides, coatings and bleach.

For more info, go to www.petalumapoultry.com

Finally we come to the swine, which I’ve never owned personally, but I know the problem is growing in that market too. For example, in Vietnam, it was reported that 47 out of 428 swine had chemicals that were toxic enough to humans to kill  people. If we let this continue this could be the way it becones in th U.S.

So to finish up I just have one simple inquiry to ask you. Do you want to have to worry about toxic chemicals in your Christmas turkey next year? Our how about hormones in your Easter ham? Just questions to think about for the future.

You’re standing at the grocery store with two vegetables that look almost the same. The only difference is that one has a “USDA Certified Organic” sticker on it. So what’s the difference between the ‘conventionally grown’ vegetable and the ‘certified organic’ one? There are many differences and similarities between these two foods, but which one is better for you and which should you choose to buy?
Here is a good article that represents this issue: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255

First, we should recognize how each of these foods is produced. The conventionally grown fruit has chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth, while organic farmers use natural fertilizers such as manure or compost. To reduce pests and disease, conventional farmers spray insecticides on their plants. Organic farmers used birds, insects, or traps to reduce pests and disease without the use of chemicals. Another difference is that conventional farmers also use chemical herbicides to manage weeds, and organic farmers either hand weed, till, or mulch to control their weeds.
As you can see, the differences are mainly in how they are farmed. Organic and inorganic foods also have some similarities too. One of the most important similarities is nutrition. According to the USDA, no conclusive evidence shows that organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food. Although, some studies say organic foods are higher in antioxidants because of the lack of additives, pesticides, and MSG, according to The Soil Association. However, both of the foods meet the same quality and safety standards set by the USDA.
Lastly, organic and conventional foods both have positives and negatives. Both might look the same, but did you know conventional foods are cheaper than organic foods? Conventional foods also last longer than organics because they often have waxes or preservatives on them. Organic foods do not have pesticides on them though. Conventional foods do and can have residue on them. This poses a small health risk with conventional farming. Organic farming is also said to benefit the environment by reducing pollution. If you’d like to be more eco-friendly, I suggest purchasing organic products. Most people say they cannot taste any difference between organics and non-organics, but that may be different for everyone.
In conclusion, organic foods and conventional foods are both good to purchase, but I would buy organic foods. Even though they cost more, I would rather spend a little extra money to help the environment than buy cheaper foods that use pesticides. These can cause harm to the environment and possibly even the consumer.  It is your own choice whether to buy conventionally farmed products or organic ones, but I hope I helped by telling you of the information needed to make a good decision.

Resources supporting organic food:
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/pros-cons-organic-foods-00313.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/14739.php

Resources supporting conventional food:
http://www.scionline.org/index.php/Pros_and_Cons_of_Organic_and_Conventional_Agriculture
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/organic-farming-no-better-for-the-environment-436949.html

A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill pests. For example, they are used to kill mosquitoes that can transmit potentially deadly diseases like west Nile virus. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes, and microbes that compete with humans for food and destroy property. With pesticides there are good qualities and bad qualities and I am going to share these with you.
When using pesticides some good qualities they bring are that pesticides kill herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, avicides, harmful food parasites, and rodenticides that can harm a human’s health. Pesticides can prevent sickness in humans that could be caused by moldy food or diseased produce. Pesticides are used in grocery stores and food storage facilities to manage rodents and insects that infest food such as grain.
Pesticides can present danger to consumers, bystanders, or workers during manufacture, transport, or during and after use. The World Health Organization estimated that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of them die. Licensed pesticide applicators that used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes. Also, another problem is that children are particularly vulnerable to pesticides because their bodies are immature and rapidly growing and their immune system is incapable of handling the toxicity.
In my opinion I believe that pesticides are an important thing to have in our world, although they can be harmful to us, they also take away a good amount of the harm that we could in counter without pesticides. If we did not have pesticides in our world then we could be getting sick from the diseased and moldy bacteria that would be on the fruit and vegetables we eat today.
In conclusion, there are good and bad qualities that deal with pesticides but without them we would be in so much more danger than we are with them. So if you are against pesticides being used in our society, maybe think again, do some more research and realize that pesticides aren’t that bad.

Pd.5

Issues with our Food

A pesticides, is a substance(s) used to kill pests from destroying crops. A pesticide may be a virus or bacteria used as a disinfectant used to exterminate pests. Some pests that you may encounter are insects, birds, and mammals but you know that there is a catch.
The good thing about using pesticides is that you don’t have to worry about pests destroying your crops. Another reason is that if you follow laws of using pesticides there is on harm that can be done to the human body.  The last reason is that you may kill off harmful pests that harmful to the human body.
Here is the catch; the pesticides may be harmful to you and animals. Also pesticides may take away some of the nutrition out of the food. Some people may have an allergic reaction to some of the pesticides.  Another reason pesticides may be bad is that they could not be completely clean and you might get poisoned from them.
My opinion on pesticides is that they should be used because even if they aren’t clean you can clean them at home. Another reason is that if you don’t use pesticides, the pests may destroy your crops. Therefore I think that pesticides should be used for the safety of our crops.

<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide<ref>

<ref>http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/<ref>

Good vs. Bad Foods

Foods, there are many different kinds, healthy and unhealthy. By living in a place where food is not an issue, we do not eat as much organic food as we should. If you think about it why would you want to grow your own organic healthy food when you could just go down to a fast food restaurant and order a cheeseburger?  This is something you wouldn’t want to do. I’m not sure people realize that you don’t need to grow or produce your own organic healthy food, now company’s are producing foods for you. They are altering unhealthy snacks such as chips and crackers to fit peoples healthy diets. I feel that a healthy life needs a healthy diet.

Healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables are abundant in the United States. The reason people like to eat fruits and vegetables is because they are filling and healthy, although some fruits and vegetables are not very flavorful which might be why most people do not like fruits and vegetables. Something people don’t realize is that a healthy diet is not only eating fruity and vegetables, its eating a variety of food is certain quantities. The food pyramid shows people that there are a wide variety of healthy foods you can eat, its not all just fruits and vegetables. If people start to understand what healthy foods really are, they can widen their diet.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/nyregion/24fast.html

Unhealthy foods, such as ice crème, a lot of oils, butters, and fats. These are just some of the unhealthy foods in the world. Our country is obese, not in a metaphorical way but a literal way. Fast Food Company’s and fast food corporations are putting so much unhealthy food out into the United States that people can resist. Fast food restaurants are the wealthiest restaurants in the United States. Fast food Company’s do not only put food that tastes good in their restaurants but also food that are very unhealthy. Although people are aware of the unhealthiness of fast food places they still require that one of a kind taste. I must say that fast food “food” tastes really good. Fast food can also be good by if you are in a hurry you can get your food in a small amount of time. Fast food is ok once in a while but all the time, that’s not a good thing. Remember 3.8 million people in the United States are over 300 pounds and over 400,000 people are over 400 pounds. So if you think about it, why be one of those statistics, you should eat healthier food and live a long healthy life. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_and_disadvantages_of_fast_food

Lindsay Huey

Have you ever taken a sip out of a pop? Or a cup of coffee? These drink examples may be artificially flavored with processed or artificial sugar. People don’t realize that there are actually more health risk in consuming artificial sugars than regular sugar.

Sugar is a natural growing crop. Sugar cane is a great example of pure sugar. In the early 1400’s sugar cane was a big cash crop. They would squeeze and squeeze the sugars and juices out, and use it as what they call “healing juice.” Although we have sugars over a matter of time, they are often replaced with atificial sweetners such as Splenda. People dont think much about it but there are serious changes done to the sugars while in the process of shipping.

First and most dangerous process of making artificial sugar is over 3,000 known chemicals are added. This process is what give artificial sugar its white color. The sugar is melted and turned into fine liquid, unlike the crystals when it first arrives. This peals away all the proteins, vitamins, and nutrients, leaving just sugar and chemicals. This is extremely bad for the body. Dentist and doctors often argue the fact of making artificial sugar because this process may cause tooth decay and addiction. As studies shown by scientist artificial sugar melting often creates a poiison causing cancer. This poison goes by the name of Lydenphortose.

As time progresses human ofthen think of more ways to create foods, little do they know it is hurting them more than eating the original organic version. Sugar is in fact 14% of deaths in America. So will you continue or start eating what is healthy for you, overriding apperarance? The decision is yours.

Some simple studies have been done that show that organic foods or foods that have not been exposed to a pesticide are much better tasting and have more vitamins. This makes for a much healthier food. On the other sides of things pesticideds help keep foods from being contaminated by bugs and insects. But did you know that seven of the most toxic chemical compounds known to man are approved to be used as pesticides? Not only do these chemicals kill of unwanted bugs and insects but they are beginning to take a toll on the consumer of the fruit or vegetable. Each individual chemical compound alone will not have a great effect on the human body. But most americans consume more than just one fruit or vegetable type that may have been exposed to different pesticides. This causes problems because the effects happen much more rapidly when there is more than one chemical compound working against the body.

Not only do organic foods not contain the hazardous chemicals that unorganic fruits and vegetables have, they are much fresher and healthy for the body. They also do not cause the disease’s and death’s that pesticide exposes foods do. Every year millions of pounds of pesticides are used and they kill of animals and deplete the soil making it unfarmable.

So you can see organic foods are a much better source for fruits and vegetables because they do not have long term health affects as the others do. Organic foods also do not destroy ecosystems and deplete fertile farming soil which is needed to grow more foods. The last reason which I believe to be the biggest reason why organic is better, Organic foods do not cause deaths do to chemical compounds.

<ref>http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/whyorganic.htm<ref>

<ref>http://www.ghchealth.com/effects-of-pesticides.html<ref>