Wednesday, July 22, 2009

"Eat This, Not That"

Editor of Men's Health Magazine and author of Eat This, Not That, David Zinczenko, has been all over the place lately. On the Today Show yesterday morning talking about foods that improve your sex life. Hanging out and promoting his new book on Ellen. Even pointing out the pitfalls of bottled water on Yahoo! Health. So I got to thinking: Decoding food in America is a HUGE undertaking and while I wish everyone had time to plant their own gardens and search for local farmers markets, the truth is that we've all grown accustomed to the convenience of restaurants so perhaps it's time to address those inevitable drive-thru decisions.

Find tons of Zinczenko's Best & Worst lists here. Wondering what he deems the absolute worst food in America? Brace yourself, Outback fans:

1. The Worst Food in America: Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with Ranch Dressing (2,900 calories 182 g fat 240 g carbs This weapon of mass construction is the caloric equivalent of eating 14 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, before your dinner arrives. Even if you split this "starter" with 3 friends, you'll have downed a meal's worth of calories.)

And just think, that disturbing factoid is only a sample of what the website has to offer! So far I think my favorite feature is the Menu Decoder.
*Note: Unless specified, Zinczenko's suggestions regard personal health, not environmentally friendly choices.

7 comments:

Niko said...

I have to be honest i would have thought the blooming onion would have been the worst...lol..i would absolutley kill for either of them right now though...also i love the new look of the blog JS :)

Deborah said...

Well, the second worst is some type of "Onion Loaf" at Chili's. I'm sure Outback's is equally terrible for you though.

Deborah said...

Also, thanks - about the new layout. And remember to keep me posted about the pomogranate farming initiative over there.

becky said...

Ask Troy about this sometime...I believe he takes credit for choosing healthier options at fast food restaurants, and believes this guys stole his idea :)

Deborah said...

LOL Troyisms

Bruce said...

Zinczenko definitely has the right idea... You can't change a nation's eating habits drastically overnight (e.g. set down that double whopper and pick up the kale and cherry tomato salad). However, if you can begin educating and convincing people to make the "lesser of two evil" type choices at fast food restaurants, you're making a big step in the right direction with regards to changing the American perception of fast food. Now to tackle the grossly outdated and defunct system of characterizing serving sizes!

Deborah said...

Yeah, speaking of portion sizes, isn't it funny how we let the restaurant determine how hungry we are? I'm sure the compulsion to "clean your plate" comes from childhood but somewhere along the lines we all carried the idea that we need to finish our serving of vegetables to another level - like eating the last piece of pizza regardless of fullness.