Jan16
More Nutrition Quackery
on January 16, 2013 at 11:35 amOK, so a weight-loss surgeon says that Chipotle is the healthiest fast food?
Weiner said that he eats at the Chipotle if he must have fast food. He cited the chain’s vegetable ingredients and vegetarian and vegan options.
Two questions: 1) what does vegetarian, and particularly vegan food have to do with weight loss and 2) Why would we expect someone who makes a living reducing weight via surgery to have any idea of what good nutrition for weight loss is?
On a related topic, the search “Dr. Oz quack” yields a couple hundred thousand results. A theory that is reinforced by the large amount of email spam I get featuring his name in the subject.
You can get a fairly paleo dish at Chipotle–salad with meat and cheese and salsa. In-N-Out will give you a burger without the bun. I don’t go to many fast food places, I expect there are others with a paleo alternative.
I’ve considered Chipolte fairly decent when going paleo, but alas, I don’t think that’s what the doctor was suggesting.
The connection between veganism and weight loss is obvious just by watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Meat-eating lions, chetahs, and tigers are lean, fast, and tough. Vegetarian hippos, elephants, and water buffalo are fat, tender, and tasty, and they lose weight until the vultures are done picking their bones (though technically, the rapid weight loss only occurs a few minutes after they quit stuffing their mouths with vegetables).
So eat vegetarians, the savanah’s secret to maintaining a fit, trim figure, and a good way to meet and interact with other interesting predators and scavengers.
I think they’re suggesting EATING vegetarian or vegan George, not eating THE VEGETARIANS or THE VEGANS!
There’s also the question of intelligence – how smart do you have to be to sneak up on a plant? That’s a question I recall from a Larry Niven book read many years ago.
Yes. But. Um.
Some of the plants in Niven’s universe are decidedly nasty. TANJ.
Well, I will say that since I’ve gone low carb I have in fact been eating more vegetables over all. Before a lot of space on my plate was taken up by potatoes and rice. Now, its a side salad and green beans. Not the mention the whole head of cauliflower I’ve mowed through in the last 3 days. Though the cauliflower was pureed to replace the potatoes in the shepherds pie I made earlier this week, and the bread crumbs in the meatballs I made last night. So, really I’m getting like 3 servings of veggies. But I’d imagine it must be a challenge for a vegetarian to go high protein. Guess they must be eating a lot of faux hamburger patties and hotdogs. But I don’t recall Chipotle having any kind of meatless protein other than the beans. And I bet most people are getting the black beans which are one of the beans Taubes says to avoid.
People go vegetarian because they see celebrities with their tight bodies who boast of their vegetarian diets. People are stuck in a false paradigm of thinking that they must have gotten skinny because they’re eating vegetarian. When really it’s because more than likely they are just naturally skinny people who just so happen to be vegetarians. Same thing with skinny people and working out. People think they are skinny because they are in the gym all the time, but really they are in the gym all the time because they are skinny.
Don’t forget the personal trainers and home chefs.
Yeah, that’s true too. That would be nice to have someone cooking all the food for you all the time. I’d just be happy with a little dish washer gnome to clean my filthy filthy dishes for me.
They’re called . . . husbands! (bah-doom boom!)
Vegan bs aside, most weight loss surgery requires an attempt at a diet before insurance will pay for it, so a competent doc should kow a lot about it.
Incidently, a bunch of guys at work found out that our insurance would pay for the lap band surgery. Everyone now calls them the band of brothers.
I’m trying low carb and was surprised at the difference in carb counts in the cured Atlantic Wire piece. However, Taubes said to subtract fiber, as fiber is counted as a carb, but isn’t digestible, and Chipotle is pretty high in fiber, too. I’ll have to look, because us assumed that Chipotle was healthier, too. Also worth noting that I get a burrito as a full meal, but often get stuck with fries and a drink at McDonalds.
You only “get stuck with fries and a drink at McDonalds) if you order them (i.e., a meal). Just say, “just the sandwich.”