USA Today Dietitian Recommends Eating McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell And Burger King On The Today Show (VIDEO)

On The Today Show, Matt Lauer hosted dietitian Elizabeth Ward to discuss how to make "healthy" food choices on a road trip. Virtually the only measure Ward used to evaluate what was healthy was how many calories is in it.

She started out with breakfast at McDonalds, stating she was a big proponent of eating eggs. She recommended scrambled eggs and an English muffin. (This item doesn't actually appear on the menu, but these ingredients are served at McDonalds -- maybe she was suggesting making a special order, or throwing out the rest?)

For the record, scrambled eggs at McDonalds, which one could easily mistake for being comprised of well, eggs, actually contain the following:

Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

She goes onto recommend Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC Grilled Chicken (HuffPost bloggers have had a field day with this "healthy" alternative) and processed and packaged snacks.

While Ward and Lauer tout the value of eating fruit as a healthy snack, for the most part this dietitian throws her support behind the idea that processed fast food, filled with additives, preservatives and factory farmed meat is good for us, as long as it doesn't exceed a certain number of calories.

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My favorite thing to eat while traveling, food I made at home and bring with me, was not mentioned as an option.

For a full list of what Ward thinks is healthy to eat, check out her USA Today article.

Quick Poll

What do you think of Elizabeth Ward's recommendations?

Even if those foods have less calories, they ain't healthy. She shouldn't be promoting those restaurants.

They may not be healthy, but if you HAVE to eat fast food, it's good to know.

Hey, at least she's getting people to think about making better choices. More power to her.

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Comments

[lujiao]

11:12 AM on 08/17/2009

It seems we're missing an important component in this discussion, namely that the food corporations such as McD, Kraft, Tyson, etc are pretty much unregulated industries. There is a whole industry that makes "non-foods", which are foods that are made in some chemical lab instead of growing naturally. Those include trans-fats, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, food coloring, and more. Human beings and animals cannot metabolize non-foods. It is no surprise that as a nation we're exhibiting inflammatory disorders, obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Any health care reform that doesn't address our food supply is doomed to fail. We can't continue putting garbage into our mouths and expect to be healthy. We can choose to purchase high quality foods now as a wise health insurance investment or pay later in increased health care spending. It is totally up to us.

[CoconutLime]

05:45 AM on 08/18/2009

After seeing the movie, "Food, Inc." I became queasy.

[BitterInPA]

01:56 PM on 08/16/2009

There is an excellent documentary about how Americans are killing themselves that is called "Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat".

I wish we would hear more about this on the health care debate. But then again, Americans will reject any leader who tells them the truth... they are fat, lazy and part of the problem. We could pay for health care if we raise taxes on the poisons we consume. Why allow some industries to profit while offsetting the health costs onto a population that is left with the consequences?

For NetFlix users, you can watch the documentary online:
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Killer_at_Large_Why_Obesity_is_America_s_Greatest_Threat/70116605

[Captainobvvious1]

12:45 PM on 08/16/2009

You guys are missing the point. Sure it would be nice if everyone in the country would eat whole foods, nuts and whole grains but the FACT of the matter is it isn't going to happen. So this dietitian is trying to work with those people who aren't going to usually make the healthy choice find a healthy choice using what they are used to.

For ideals and principles it is nice to bark out whole grains and whatnot but it isn't going to do MUCH good in a society that is throwing down triple cheeseburgers, I salute her for trying to find something for them to eat that is better than what they are eating now.

You may not have an issue with stopping at the grocery to whip up a garden salad but your an idiot if you think that most people are going to do that even if a dietitian is telling them to.

Point: If you going to go get fast food, make smart choices.

It is a simple point, the woman is 100% correct.

[BlackWidowPilot]

01:09 AM on 08/18/2009

Just one problem; *any* consumption of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, or high fructose corn syrup is simply unhealthy, no matter how much shills for the corporate food processors may claim otherwise.

The simple point is that the woman is intentionally or not, acting as a shill for the very industry that is directly responsible for the dual epidemics of obesity and childhood diabetes afflicting Americans in the millions, and all of the illness and suffering that results.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

One of the 47 Million

[PhilipB]

12:38 PM on 08/16/2009

On road trips, and we have been on many, we bring healthy food with us.
also, we have stopped at fast food, and had a salad, which some do offer (just be careful about some of the ingredients and dressing)

[TidalShadow]

12:17 PM on 08/16/2009

Calories have a bad connotation in America, but it's really not the calories that cause people to gain weight. Eating foods with additives and processed ingredients will do a lot more to cause a person to gain weight than having a properly prepared steak for dinner. Sugar substitutes and processed oils such as cottonseed are not healthy and can do more to cause people to put on weight than a high calorie meal. It's not the calories that will kill you, it's the additives.

[Fromageball]

09:25 AM on 08/16/2009

The "dietitians" on Today are almost always a joke. It's also not terribly difficult to run to the grocery store before you leave to pick up fruit/cheese/whatever, if not prepare some healthy food to take with you. You will save travel time by not having to wait in a drive-thru line.

[Jared15]

05:16 AM on 08/16/2009

Basically, use your common sense. If it is greasy, its bad. This woman is a tar d.

[organiccarrotjuice]

04:54 AM on 08/16/2009

How many calories in a pound of sugar? 1733 calories check it out, starving rats will not eat white sugar because its not a food source its been striped so it will last forever...
If your on the road driving a regular auto that has power steering you will not need 2000 calories that's for sure, has any one heard of a small picnic cooler like a 'COLEMAN' i mean god almighty must towns with 10,000 or more people have a 24hr. grocery .... the bottom line is in America we eat like trained monkeys but real monkeys are healthier.. organic is nice if you can afford it... But really tortured chicken eggs and cows milk that only a calf can digest and please consider all the milk allergies in this country... this lady is truly nuts but she doesn't even hint at eating nuts for protein ......this fast food has made our brains soft and our arteries hard.

[BitterInPA]

02:12 PM on 08/16/2009

Too much sugar is a bad thing, but High Fructose Corn Syrup is a real concern.

"The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar," says Dr. Field, "but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic."

HFCS contains more fructose than sugar and this fructose is more immediately available because it is not bound up in sucrose. Since the effects of fructose are most severe in the growing organism, we need to think carefully about what kind of sweeteners we give to our children. Fruit juices should be strictly avoided--they are very high in fructose--but so should anything with HFCS.
Source: http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html

Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup

[CoconutLime]

05:43 AM on 08/18/2009

If you need to use sugar in cooking or baking use Sucanat (natural dried sugar cane juice). It has all the vitamins and minerals that sugar should have.

[noradunn]

04:19 AM on 08/16/2009

This dietician is as dumb as Matt Lauer. I took a road trip from Los Angeles to Chicago recently and never ate one crumb from a fast food farm. I ate fresh fruits and drank water and natural soda. In Sante Fe, I found a Whole Foods and bought some good prepared things, healthy chips with salsa, and cheese and olives. Even in Nebraska I found an espresso stand that made coissant sandwiches with real eggs. It's a shame to have anyone with "authority" claim that this non food is good to eat on when essentially you will be sitting for six or more hours. Taco Bell Tacos are not tacos, but there are good homemade tacos in Flagstaff and other town along the way. It makes for a much better trip to find real food made by real people.

[TruthmongerII]

04:04 AM on 08/16/2009

For her next career, "nutritionist" Elizabeth Ward will find work in the funerary industry.

[skyslimit]

02:34 AM on 08/16/2009

This is nothing but a big fuc.king advertisement.

[AZterritory]

12:52 AM on 08/16/2009

This chick is a dietician like Sarah Palin is intelligent.

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

12:33 AM on 08/16/2009

ripe home-grown organic fruits is the best.

[Atra]

12:20 AM on 08/16/2009

Next thing they'll be advising that eating razor blades are good for you.

[Jacqueline English]

10:28 PM on 08/15/2009

I feel for the dietician but she didn't try very hard to find healthy alternatives. Most of the food she chose, isn't real food. It is fat, salt, corn syrup and chemicals added to food. Micheal Pollin says if it has more than five ingredients on the label it isn't food, it is a" food like substance". I travel a lot and I literally can not find anything at McD, Tac B or a convenience store I would feel comfortable putting in my mouth but every town has a supermarket, and the deli counter is a much better solution. Try a sandwich with whole wheat bread, turkey and swiss with lettuce and a smear of mustard is at least fresh and much better tasting than anything on her list and probably just as cheap (and low in calories if you leave out the mayo). Also try eating on the main street of the town at local cafes and coffee shops instead. How about two real eggs and wheat toast at a local cafe with real people and the flavor of the region instead of eating a fastfood breakfast outside Atlanta that started out somewhere east of St Paul earlier in the week. Is this woman on the payroll of the food industry or a real dietician?