Recession Eating is Bad for Your Cholesterol

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | (0) Comments

As the recession wears on, McDonald’s profits are increasing every quarter because people are apparently eating fast food instead of “good food”. There is probably some truth to this, but I suspect a lot of people are just eating more fast food because they like it. The guy who wrote this article sure likes it! McDonalds actually has several decent offerings on the menu and no one is making you eat fries. You actually have to order them. So don’t blame it on the recession. At any rate, his point is well taken and you will certainly see a rise in your cholesterol if you start eating 3 meals a day (or even 1 meal per day) at fast food places. My advice is to make a list of “healthy ” fast food places and go there when you need to eat on the run. Places like Subway, Chic-fil-a and the deli at your local grocery store will all have a lot of options for eating healthier than traditional fast food. It is just a choice you will have to make- don’t blame it on the economy!

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Nope, this bleak figure comes straight from my medical chart. Over the past year — while  I was trying to save bucks by eating on the cheap — my cholesterol count chugged 46 points higher. Put another way — for roughly every 95 points the Dow dropped since early 2008, my cholesterol gained one point.

…For me, the cholesterol-busting binge began with a crunch — the financial kind. It wasn’t a total job loss, but I’m a freelance writer and as the market steadily snuffed one paying gig after another, I cut my spending. I sliced my grocery bill in half by dining on a tasty array of hot dogs, grilled-cheese sandwiches, chicken wings, fish sticks and the occasional $2.89 fast food monster meal.

The diet disaster wasn’t immediately obvious. My weight didn’t budge from 185 pounds and I maintained my regular gym habits. But my serum cholesterol, which stood at 180 milligrams per deciliter in January 2008, shot up to 226 by my next checkup in February 2009.