I always tell my son's that fast food isn't great for them and that eating at home is much cheaper.
That doesn't mean that they believe me. So, over the next year I'm going to post different foods that I buy along with their price and a little overview on their nutritional value. Nothing in depth as I'm aiming this at teenagers who don't really care but still....I want to prove my point!
Also, I've heard inflation on food is going to be big this year so I'm posting prices so I can watch what happens over the coming months.
First up:
The cheapest meal at Burger King. Their King Meal Deal--Two cheeseburgers, small fries, and small drink for $5.00 (plus tax and soft drink tax) for $5.40 (Canadian)
What do the numbers look like?
Burgers
280 calories per burger (560 total)
26grams of fat, 54grams of carbs, and 30grams of proteinFrench Fries
320 calories
13g of fat, 49g carbs, and 4g of proteinCoca Cola
210 Calories
No fat, No Protein, and 58g of carbs.
Total 1090 calories (half of daily requirement). Protein 34 grams (less than half of daily requirement)
If living on fast food alone: Two of these meals would be all the calories for a day. Anything more than that and it just makes the eater fatter. However, two of these meals would only give 68g of protein which wouldn't be enough as for my weight (or that of my sons) we would need 100-150g of protein. Without enough protein we would be hungry all day.
In short : for $10.80 we would have enough calories to survive but without enough protein we would be hungry all the time.
Likely outcome: We'd eat more to satisfy out protein needs and get fatter in the process. Overfed on calories but malnourished.
How about a couple basic foods (non-prepared) for comparison?
First up:
MILK
An entire 4 liter jug for $4.65
Calories : 2080 for the entire jug,
192g of Carbs, 80g of fat, 144g of Protein
While it would be incredibly boring. That container of milk would cost half as much and give all the calories that are needed for a day. It also has 144g of protein which would satisfy the entire protein requirement for the day without overloading the calories.
It wouldn't be a balanced diet and because there is no fiber to fill the stomach I'm sure whoever tried it would be pretty hungry all day but at half the price it's less expensive and a better choice than the fast food meal.
Next up:
Eggs
A dozen large eggs at $3.49 is again much cheaper than the fast food meal. How do the carbs and protein stack up though?
Well, for a container of 12 eggs
960 calories for the entire pack with
6g carb, 66g fat, and 78g of protein.
Double that to get the 2000 calories needed for the day then there is even more protein at 156g again more than needed for the day and 1920 calories which is pretty close to the daily requirement. All for $7 which is again much cheaper than the Burger King meal
Now it is absurd to think about living on fast food, milk, or eggs. Much more variety is needed to get all the vitamins and other nutrients needed. Not to mention complex carbs, balanced amino acids, unsaturated fats and so on.
However, at its heart.
Fast food meal: Too many calories, too little protein -- pretty much guaranteed to fatten you up if you eat too much.
Milk and eggs: Good ratio of protein to calories so they can be part of a diet that doesn't make you fat. In addition either one is much cheaper than eating out.
Take home message for my kids:
Fast food is a sometimes treat but eat too often and you won't like the body it gives you.
I'm sure most people already know this, but keeping it simple for my kids :)