The fast-food industry has long been the whipping boy for all sorts of health ills. Obesity in children and adults? Blame it on fast food. Heart problems, diabetes, high cholesterol? Fast food is the culprit.
Not so, says Lisa Tillinger Johansen in her new book, FAST FOOD VINDICATION. Johansen, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian, takes the bold position that “fast food is not the enemy, and it can be incorporated into a healthy lifestyle.” In fact, Johansen says, the media’s current wave of anti-fast-food sentiment may actually be detrimental to society’s health and well-being. “By focusing solely on the fast-food industry, the onus is all too often removed from more important factors: personal responsibility and smart choices.”
In FAST FOOD VINDICATION, Johansen takes a lively, informative, and realistic look at our eating habits, and, using her expertise and experience as a registered dietitian, seeks to educate readers on making smart dietary choices no matter where they eat.
“The book refutes the notion that fast food is an evil force in society,” Johansen says. “The laser focus on fast food being the cause of the obesity epidemic is not true, nor is it the complete picture. There’s so much press about how fast food is detrimental to us. In reality, that’s not the case. It’s about how we eat. We can eat poorly at home and at sit-down and fast-food restaurants, but we can also make healthier choices at all of these places. The majority of us don’t make great choices. We need to look at everywhere we eat and how we eat. Personal responsibility plays a big role.”
“Fast-food restaurants make big and easy targets,” Johansen maintains. “So many of us eat at them, and, unfortunately, so many of us are overweight or obese. But research has shown that we eat the majority of our meals at home, so restaurants of all types are just a part of the puzzle.”
“There are a lot of ways to make good choices at fast-food restaurants,” according to Johansen. “For example, a grilled chicken sandwich without mayo, coupled with a side salad with low-fat dressing on the side and apple dippers without the dip, is one good meal that you could put together. Most fast-food restaurants carry entrée salads, yogurt parfaits, oatmeal, and other, more nutritious foods.”
On the other side of the issue, Johansen notes that an unhealthy fast-food meal could include “fried foods of any type, regular sodas or anything that is double, triple, quadruple or more.”
With the publication of FAST FOOD VINDICATION, Johansen hopes to “present the side of an issue that hasn’t really been discussed much in the media. By doing so, it should ultimately help people to learn to look at the big picture and make appropriate changes to their diets as needed.”
I am so glad there is a book like this in print. Honestly! I am like the majority of Americans--I love fast food. My daughter used to drag me to McDonald's at least once a week. And when I was overweight (and obese--Yikes!), I didn't think twice about eating all the unhealthy calories. But then I began my healthy eating plan (which I still basically follow), and I discovered that fast food did not always mean it was unhealthy. And about that same time, the movement to crush the fast food industry began. And I got sick to death of hearing about people who claimed that a certain restaurant made them fat and on and on. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And evidently, Lisa Tillinger Johansen couldn't either.
I love the fact that this book actually takes the opposite view of the mass media. She has experience working for the McDonald's corporation, and she has the inside track on much of the fast food industry. Imagine a health professional actually telling you that it was all right to eat at a fast food place. In fact, you might eat healthier there than at a sit-down restaurant or even at home! I've known this for a long time, and I now have the evidence to back it up. She lays out her case very well, and she covers many different aspects of the fast food industry. Evidently, fast food is not the demon that is trying to kill Americans. The blame goes on us. What a novel idea! Imagine taking responsibility for your own actions rather than blaming it on someone else.
I am so pleased that this book is easy to read, well-organized, and simple to understand. I plan to keep this and refer to it from time to time. I know a lot of the things she spoke about, but some of her recommendations were new to me. I also love the facts she shares about the industry itself. I would recommend this to anyone who likes fast food and would like to eat healthier.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
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Lisa Tillinger Johansen is a registered dietitian and health educator who teaches a variety of classes on diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, weight management, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and healthy eating for adults and teens. She holds a Master of Science degree in nutritional science, Coordinated Dietetics Program, from California State University, Los Angeles.
I am excited to tell you that the author is giving away a Kindle Fire in conjunction with this book tour! You will want to enter the rafflecopter below, and you will definitely want to follow the entire tour here. Be sure to enter by November 30!
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