Better Health at the Drive-Through

August 25, 2010
Written by: Julie Bosche, Filed in: Employee Health Programs

Would you like a statin with that fast food burger?

It might be a good idea, according to a new study.

Taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug along with your fast food lunch could help offset the potential cardiovascular damage from your fat-packed meal, say Imperial College London researchers.

Statins have been shown to effectively reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and heart attack risk.

The study authors found that a statin drug can decrease your risk to the same degree that a fast-food burger and fries or similar fatty meal increases it.

The authors say that making statin drugs freely available for people to take when they eat these kinds of foods could serve as a preventive measure similar to other safety steps you take when engaging in risky behaviors, such as choosing cigarettes with filters or wearing a seat belt.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that if you take statins you can hit the drive-through every day at lunch without repercussions.

Fast food is as unhealthy as it is convenient, and consuming too much high-fat, high-calorie food will affect your waistline even if you’re neutralizing the heart damage by taking statins.

And obesity has negative effects beyond what a statin can take care of. Joint pain, diabetes, and decreased quality of life are just a few of the potential problems associated with obesity, and that’s not to mention the social and mental implications.

Advise your employees on some healthier fast food options for the next time they visit the nearby burger joint.

How to eat better at the drive-through:

Avoid the grease trap. Many fast food establishments now offer healthier alternatives to the French fry staple. Choose a side salad, a fruit cup or a baked potato.

Go for a grilled chicken sandwich instead of its breaded and fried counterpart.

Think small. Take advantage of the value menu many fast food restaurants now offer. Not only will you save a buck or two, the portions are generally smaller and will prevent you from overeating.

Drink smart. Forgo the soda, which gives you calories and nothing else, and choose water instead. Among its other natural health benefits, water will help fill you up.

Tags: cholesterol, disease prevention strategies, heart, high blood pressure, nutrition, nutrition and wellness, nutrition guide, nutrition program, obesity, obesity health programs, preventing heart disease, prevention

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Commentary

2 Responses to “Better Health at the Drive-Through”

General Healthy says:

August 25, 2010 at 11:47 am

It’s pathetic that a wellness company such as yours would publish this without saying this is the worst idea in ages. It condones bad eating with our quick-fix “pill mentality”. Why not just grind up the statins and up and offer two all-beef patties, statins, sauce, lettuce cheese, all on a stupid bun??!!

General Healthy

Reply
- Julie says:
  
  August 26, 2010 at 7:16 am
  
  Hello, General! Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to comment on the post about statins and fast food. You make a good point about the quick-fix pill mentality, and we in no way meant to propagate such a thing. We are very much proponents of a healthy lifestyle including nutritious foods and regular exercise, and we intended for the post to simply introduce an interesting study–with caveats. We should have made the caveats of the study clearer: A statin might possibly help neutralize the negative effects of the occasional fast food meal, but that by no means grants people free license to eat a burger and fries every day and think they can erase the damage with a pill. Nothing takes the place of a healthy diet filled with nutrients to fuel your body, and no pill can replicate the benefits you’ll glean from a healthy lifestyle. Thank you for pointing that out.
  
  Reply