What Happens To Your Body One Hour After Eating A Big Mac
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Brace yourself.
No one would ever mistake the McDonald’s Big Mac for health food, but a new infographic details just how bad for you it can be.
The graphic, from website Fast Food Menu Price, breaks down exactly what the Big Mac does to your body within an hour of eating it.
It’s not pretty: Among other things, the iconic burger raises your blood sugar, dehydrates you, and makes you feel hungry again just 40 minutes after eating it.
Here’s what you can expect:
The First 10 minutes: The Big Mac (and its 540 calories) raises your blood sugar to abnormal levels. Junk food like the Big Mac triggers your brain’s reward system by releasing “feel-good” chemicals, such as the neurotransmitter dopamine. The process works in a similar way to the reaction you’d get after taking a drug like ? and raises the likelihood of compulsive eating.
After 20 minutes: The Big Mac’s bun has high levels of high-fructose corn syrup and sodium — both of which are addictive and make your body crave more.
After 30 minutes: The burger’s 970 milligrams of sodium can cause dehydration. The symptoms of dehydration are similar to those of hunger, tricking you into thinking you want more food. Your kidneys have trouble eliminating the salt, and your heart has to work faster to pump blood through your veins. This can cause high blood pressure and can ultimately lead to heart disease and stroke.
After 40 minutes: You start to feel hungry again. When you eat a high calorie meal, your body’s insulin response can bring down your glucose levels, causing you to want to eat more. The bun’s high-fructose corn syrup is quickly absorbed by your GI tract, creating insulin spikes and even bigger hunger pangs.
After 60 minutes: Your body typically takes 24 to 72 hours to digest food, but burgers can take more time because they are greasier. The Big Mac can take more than three days to fully digest.
While the infographic is surprising, registered dietitian nutritionist Beth Warren, author of Living a Real Life With Real Food tells Yahoo Health that it paints a fairly accurate picture. “It’s not one ingredient that is a concern, but a lot of different reasons to take caution when eating a Big Mac,” she says.
Certified dietitian nutritionist Lisa Moskovitz, CEO of NewYork Nutrition Group tells Yahoo Health that the immediate reaction to eating a Big Mac varies from person to person, adding that the infographic is accurate but “somewhat exaggerated.”
Among other exaggerations, Moskovitz says, the claim that your blood sugar will climb to “abnormal levels” isn’t 100 percent true. “Everyone’s body has a different blood sugar and insulin response,” she says. “Because there is also a significant amount of fat in a Big Mac, it may slow down the conversion of the carbs into glucose that travel through the blood stream.”
She also points out that a Big Mac’s ability to dehydrate you depends on the individual, along with other factors like daily exercise habits, medical history, and your current state of hydration.
Both experts agree that the Big Mac shouldn’t be a regular part of your diet, but add that it’s OK to have it once in a while. “I usually tell my patients to treat themselves once a week with one choice,” says Warren. “However, because of the Big Mac’s abundant amount of nutritional health concerns, that would equal up to more than one choice of a cheat.”
Comments
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The only way that food doesn't ? with your body is it you eat it regularly, if you eat it as a treat, you really get to see how much your body hates that kind of food.
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Good to know now I get back on my salad ? .
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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Never ate a big Mac.
McNuggets, McChicken and Big Xtra ftw. -
northside7 wrote: »Never ate a big Mac.
McNuggets, McChicken and Big Xtra ftw.
Will someone tell this poor soul how McNuggets are made? -
Been about a few months since I had one
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I stopped eating beef a few years ago. Feel great.
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A Big Mac is bread, bread and bread.
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Good thing I read this, that's why I eat wendys triple cheeseburger, five guys bacon cheeseburger, and shake shack double bacon cheese with an extra patty.
? a big mac. I keep telling dudes, McDonald's is bad for you -
BiblicalAtheist wrote: »The only way that food doesn't ? with your body is it you eat it regularly, if you eat it as a treat, you really get to see how much your body hates that kind of food.
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Double quarter pounder w/ Cheese - The Bun>>>>>>>>>
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BiblicalAtheist wrote: »The only way that food doesn't ? with your body is it you eat it regularly, if you eat it as a treat, you really get to see how much your body hates that kind of food.
I dont understand what you're saying.
Are you saying if you eat McDonald's everyday it's better for you than if you have it as a treat every once in a while? -
This is pretty much anything..
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northside7 wrote: »Never ate a big Mac.
McNuggets, McChicken and Big Xtra ftw.
Will someone tell this poor soul how McNuggets are made?
ooh ooh pink slime? no -
At this point, I think these sorts of things are pointless. For 97% of people in this country, it's not that they don't know that McDs is bad for you, it's that they don't care.
This type of ? was cool a decade ago. These days? Waste of time. -
I ain't going to lie. When I was broke and in undergrad, those 99 cent Big Macs got a ? through the day sometimes. Now that I'm not broke, I try to never touch McDonalds. Still do from time to time when I'm in a time crunch and it's the most convenient thing. The crazy thing is they don't even taste that good anymore. At least before McDonalds' food actually tasted like something you'd want to eat a lot. Now it pretty much tastes as bad as it is for you. And to top it off, it's not even all that cheap anymore. I mean you can get better quality burgers for the same price at non fast food restaurants these days.
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northside7 wrote: »Never ate a big Mac.
McNuggets, McChicken and Big Xtra ftw.
Will someone tell this poor soul how McNuggets are made?
Toronto, Canada. Our food standards are slightly higher up here.
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McDonald's taste like nothing how can you enjoy it
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I haven't eaten there in years, ? is terrible.
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People were saying this for over a decade and were labeled conspiracy theorist, now everyone jumping on the bandwagon lol
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SheerExcellence wrote: »BiblicalAtheist wrote: »The only way that food doesn't ? with your body is it you eat it regularly, if you eat it as a treat, you really get to see how much your body hates that kind of food.
I dont understand what you're saying.
Are you saying if you eat McDonald's everyday it's better for you than if you have it as a treat every once in a while?
Lol yeah I guess in the sense it won't make your guts go nuts, but it's ? all for nutrition, yeah some protein but nothing for fiber, that's why an hour after you're hungry again. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »I ain't going to lie. When I was broke and in undergrad, those 99 cent Big Macs got a ? through the day sometimes. Now that I'm not broke, I try to never touch McDonalds. Still do from time to time when I'm in a time crunch and it's the most convenient thing. The crazy thing is they don't even taste that good anymore. At least before McDonalds' food actually tasted like something you'd want to eat a lot. Now it pretty much tastes as bad as it is for you. And to top it off, it's not even all that cheap anymore. I mean you can get better quality burgers for the same price at non fast food restaurants these days.
You can get better quality at one of these smaller restaurants or at the crib. If you can take 10-20 minutes to go to Mickey D's, you can throw a burger on the George Foreman and be smashing. It'll cost more, but that ? 'll stretch for days. ? don't realize how much convenience is killing us and making us lazy and dependable. But I agree, that dollar menu used to be hitting when your money wasn't right. I just got $5? ? , I'm in there. And they had the extra large fountain drinks for $1, it was love lol. -
mcdonalds breakfast and apple pie is all I can eat from them at this point. I really don't eat the breakfast cuz I'll end up spending $6 and I can go to a coney island and get a breakfast special (eggs, sausage, hasbrowns, and wheat bread) for $3
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McChicken>>>>
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I been stopped eating fast food burgers. I make my own ? burgers, gourmet style. But if I have to buy burger I would prefer one of from an actual restaurant which I rarely do cause their more expensive.