FUN FIT FAIR

July 1st, 2012

So as soon as you spend 5 minutes outside you quickly accept the fact that summer is here.  No matter what the temperature in Texas, every weekend is some sort of Fair, Carnival, Bazar, or reason to get Food Vendors out promoting their ‘yummies’,  and this is what I call a Fun Fat Fair!  It is fun to eat and fatty food tastes good … for some.  But, I have mentioned in previous articles “a moment on the lips… MOOO.”  Please do not be hoodwinked by the often promised slogan “it’s healthy!”  That can be a lie, blatant and usually as far from the truth as possible.  Take for example this years NEW HOT SUMMER DELIGHT the Deep Fried Cereal Bar!  Last year it was Deep Fried Kool-Aid balls, and Twinkies. Think for a moment … and there it is, nope!  Nothing healthy about those choices! Here for an example is a recent article on Yahoo to chew on.

“People go to festivals and fairs to enjoy the rides, games, animals, and bake-offs. But what really attracts the crowds is the food — especially the fried food. And these days, the food at fairs, festivals, and amusement parks is scarier than the tilt-a-whirl or roller coaster! WebMD spoke to nutrition experts to get the truth about fat and calories in food at the fair.

Food was no doubt served at festivals even before the nation’s first state fair, held in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1841. But it was in 1904, at the St. Louis World’s Fair, that fairgoers were introduced to the first real ”fast food” — hot dogs and ice cream cones that could be eaten as they walked, according to the statefairrecipes.com web site.

Since then, fair food has progressed way beyond caramel apples, corn on the cob, and nachos. There appears to be no end to what can be battered and deep fried — cookies, candy bars, cheese curds, macaroni and cheese, pralines, chocolate-covered strawberries, even cola (the last made with a cola-sweetened batter that’s deep fried and topped with cola syrup and powdered sugar). The Minnesota State fair, for one, boasts 54 varieties of food on a stick at this year’s fair.

Most nutrition databases don’t include fat and calorie values for such foods. But according to Lona Sandon, assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, you can count on these foods to have a shockingly high level of fat and calories.

”My educated guess is a serving of fried cola dough, whipped cream and Coke syrup on top is roughly 830 calories,” says Sandon. ”The fried macaroni and cheese is approximately 610 calories; the fried cheesecake in the ballpark of 500 calories; a fried praline will come in around 350 calories; and a tortilla-wrapped hot dog and cheese from the fryer about 550 calories.”

Here are more frightening nutritional figures, from the Calorie King web site, about fat and calories in food at the fair or festival:

• •    Fried Snickers (5 oz.): 444 calories and 29 grams (g) fat
• •    Fried Twinkie (2 oz.): 420 calories/34 g fat
• •    Funnel cake (1): 760 calories/44 g fat
• •    Twinkie Dog Sundae: 500 calories/14 g fat
• •    Cotton candy: 171 calories/0 fat
• •    Fried cheesecake (6 oz.): 655 calories/47 g fat
• •    Foot-long hot dog and bun: 470 calories/26 g fat
• •    Giant turkey leg: 1,136 calories/54 g fat

“Eating at a fair or festival can wreak havoc on your waistline because it is so easy to consume thousands of calories,” says Christine Palumbo, RD.

I pose this question to all of you … how many hours of exercise would be required to off-set even the healthiest of the above little treats?  Oh and we did agree…none of these yummies are HEALTHY…but to get an idea:

National Academy of Sport Medicine guidelines for a 160lb. person per hour

Calorie Burn by Activity and Activity Level

Activities	Calories Burned Per Hour
Running, 8 mph	986
Rollerblading	913
Jumping Rope	730
Tae Kwon Do	730
Stair Climbing	657
Swimming (crawl, moderate intensity)	618
Skiing, Cross Country	600
Aerobic Dance	588
Jogging, 5 mph	584
Playing in a Basketball Game	584

 

And would be extra exercise you need on top of the regular exercise may or may not be finding time for each day.  I promise you, these calorie-bombs are not helping you!

In good health,

Bob

Chicken fat, beef fat, fish fat, fried foods – these are the foods that fuel our fat genes by  giving them raw materials for building body fat.  – Neal Barnard