If I eat really crappy food, like McDonald’s, before work where I walk upwards of 6 miles a day or more, I’m obviously burning off some of the bad stuff in the food, but why? What makes walking burn off and lower the consequences of eating really bad food?
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Bad food is a relative term. A good diet is one where you get enough of everything you need but not too much. And how much you need of each neutrient depend on your body and lifestyle. McDonalds themselves does not make perticularly bad food in many ways. It tends to have a descent amount of vitamins and minerals compared to a lot of restaurant food or home cooked meals. But they tend to have a lot of carbohydrates and fat, of course this depends on the menu items though. Carbohydrates and fat provide your body with energy and if you eat too much the body will store this as fat. Too much fat comes with a lot of health issues. But if your energy requirements are high enough then the high energy meals you get at McDonalds is healthy. You might be surprised at the meals that athletes often consume as these are full of things which are considered unhealthy in the general population.
It is not all good though. The food at McDonalds does also tend to include too much sodium (salt) for a regular diet. Again this depend on the items you buy but on average the amount of salt used in a McDonalds per customer is too high for a healthy diet. If you live in a hot climate, like most of the US, and you live a very active lifestyle then you will need more sodium then average due to all the sweat you produce. This may offset some of it compared to a lazy lifestyle but you should still be careful about getting too much salt if you regularly eat at McDonalds or other fast food chains.
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