Is Lyfe Kitchen A Healthy McDonald’s?
Lyfe Kitchen, Palo Alto-soon everywhere
Mike Roberts the former CEO of McDonald’s opened a healthier version of the restaurant recently in Palo Alto, CA appealing to people who care about what they eat and the planet. Roberts was famous for putting apple dippers on the menu at McDonald’s. The CEO is thinking big and wants to open 500 to 1,000 outposts of the restaurant across the country in the next several years. The new slogan for Lyfe Kitchen is “Love Your Food Everyday.” According to Roberts, “There are 80 million people who have become much more aware of the food they eat, and that’s going to continue as far out as we can see.”
Is Lyfe Kitchen A Healthy McDonald’s?
Some good things about the new chain:
No white sugar
No white flour
No high-fructose corn syrup
No GMO’s
No trans fat
Nothing is fried (bad if fried in canola or soy oil)
No additives
Grass fed beef burgers available
Local, sustainable focus
Mostly organic food
Free range chicken without growth hormones/antibiotics
Extensive gluten free menu
Paleo friendly items: Baked sweet potato fries, roasted root veggies
No soft drinks
Ingredients listed on the menu
Green buildings
Olive oil used in cooking and dressings
Some of the downsides:
No butter
No cream
Wheat buns portrayed as healthy
Cost more than McDonald’s (but so does diabetes)
Grains promoted as healthy
Tofu virtuously called “Gardein”
Many egg yolk free items on breakfast menu
Focus on all meals being under 600 calories
They use canola oil (wonder where they find GMO free canola?)
Grass Fed Burger at Lyfe Kitchen
Grass Fed Girl’s take on Lyfe Kitchen:
I am excited about the possibility of having grass fed beef burgers on every corner in the near future. It would be great to have a place that is safe to eat when traveling away from my beloved SF. A restaurant with a focus on sustainability and organic local produce is a wonderful thing. It is important to remember that food being organic is the only shred of protection we have against unsafe and untested GMO’s. Having a national restaurant that uses organic food could be a great boost to environmentally friendly farmers and an asset in the fight against Monsanto/biotech!
Influential advisors:
This restaurant seems to have an agenda and it has some powerful and influential people on it’s advisory panel including Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. David Perlmutter, NBA Star Derek Fisher, and Gold Medalist Janet Evans. When leading doctors and athletes endorse an eating style it definitely has an influence on what the public believes. By featuring “gardein tofu”, “healthy whole grains”, cardboard egg whites, Lyfe Kitchen sends the message that a low/no meat diet is better for our health and the planet.
Faux Health Foods:
Nothing could be further from the truth considering that wheat buns and “ancient grains” can cause diabetes, autoimmune disease and depression/anxiety. Soy will impair muscle growth, slow metabolism, and increase estrogenic compounds contributing to obesity and cancer risk. Choline rich egg yolks prevent dementia and clear dangerous fat from the liver. The hard to digest egg whites on the menu are devoid of vitamins, minerals, and satiating healthy fats, are not helping anyone’s well-being.
Are butter and cream so bad?
This chain decided that butter and cream are bad for you but still features grass fed beef. Where is the logic in that? Why is grass fed beef healthy but organic (even better raw, grass-fed) cream and butter demonized? I do not see the difference. Butter and cream have healthy saturated fat essential for lucid brain and proper nervous system functioning.
Look to the past for health wisdom:
Rather than looking at a menu or today’s health experts to find proper nutrition we can look back at our hearty disease -free paleolithic ancestors from the past 2.6 million years who did not have access to agricultural foods like grains and legumes. We can also learn from our grandparents who lived long lives and had better health than the people today in part because they did not shun healthy animal products like egg yolks, cream, butter, bacon and lard.
Grains, inflammatory vegetable oils, high fructose corn syrup are the real nutritional bandits served at most fast food restaurants. If were able to order beef tallow fries, lettuce wrapped grass fed burgers with pastured bacon, along with unsweetened ice tea we would probably all be at an appropriate weight and free of disease.
Calories counting is not the answer:
Lyfe Kitchen has transparency on their menu about allergens and ingredient info but the focus on calories is unnecessary. What really matters is that food be full of vitamin and minerals so that it satisfies our inner appetite that craves deep nutrition. If we fulfill these needs with animal protein and saturated fats we will naturally eat less and have fewer carb cravings.
Lyfe Kitchen: So Close….
I applaud Lyfe Kitchen for their efforts toward sustainability and it is refreshing to see a new concept focused on changing the fast food industry in a positive way. I just wish that they check their facts and include heart and brain nourishing fats like lard, butter, cream, Virgin Coconut Oil, and beef tallow on the menu. I hope Lyfe Kitchen is a hit with the public so McDonald’s will get a run for it’s money. If Lyfe Kitchen prospers maybe they can undo some of the damage McDonald’s has done worldwide to people’s health and the environment.
Have you been to Lyfe Kitchen? What did you think?
More about Lyfe Kitchen Palo Alto on Yelp:
Sources:
Mercola.com
