Man loses 37 pounds by eating exclusively at McDonald's for 90 days

[Zorch]

Something worth reading:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/hormonal-responses-to-a-fast-food-meal-compared-with-nutritionally-comparable-meals-of-different-composition-research-review.html

 

Worth reading perhaps, but it's not entirely surprising when the main differences between the meals are whether the meat and other components were organic/non-organic.  The first two meals are basically the same thing, except the non-McDonald's beef meal basically uses organic ingredients.  The turkey meal is similar but not overwhelmingly different - meat + bread + mayo, fruit juice instead of soda(which is basically the same thing, but with vitamin C) - the only meaningful difference is the granola in the turkey meal, really.  Although I suppose because of this, it does do a good job of attacking some of the myths around what constitutes "clean" - The second meal is basically the same as the first except for changing the type of oils and using organic ingredients, which (obviously) does relatively little to affect the body processes it.

 

Suffice it to say, it's a matter of biochemistry, and "healthy" labels often don't align with the biochemical reality.  The primary deviation from IIFYM being 100% accurate (assuming all vitamin/mineral requirements are met) lies in transient effects associated with things like the GI/composition of individual meals, and the resulting impacts on blood sugar and the like - mixed meals with similar macronutrient ratios are likely to behave similarly, but the short-term  effects(principally on blood glucose) of drinking a soda on its own, then a steak and broccoli may differ significantly from consuming a steak, broccoli, and a soda's worth of carbs from rice/potatoes in one sitting.  Though there's really no data to say what the practical effects of this are over a span of years.