Only in Local-America

[ysabetwordsmith]

... would a hospital make a McDonald's its adjunct restaurant.  Think about all the times doctors nag people to eat better and lose weight, and all the people who can't  eat McDonald's due to special dietary needs.  I am just boggled by the loss of opportunity, because this shit is routine in L-American "health care" -- they push people around, but refuse to lift a finger to help.  Hospital food is almost universally slop of exactly the kind they tell people not to eat, and the cafeterias or adjunct restaurants are barely better.  What they should be doing is serving delicious well-balanced meals to show  people how that works, and then doctors should eat that in public, because humans are prone to imitative behavior.  I've read about outliers having an organic restaurant, but in terms of access, that's still a unicorn hunt.  But McDonald's?  Really?  WTF.

Fortunately someone working there does NOT have their head up their ass, and has started a petition to replace it with a restaurant serving healthy food.

Comments

[johnpalmer]

That was especially bad with the "bland diet" which a lot of doctors just prescribed because, hey, it can't hurt. One hospital had a rule that a doctor with patients on a bland diet could get nothing else at the cafeteria and it was amazing how fast it was decided that "you know what? It *could* hurt! People don't like that crap!"

[kengr]

When I was a kid and had braces (mom was friends with a dentist so we got reduced rates) mom tried to keep me on a low sugar diet.

After all these years I still remember how *awful* the "boysenberry" syrup for diabetics that she bought tasted. Yuck.

Thankfully tastes have improved a lot since the mid 60s.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Competence matters. Bland food is easy to wreck, but it doesn't have to be bad.

I used to describe my issues as "allergic to flavor." Some of that is better now, but there are still times my body won't tolerate most foods and rebels at flavor or scent. I've learned to work with it -- frex, plain applesauce is too acidic and upsets my stomach, it needs sugar, and cinnamon is better. Bananas are usually safe too. Used to be rice, but I can't digest that anymore. Chicken is another reliable item. If I just need to be a little careful, then most digestive spices (ginger, sage, etc.) are helpful. I have no trouble cooking relatively bland, easy-to-digest things if someone else needs it too. But I know what I'm doing.

A huge problem in health care is that most doctors know fuckall about food. They aren't trained to use it as a tool, so consequently they give lousy advice, sometimes downright destructive advice. (Recent example: advising someone to reduce fat, sugar, and carbohydrates.) When they can control your access to food, that can be very harmful. You want to know how food works for your body, beyond what you can figure out on your own? Ask a nutritionist or a dietician. They have that training, such as it is, subject to fashion. At least they can usually give you fresh ideas.

I love the idea of making doctors eat what they prescribe, though. That ought to be illuminating.