DoctorOz: Is Your Family Addicted to Fast Food?

Now more than ever, people are looking for food that is fast and comforting. From coffee and a breakfast sandwich to burgers and fries. All across the country, fast food sales are not slowing down. In fact, one fast food chain says their average check grew by 25 percent. I mean, that is massive. Today, is your family addicted to fast food? Do you need to detox from the drive-thru window? That's the question. All right, we've got a quiz to reveal if your fast food fix needs to be slowed down and how science can help you make healthier choices. Clinical psychologist, Dr. Romani DeVarsala joins us now. The biggest traffic jams I have seen, Dr. Romani, are the ones in front of drive-thru windows. One fast food chain actually reported they had an increase of 30 million more cars in their drive-thru last year. I mean, these numbers are so gargantuan, I can't imagine repeating them. So we have a viewer who wants to take this quiz, and she's going to be zooming to us from her car. But before she gets on, let us know what your thoughts are. I think that it's actually not surprising, Dr. Oz. You know this, with the stress of the pandemic and in some ways not having to get out of your car, that is obviously going to make fast food a go-to of choice. People are also feeling really stressed, and fast food is often people's emotional food of choice. It's comfort food. It's quick. It's palatable. It sort of soothes people at a time when people are really feeling stressed out. So let's do a little intervention on Darlene here. She's actually in her car, headed to a drive-thru. There she is, caught in the act. You were just about to get some fast food. So why do you and your family love it so much? You know, with this pandemic, it's just been so difficult. We are tired of cooking. Fast food is fast. It's easy. Everyone can get what they like. And it just makes us all happy. It's quick. So we're all going to be taking this quiz together, because I think a lot of us are in this boat. So be sure to follow along at home and keep track of your yeses and nos. So, Dr. Armani, the first question is? First question is, does your morning coffee come in a to-go cup? Darlene, your honest answer? Well, I have to say, yes, it does. My latte makes my day great. I needed to get myself started, and it makes me very happy for the day. Even in a pandemic, I know a lot of us like to have an easy, ready-to-drink coffee. Dr. Armani, what does coffee tell us about our reliance on fast food? One of the challenges is when we do something first thing in the morning over and over again, it really becomes a habit. And any psychologist will tell you habits are a lot harder to break because it's so reflexive. Even Darlene probably orders that latte without thinking. It's just part of the morning routine. And after you establish this kind of behavior, you tend to be on autopilot. It becomes a jumping-off point for the rest of your day, and it almost sets a precedent that I'm going to keep turning to convenient foods, making the risk of eating fast food repeatedly much higher. All right. The next question. I'll take this one. Do you treat fast food as a pick-me-up because you're tired, stressed, just having a bad day? And Darlene, you actually took a drive through a diary to answer this question, to really be honest about it. Make it real. Here it is. It's Wednesday. I finally get a chance to get some coffee. I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't have this pick-me-up today. I have to have some coffee. It's Thursday. It's much harder for me to try to go home and figure out what to cook. So I'm just going to pick up some food for us and bring it home. But man, look at the line. This is my third trip to get coffee today. I just need another dose. But don't tell my husband or the kids, please. So I just picked up something from my favorite burger place, and I'm going to take that home and eat it now. And it's so cheap. I don't know, Darlene. It sounds like a yes. What do you think? Yes. It's a loud yes. All right, next question. Are your weekly fast food receipts higher than your grocery receipt? So Darlene, you got those receipts with you right there, I see. What's your answer? I do. Well, I have to say they're about even. But I do it deliberately. I spend less money on groceries on purpose so that I have money left over. We can afford to buy fast food also. I don't know if being even on that question is a win. I think it's sort of a push. I'm a little surprised. Most of the time, I would think you spend more on groceries than fast food. But in any case, we'll just push that one to the side. Dr. Armani, next question. Do you hide eating fast food or keep it a secret from other people? Yeah, that kind of behavior, that's always a bad sign. And why does it, to you, mean a fast food addiction? I would say with any addiction, it's when the behavior goes to a place of secrecy. It means we're trying to hide it. And typically, people hide behavior so they're not judged and they don't get called out. And there's often a sense of shame around a behavior. But the challenge is that once a person starts hiding behavior, it's actually more difficult to regulate. And when it becomes a secret, it becomes more and more entrenched. And there's actually a risk it'll become more and more of a habit, but a secret habit so no one else even knows it's happening. All right, so let's tally up your answers and count your yeses. And this is a pretty easy test. If you have more than one yes, you may be eating too much fast food. Darlene, I stopped counting, I lost track. Three? I have three yeses, yes. So Dr. Amani, I mean, you know how real this is, because like Darlene, you too have been struggling. What are some strategies that can help break a reliance on fast food? I mean, listen, Darlene, girl, I get it because I am there with you. And fast food is fast, it tastes good. I'm home, the struggle is real. And my life has been crazy over the last four years, even before the pandemic. And I really did turn to food, including fast food to cope. And I felt like I didn't have other options. It was quick, it was easy. I could get it when I was driving from place to place. But as I've gone into the pandemic and have gained even more weight, one thing that's been a real struggle for me regarding my health, my health is getting worse, is that I say, what are the things I can do that are easy? Because if I make it hard, I'm not going to do it. And things include distraction. I literally keep a list of things on my desk that I like to do. And I turn to those things. I do moderate exercise. I keep healthy snacks at easy reach. So the stuff I could get quick is healthier. And that way I'm less likely to go rifling through the cabinets. And I drink lots and lots of water. These things are easy to do. And the combination of them does help me keep some of my fast food sort of cravings at bay. I'm proud of you. But we got a lot more up next. The fast food experiment to help you break the cravings for good. Plus we uncover the healthiest hacks. You need food fast. Stick around. We are back with how you can slow down a fast food habit that's getting out of control. We just took a quiz with psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasala. And you can find it on DrRoz.com to see if your family's addicted to the drive-thru. So Dr. Ramani, you say that a lot of people are using food as a way of coping with boredom. I see it firsthand. And you have an experiment that everyone can try right now to find out why they are reaching for fast food. So fast food, it makes us feel good when we eat it. It soothes us sort of instantly. But honestly, as soon as the food is done, we go back to not feeling that good physically and may even feel worse emotionally because we haven't addressed the emotion, haven't gotten comfort. And now we feel bad that we ate the food. But we still keep going back to it. So the thing I have been telling people to do for over a decade is something I sort of call the apple test. To kind of test if you really are hungry or you're using food for something else. When you think you're hungry or you feel that craving, that need to eat, I ask people, would you want to eat this fast food if it was actually just an apple or a bunch of veggies, okay? And if a person says, yeah, no, I don't want those things. I don't want that apple. I want the French fries. I want the burger. That tells me that you're not eating for hunger. You're likely eating to serve another function. It's usually comfort. So let's back up this apple test with one more thing people can always remind themselves. And it's easy to remember. Just remember the acronym FLABS. And what does FLABS stand for? Frustrated, lonely, angry, or anxious, bored, or stressed. These are the primary reasons that people turn to food when they're not hungry. In essence, people are looking to soothe these emotions. Well, food isn't designed for this. And this becomes a wake-up call. When this apple isn't good enough, but you have to have the fries, the fries aren't going to address these things. And it becomes a wake-up call to the deeper dive that you need to do to handle these emotions. You know, listen, I get it. An apple is also not going to address those emotions. But at least an apple is a healthier choice if you're hungry. If you're not hungry and you're eating, that's actually when we make worse choices. So this little sort of intuitive test, I want food. Is an apple going to cut it? No. Then ask yourself, FLABS, which of these things am I feeling? Let me find a better way to try to manage these feelings because a bag of fries isn't going to do that. And FLABS is going to make you flabby, from what I can tell. You'll be going after stuff. That's right. So Dr. Ramani, I'm going to hold on to the apple. You see, there's also guilt that comes through after a fast food meal. How do you move past that if you've been feeling that way on you? Here's one thing we know about the work that's been done on addiction of any kind and relapse. That people experience tremendous self-blame and self-anger after any kind of relapse. And for some folks, they start eating the fast food and say, well, I've already kind of fallen off the wagon, so I'm going to go all in and I'm going to get much larger sizes. One thing I always encourage people to do is to look at your behavior, not through a lens of punishment, but through a lens of acceptance and self-compassion. You basically say, OK, I ate the fast food. I was busy. I understand where I went there. It wasn't my healthiest option. But let me reflect on this. Let me think about FLABS, for example. And maybe think of a different way to handle this in the future. But don't beat yourself up, because when you beat yourself up, it's almost a guarantee that you're going to do it again. But there are going to be times when a drive-thru is the only option, right? You're tired, it's late, it's early. So what are the guideposts that you can offer us so we don't spiral out of control? Give us some bumper rails. Such an important question, because a lot of people say, what am I supposed to do? This is my only option. One thing I always encourage folks is to up your protein. The more protein you eat, the fuller you're going to get. So try an inside-out burger. You get rid of the buns and replace the buns with two patties of whatever it is, whether it's meat or veggie protein or whatever. So you're getting more protein. And then fill the middle with the pickles, the lettuce, the ketchup, the onions, whatever you put on your burger. Now you're doubling up your protein. You're getting rid of all the sugars and stuff that come from those buns. You'll feel more full and you'll kind of get that fast food convenient fix. Another strategy would be to sort of pick one item, one item off the menu. It could be a small side of fries. It could be a small dessert item. One thing we know, you, Dr. Oz, you wouldn't eat. But you're allowed one. A lot of people, they get to fast food, they already feel guilty. Then they feel dysregulated and they go overboard. If you say, I'm going to do this intentionally and mindfully. I'm here. I have to eat something. Let me pay attention. Okay, I'm going to get this one small thing and eat it slowly. You don't need tons of food to get that sort of joy out of that quick fast food fix. Just eat a little and then you might feel more self-possessed in that space. And the fast food won't feel so overwhelming. All right, so we decided to have Darlene try these hacks with her family. Really put them to the test. Darlene, I want your honest opinion. Be real here. How does it go? Well, I tried the inside out burger and I felt that was very satisfying. I felt full. I didn't feel like I needed anything else afterwards. And, you know, it really helped. I think I can adopt that all the time. You're actually smiling in these photos. Because it was wonderful to have that burger. All right, Darlene, thank you very much. You're going to get pulled over soon. You've been parked there too long. Dr. Rahmani, I appreciate both your advice.