I was at loose ends between appointments one day and decided to have a fast-food hamburger. I couldn't find a Wendy's nearby (it's the only fast food place I've been to in years) so I stopped in at a McDonald's and went up to the counter. The young lady standing there seemed slightly alarmed and led me over to a kiosk, which is where you're supposed to place your order. She walked me through the choices and suggested I order a water with my hamburger. The kiosk took my credit card and shortly a paper sack and plastic cup appeared on the counter.
The dining area was sparkling clean, quiet, and nearly empty. I enjoyed my hamburger--the pickle is my favorite part. I always wished it could be bigger. The bun is my least favorite, but this bun seemed to be smaller and less doughy than hamburgers of yore.
The meat had a certain taste, a certain umami. I wondered if maybe it had been cooked in a sauce. It wasn't salty or sweet or greasy or oily. It was a full taste, although it didn't have a strong scent. I was pretty impressed. Leaving the place, I drove to my next appointment and marveled at the richness of the light streaming in my car windows. I heard clearly the bird song and the swoosh of the leaves overhead. There was a certain smell in the air. The smell followed me around and lingered for several days.
What was in this hamburger anyway? Using the McDonald's web site, I found that the burger provides about one-third of the typical adult's protein needs and only 12 percent of carbs and 16 percent of fats. Reading the fine print, I learned that half of the fat was saturated and, wait, what's this? There was also half a gram of trans fat. Hadn't that been banned from food several years ago?
More Googling showed that, while adding trans fats during processing was banned, a certain amount of trans fats are naturally made in the stomachs of ruminants. They show up in meat, butter and milk and have not proven to be harmful like the partially hydrogenated oils that have been banned. But still, to my sensitive system, the trans fat had a powerful effect. It seemed to awaken a hunger that had lain dormant and spurred intense cravings that haunted me for a couple of weeks. That one hamburger threatened to upend an eating cycle that I had flowed for more than two years. I'll not darken the door of McDonald's again for a long time if I can help it.
