Man to eat Taco Bell for 30 days to find if fast food can be healthy

LEXINGTON, Va. (WDBJ/Gray News) – A Virginia man plans to eat all three of his daily meals at Taco Bell for 30 days to see if fast food can be good for you.

Sam Reid, a content creator and University of Virginia graduate, is gearing up for a “super-sized” task beginning this Sunday. In 2016, the athlete-turned-filmmaker read an article claiming that Taco Bell was one of the healthiest fast food restaurants.

“I am setting out to eat 30 days straight of nothing but Taco Bell in an attempt to see if I can actually become healthier while doing it,” he said. “I’ll do three meals a day, so a total of 90 meals, and I am going to abide by the rule that during the month I have to eat every single item on the menu at least once.”

Through his experiment, Reid is trying to find out if fast food can actually help you “Live Mas.” He wants to change the way people talk about food, WDBJ reports.

“My hypothesis is that healthy fast food can actually help you become healthier,” he said. “I don’t think it’s so much about the type of food or the brand of food, but it’s about making healthy and informed choices when we eat.”

Reid will visit multiple doctors during the experiment to track his health.

“The things that I’m measuring aren’t just weight. I’m actually measuring percent body fat, cholesterol, sodium, blood pressure, and I’ll be doing some fitness tests as well to see if I can maintain my level of physical fitness,” he said.

Reid put together a Kickstarter campaign to fund his effort and will turn the entire experience into an internet documentary this fall.

“I think a lot of people focus on a couple numbers like weight, calories in, calories out, feeling like they need to earn the food that they eat. The goal is to start a conversation about having a healthy relationship with our food,” he said. “I hope that normalizes the way we talk about food, and I think that would be really beneficial for people to not demonize what they eat or glorify looking a certain way.”

The experiment will get underway July 24 and conclude Aug. 22.

If his Kickstarter reaches $1,500, Reid will end his 30-day challenge at the Flagship Taco Bell Cantina on the Las Vegas Strip.

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