Lexington man to eat only Taco Bell for 30 days to test validity of ‘healthy fast food’

LEXINGTON, Va. (WDBJ) – The teenage dream of a local content creator has led him to embark on an experiment, using his body as the subject.

“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.”

Sam Reid is a UVA grad currently living in Lexington who 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 was the healthiest fast food restaurants.

“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,” he says, explaining the rules for himself.

But can fast food actually help you ‘Live Mas’? Well, that’s exactly what Reid is trying to find out.

“My hypothesis is that healthy fast food can actually help you become healthier,” he explains. “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.”

Reid wants to use the project as a chance to change the way people ‘taco’ ‘bout food.

“You take this shocking concept of eating nothing but Taco Bell for 30 days straight and then you actually have some quality content in the middle. For me, that quality content is people actually thinking about what the relationship they have with their food is like,” he says, referencing the ‘hiding the veggies’ filmmaking approach. “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.”

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

“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. It’s more about the relationship that we have with our food.”

Reid also says, if his Kickstarter reaches $1,500, he will finish the experiment at the Flagship Taco Bell Cantina on the Las Vegas Strip.

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

Copyright 2022 WDBJ. All rights reserved.