Top 10 Reasons Why You Need to Avoid Fast Food
Despite the good taste and their affordable prices, McDonalds will no longer operate in Bolivia with over 10 million potential customers. It was in 2002 when the restaurant first closed in the country, and now, 8 more branches have stopped serving their infamous burgers and fries. What’s the problem? Nothing, Bolivians simply don’t trust food prepared in such a little time.
For years, fast food has been a subject of numerous research and plenty of health risks have been tied to it. Unfortunately, as people in Bolivia rejects fast food, it still thrives in many other countries, including the UK.
There are many reasons why you really want to avoid fast food. Here are some of them.
It damages your health almost immediately. A study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology found that the health risks of eating fast food, such as damage to the arteries, can be experienced as soon as you crumble the wrapper of your burger. That’s it. When it comes to fast food, there’s no term as ‘moderation’. For every meal you eat from a fast food chain, your body suffers.
They are packed with sugar.
This is the reason why breakfast cereals aren’t really ideal for children. Many brands, especially those marketed to kids, are loaded with sugar and other food additives that make them less healthy. Too much sugar has been known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, dementia, cancer and many other diseases.
It gives you lots of calories and less nutrition.
If you’re counting calories, you really don’t want to head straight to the drive-thru of your favourite fast food chain. According to a research published in the Archives of Paediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, children and adolescents tend to consume more calories and fewer nutrients for the rest of the day after consuming fast food. One regular Mac Cheeseburger has whopping 300 calories! Not only that, it has 30% saturated fats, 28% sodium, and 13% cholesterol. How much more does the double cheese have? Add the fries and a large cup of fizzy drink!
Fast foods are loaded with fats.
Fast food contains different types of fats that are known to have undesirable health effects. They are saturated fats and trans fats. Aside from increasing your waistline, these fats can also increase your risk of various diseases, especially cancer.
They have weird ingredients.
Did you know that the popular McRib contains 70 different ingredients which include azodicarbonamide – a flour-like ingredient used in producing foamed plastics? There are other processed foods, like burger patties that rarely contain meat but are enhanced by food additives and extenders. Science has discovered many chemicals that can mimic the smells of fresh fruits. For example, ethyl-2-methyl butyrate smells like real apple. Nutritionists recommend reading the food label. The more weird ingredients they have (especially those that are hard to pronounce), the less healthy they are.
Many fast food chains face safety and sanitary issues.
On any given day, you could have someone preparing your burger without washing their hands or accidentally dropping the patty on the floor! Many employees hired to prepare food and maintain the kitchen don’t follow food safety guidelines. Fast food chains are among the busiest places. Restaurant crews are always on a ‘hurry’ mode. As a result, many of them tend to commit mistakes whilst handling food.
Fast food contains nasty trans fats.
Apart from saturated fats, fast foods often have trans fats. These unhealthy fats, which are partially hydrogenated oils, are found to raise bad cholesterol levels, which is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke and heart disease. Wait – there’s more. A study by Harvard Medical School in 2007 found that trans fats can increase the risk of infertility in women! Because some restaurants are not required to list the trans fats content in their menus, it’ still possible that most processed foods have it.
Fast food is linked to weight gain.
Fast food is not the cause of obesity. But it’s not helping the nation fight obesity either. An American study published by the CBS News found that children who regularly eat fast food gained up to 6 more pounds each year. Since fast foods are super high in calories, they really won’t help you stay lean. Add the fact that you need to consume plenty of them before you feel full.
They come from unhealthy sources.
Meat is generally a healthy food. But the inhumane way in which animals are treated and the food they eat greatly affects their nutritional profile. Worse, animal meats are often contaminated with bacteria and disease-causing organisms during processing. So you, as customer, end up not just getting less healthy food, but also something that’s potentially dangerous.
Fast food is dead food.
Since fast food doesn’t contain beneficial enzymes and nutrients, they are literally ‘dead food’. So when you eat them, your body has to use its stored digestive enzymes to metabolise those burgers, fries, crisps, and other fast food you consume. So make sure you don’t eat more than once of fast food per week! They say we are what we eat. So the more we eat dead foods, the closer we get to – oh no – death.
For a healthier body, we should steer clear from fast foods, better yet, redefine our concept of it. Instead of ordering takeaways from restaurants, we can store healthy produce in our very own kitchen so we could have an easy access to them. Preparing healthy food is actually easier than what many people think. We can delight our kids with our own version of hamburger, using fresh, lean meat and fresh herbs and spices. Enhancing the convenience of healthy food in our home reduces our desire to eat the unhealthy stuff – a great way to start a healthier lifestyle!
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