Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly.Fast food can also be defined as any food that contributes little or no nutrient value to the diet, but instead provides excess calories and fat. Fast food can be a good way to save time ,but it is not the proper way for nutrition. Some of these foods that are of little nutritional value and often high in fat, sugar, and calories. Common foods include salted snack foods, gum, candy, sweet desserts, fried fast food, and carbonated beverages. Fast food may includes chips, hot pies ,pasties, sandwiches, burgers, croissants, kebabs, pizzas, chicken, soups, and salads. It also includes drinks, for instance, milkshakes, and soft drinks.
Fast food is bad! Well, actually it tastes really good, but it’s bad for you. And those two things are linked. We saw Morgan Spurlock complain of headaches and even mood changes along with his growing craving for any food item that began with “Mc.” But the film doesn’t go too into detail about Spurlock complaints aside from weight gain and cholesterol. However his moans of woah we’re not just incidental. Many of the symptoms Spurlock experienced have since been proven to be actual effects of eating fast food. Here are four surprising ones:
Migraines
Turns out processed foods can trigger migraines. Anyone who knows how horrible those can be is probably dropping their jaw in horror at every time they ever went through a drive through. You’re just trying to get a quick meal, but what you don’t know is that that meal is loaded with things like nitrates, artificial sweeteners and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Nitrates are added to many fast foods in order to protect from certain bacteria and to give meat a cured taste and MSG enhances flavor, but along with the extra pressure on your belt buckle, these can lead to pressure in your brain.
Depression
If you’re eating fast food, you’re probably not eating healthy food, too. Eating sugary and fatty foods regularly usually means you aren’t eating foods that give you nutrients that are essential for mental health, like antioxidants, folate and Omega-3’s. Without enough of these, you can experience symptoms of depression.
Decreased Sex Drive
That’s right, if you’re going to indulge in one pleasure, you may have to pass up on another. Fatty foods can trigger biochemical changes that can cause libido, sperm count and ovulation to take a dive. I’ve always been against fast food restaurants as date spots, but this just confirms it.
Food Addiction
Yup, it does exist. You may joke that you’re addicted to this or that, but be careful what you joke about. High levels of fat and sugar can cause blood sugar levels to spike and crash, leading you to need even more in order to just maintain normalcy. Imagine needing three cheeseburgers in order to even get out of bed!
Obesity
Obesity means having too much body fat. It is not the same as being overweight, which means weighing too much. Fast food is high in calories and sugar that contribute to increased-weight gain. Even small amount of fast food can increase your calorie intake considerably. Fast foods also replace healthy eating habits, People who consume fast foods are less likely to eat fruits, vegetables, milk etc. This change in eating habits can easily lead to obesity.
Heart Disease
People who eat fast-food four or more times a week, up their risk of dying from heart disease by 80 percent. Fast foods create a much higher risk of heart disease because of the high level of saturated or trans fats found in much of the food. Those fats can clog the arteries and, over time, contribute to high cholesterol levels.
Second Type Diabetes
Fast food has become a way of life for many busy persons seeking a fast and inexpensive alternative to cooking at home. Although they may develop type 2 diabetes, this type of diabetes is often caused by poor lifestyle choices, such as being overweight and not being physically active. There is a side effect to consuming frequent amounts of fast food ‘obesity’ which can lead to the development of diabetes.
Peptic Ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. For almost 100 years, doctors believed that stress, spicy foods, and alcohol caused most ulcers. Fast Foods may causes Ulcer are Pizzas, Chips, Salted snakes etc.
Lack of Family Gathering
Fast food does not provide family members opportunity to set and eat at one place. Everyone can buy and eat walking in the way, driving a vehicle and during his work in office. The satisfaction which a combine meal provide is lacking in Fast Food.
Irregular Timing of Eating
A healthy person need to eat at a proper time which fast food doesn’t have. Fast food can be consumed at any time or some time twice or thrice a day, while home cooked food is served at proper time which provides opportunity to take rest after eating.
Waste of Money
Fast food consumes too much money as compared to home prepared food. Low income people can hardly afford continuous use of fast food. It spends a lot of budget and is also cause of loss of healthy body.
Loss of Appetite
Normal food contains appetizer which are not properly present in fast food. Continues use of fast food may cause loss appetite, abnormal digestion and sometime food poisoning. Fast food does not satisfy all needs of stomach.
Lack of Essential Nutrients
A well balanced food contains all essential elements which are necessary for human development. Whereas fast food does not have all these elements, this type of food contains some elements in high quantity while others are absent. So, fast food does not fulfill all needs of body and sometime causes disorder.
Stress
Certain foods and drinks act as powerful stimulants to the body and hence are a direct cause of stress. These foods are called “pseudostressors” or “sympathomimetics” Caffeine containing foods (coffee, tea, colas and chocolates), White flour, Salt, Saturated fats, Processed foods, such as junk foods and fast foods, contain synthetic additives – preservatives, emulsifiers, thickeners, stabilizers and flavor-enhancers
A lot of people justify eating fast food because they had a lighter meal earlier or because they have a fast metabolism. But fast food has effects on one’s body aside from plain old weight gain and cholesterol increase. Consider these side effects next time you’re debating that fatty, fried, quick fix of a meal.