Fast food is not necessarily bad, however, in many cases, it is highly processed and has great amount of added sugar, sodium (salt), unhealthy fats, and carbohydrates.
These foods are usually high in calories yet offer some or no any nutritional values. When fast food recurrently replaces healthy foods in your diet, it could lead to poor health, poor nutrition, and weight gain. The analysis in lab animals has even found negative effects in short duration diets. Thought, being obese is a risk factor for various chronic health issues including diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
In accordance to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, many persons underestimate the number of calories they’re consuming in a fast-food restaurant. Children and teenagers take in more calories in fast food and some other restaurants than at home. Fast food can add from 160-310 calories per day, according to a 2013 research published in JAMA Pediatrics 1 .
So, What’s in Your Fast Food?
- Breakfast Sandwich
Just some of the common ingredients listed for what an outlet calls a “fried egg” include medium chain triglycerides, modified corn starch, propylene glycol, soybean oil, artificial flavor, xanthan gum, citric acid, and – of course — egg yolks and whites (listed individually). And do not forget propylene glycol also used to make polyester and in fog machines!
- Hamburgers
Hamburger with ground beef, right? Yeah — but there also may be growth antibiotics and hormones, which can finish up in your system.
- Soda
It is the same soda you purchase at the grocery store. However, when you get it at a fast-food chain, then you definitely get more calories because the size of the drink is so large. Do not even mention the “supersize.” Just one medium soda at a standard fast-food place is around 30 ounces and contains approximately 300 calories.
- Sauces
Sugar is the first ingredient listed for almost every sauce served at a fast-food restaurant. It may be called dextrose, sucrose, rice syrup, maltose, high-fructose corn syrup, barley malt, or some other things, but the end result is the same: fast delivery of many calories with almost 0 nutritional value.
- Chicken Nuggets
There is some meat in there, but there are also blood vessels, bones, skin, nerves, and connective tissue. And they have loads of fat and salt, which are associated with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
- French Fries
Potatoes fried in a vat of simmering oil and completed with a sprinkling of salt. What can be simpler? Actually, quite a lot! French fries from fast-food often have up to 15 ingredients, including artificial coloring and sugar. Plus, they have preservatives as test-butyl hydroquinone sodium acid and pyrophosphate, which in high dose has been associated with vision problems.
- Hot Dog
Well, let’s just say they make full usage of the animals which supply the meat. However, the hot dog is also loaded with nitrates (a preservative associated with cancer and diabetes), and with saturated fat and salt (2 things that most Americans get too much of).
- Strawberry Milkshake
Besides sugar and milk, strawberry milkshake also contains preservatives like benzoate and sodium, high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors and flavors to this drinkable dessert. And one important thing appears to be missing: real strawberries.
Instead, you can choose to eat fresh strawberries in season or drink a delicious strawberry juice made from frozen ones.
Conclusion:
Fast food often contains too many calories and too little nutrition. Therefore, if fast food is a regular component of your diet, you may find yourself struggling with ill health and weight problems. High cholesterol, high blood sugar levels, bad digestion, respiratory problems, obesity, and heart disease are some of the most common problems caused by eating too many fast foods.
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