Fast Foods Bad for You

From LoveToKnow Diet

Every day, millions of people ask themselves, “Are fast foods bad for you?” The answer is a resounding yes! While eating fast food every once in a while won’t hurt you, consuming it regularly will most definitely affect your health negatively.

How Are Fast Foods Bad For You?

If you eat fast food regularly, the effects on your health can be disastrous. Studies have shown that people who eat fast food more than twice a week drastically increase their chances of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and a host of other chronic problems.

Those big greasy meals aren't doing you any favors.

What Makes Fast Food So Bad for You?

Fast food’s bad reputation stems from a number of factors, but the primary issue is that fast foods are abundant in a handful of unsavory substances: sodium and trans-fats. These compounds wreak havoc in your body, and the more of them you eat, the more damage they do.

The food available in fast food restaurants are notoriously high in sodium. Your kidneys are responsible for ridding your body of salts, but consuming too much causes a buildup in your system, as it can’t be eliminated fast enough - the resulting accumulation of sodium in your bloodstream forces your heart to work harder, which in turn causes high blood pressure and heart disease. Putting that much pressure on your kidneys also increases your risk of kidney disease. Dialysis isn’t a pretty word.

Perhaps the most deadly substance in fast food is trans-fat. Trans-fats are created when hydrogen is added to liquid oils so that they stay solid at room temperature. The resulting fat is considered by the American Heart Association to be one of the most deadly things you can consume today: a diet high in trans-fats greatly ups your risk of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

As well, fast food is notoriously hard on your digestive system, and those that eat a poor diet are more likely to experience stomach upset and digestive problems. Conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may develop in those that consistently eat fast food.

Super Size Me, the Movie

You are what you eat, right?

In 2004, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock released Super Size Me, a movie that asks the question, “If fast food claims to be a healthy diet option, can we survive on it alone?” Spurlock himself was the subject of the experiment and proceeded to eat nothing but fast food for thirty days.

At the outset of the film Spurlock’s team of doctors confirmed that he was the picture of health, but by the end of the experiment his overall physical condition had deteriorated to the point of being life threatening. By the third week of the project, all three doctors implored him to stop early for fear of causing irreparable damage.

While this is an extreme case of junk consumption, Spurlock also interviewed people from all over the country who eat fast food on a regular basis. These are just regular people who eat fast food a few times a week, most of which are suffering from a multitude of health problems.

Learn More!

Do you still doubt fast foods are bad for you? Then you should consider performing your own research. Here are a few links to get you started:

A radio show on the study outlined above, where it is learned that eating fast food twice or more a week can cause severe health problems.
An APA article that suggests that fast food are responsible for the obesity epidemic in America.
Fast Food Nutritional Information
NutritionData.com lets you search for the nutritional content of almost any fast food product.
WebMD’s alternatives to fast food.

Retrieved from "http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Fast_Foods_Bad_for_You"