Does fast food mean faster death?
Whenever people are hungry and in a hurry, fast food makes a great option for a quick, cheap, delicious, and easy meal. This is why we often give priority to fast food rather than having a healthy meal. However, have we ever stopped to think about what damage we might be doing to our body as we eat it? Naturally, we wouldn’t notice any negative effects on our body, but this impact becomes evident as time goes by. A nutrition expert told us about the harm that fast food does to our body and gave some tips on how to make some healthy snacks which are easy to eat, but without a time-consuming cooking process.
Prolonged consumption of fast food causes our taste buds to lose the ability to sense the flavour of natural food, so it no longer tastes delicious.
Fast food is not only a “calorie bomb”, but it’s also rich in a high content of fats, synthetic additives, salt, and even sugar. Food is often fried using the same fats. As we know, repeated heating of oil results in the formation of harmful carcinogenic particles.
Harmful effects of fast food on our body:
Obesity. This is one of the most common illnesses among people who eat fast food regularly. This illness causes people to get tired quickly, even under minor physical load, and find it hard to cope with. They also suffer from shortness of breath during physical activities. Obesity can also be triggered by other factors such as genetic predisposition or other diseases but, nevertheless, today we focus on the impact of fast food on health.
Cardiovascular system. Fast food is saturated with trans fats which increase the bad cholesterol content in blood. Cholesterol is deposited on the walls of blood vessels, resulting in the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. These consequently reduce the lumen of blood vessels. This results in an impaired bloodstream which might cause a stroke or a heart attack.
Respiratory system. Obesity is related to the exacerbation of respiratory problems. Even if there’s no history of respiratory diagnoses, obesity can cause symptoms such as shortness of breath and wheezing even under minimum physical load. A study has shown that people who eat fast food at least 3 times per week are at a higher risk of developing asthma.
Central nervous system. Studies have shown that the risk of developing depression was higher by even 51 percent among people who often ate fast food, as compared to people who were on a healthy diet. Furthermore, it was found that fast food also affected the brain. Eating such food resulted in reduced retention, as people had difficulty memorising different things.
Many people are aware of the negative impacts of fast food. as well as illnesses caused by it, but they still eat it and consequently do harm to their health. I recommend choosing snacks such as fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, dried fruit, crisps, low-fat natural yogurt, or berries. These snacks are very low in fats and are not the “bad” ones. Fruit, berries, and vegetables will provide the body with the much-needed vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Not only do these snacks require no cooking, but they also improve overall health.
Many people could say that they do not like vegetables. However, prolonged consumption of fast food causes our taste buds to lose the ability to sense the flavour of natural food, so it no longer tastes delicious. Upon returning to a healthy diet based on healthy, natural food, the taste buds adapt once more and the flavour of natural food seems delicious again.
Yes, fast food is cheaper when compared to natural and healthy food, but let’s stop and think before eating fast food. Would you prefer paying less now and causing harm to your health, or would you rather pay a little more for healthy products so that you could save money on medication in future?