Fast Food Health issues
Fast food is the food of choice for many busy, stressed-out people. leading to all kinds of fast food health issues. After all, what can be that wrong with chicken nuggets, french fries and of course the all beef pattie? It all depends on how they are cooked and what is really in them.
Did you know that chicken nuggets usually contain beef extract and twice as much fat as a hamburger? We think we are making a healthy choice only to be making a worse one. The real problem with fast foods is that they are high in saturated fats, high in simple sugars and low in fiber and nutritional value. You might get away with eating it occasionally, but not very often.
The rapid increase in the incidence of adult diabetes has been linked to the standard American diet and it's high percentage of good old fast food.
Insulin resistance, which is the first stage in this disease can also cause rapid weight gain which can be very hard to lose.
The hormones start getting out of balance and the body doesn't work like it use to. Diabetes is a far more dangerous disease than many people credit, causing blindness and circulatory problems which can lead to limb amputation.
Yet, it is largely self-inflicted. Our diet and lifestyle create the conditions that cause diabetes; they can also reverse those conditions if we change them for the better.
The obesity which results not only from the high caloric content of fast food, but also because of this cycle of insulin resistance, can put pressure on the heart and increase the risk of cardio-vascular illnesses.
The saturated fat content of a fast food diet will coat the arteries with plaque, reducing your lifespan and further increasing your risk of heart attack and even stroke.
This an ever increasing problem, as each generation who has been brainwashed by fast food advertising and the quick hunger cure reaches adulthood and continues with their bad eating habits they picked up as kids.
Type-2 diabetes used to only appear in adults but increasingly, teenagers and even younger children are beginning to show signs of it. This is no accident. As our lifestyles get more and more hectic, there is less and less time to prepare a good healthy meal so we roll through the drive-thru and pick up our quick fix and head to the next stressing activity.
To reverse this merry-go-round type of lifestyle means getting out the pots and pans and cooking some good old fashioned home cooking. You know the type I'm talking about where you prepare the food from scratch and then you all sit down at the table as a family and eat and bond and really get to know each other.
Fast food started out to be a treat, but then it went to "must have". It's time to get back to the treat stage with fast food and limit our intake. I would be the first to admit that McDonalds french fries are hard to resist. Just don't eat them every day.
Parents need to be aware that many fast food chains market directly to children. Unhealthy eating habits will affect their whole lives. We need to eat diets high in fresh vegetables and fruits with some whole grains and good lean meat for protein.
We also must ensure we have adequate nutritional intake. People with diabetes, obesity and even acne have been found to be deficient in zinc, chromium and the B vitamins. Therefore it may be a good idea to supplement with these vitamins and minerals as well as improving your diet in order to reverse the effects of a long term junk food diet and the fast food health issues that go along with it..