Fast Food Facts: Effects of Fast Food

The fast food facts that you will stumble upon will not only disgust you but hopefully educate you about the dangers that this kind of food carries with it. Let's look into some hard-hitting facts about junk food...

 

Fast food companies are outnumbering actual restaurants because they're food is ridiculously affordable, easy-to-attain and sadly, delicious. The saying goes that, 'what tastes good for you, is bad'; that may ring true for junk food in specific, seeing that many people turn away from their greens. The United States holds the record for the most obese nation with many others catching on to make it to the finishing line first. Junk food or fast food as it is called in some countries, is in one word - dangerous. It contains a host of chemicals that are injurious to health, building upon time within our bodies before it strikes back in opposition. Those who are used to eating junk food may suffer no ill effects, but the expanding waistline and lethargy kicks in almost immediately post a heavy meal laden with rubbish. Let's find out why junk food is 'damaging' as the experts put it, in the following fast food facts.

Facts about Junk Food

A fast food joint may be your one-stop destination before, during and after work, but are you truly aware of what it is doing to you? Are you shrugging off the sound of alarm bells, including the warnings that doctors and health expects stress on? You may be a little wiser at the end of this chilling section of junk food facts.

- Junk food joints are purposely placed close to schools / colleges, where students have easy access to what it lures them to feast on. Cafeterias themselves serve up junk food, forcing kids to take on an unhealthy way of life even if their parents have practiced a healthy way of eating at home. - A survey held in the United States found that people were eating an extra of 300 calories / day than they did back in 1985. - The portions that junk food joints provide are a whooping five times more than what they were when they first opened their gates of hell. Companies know that the replication of food and all its unhealthy cousins will make it big among low-income groups, especially those that are situated in areas that do not have access to supermarkets that provide healthy food. That is why their food is priced so low where millions worldwide actually live off only junk food. - It would take the body an average of seven hours to burn off a super sized coke, a Big Mac and fries, by walking. - McDonald's is the highest ranking junk food company in the USA, where it makes up for 43% of the total junk food company pool. - Approximately 1,000,000 animals / hour are eaten in the United States. - Advertising is a big evil when it comes to fast food. Companies take advantage of this tool to entice kids, especially with giveaways and offers on food ordered. Television ads and those in print have a way of creeping up on children right down to when they're preschoolers, building upon brand loyalty before they can even get the name right of the burger their sinking their little teeth into.

- The target audience is usually young kids and teenagers, where repeat offenders in this category are Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, Dairy Queen, and KFC to name a few. - African-Americans are junk food companies' favorite customers, where the youth is targeted by their advertising on a large-scale by junk food giants KFC and McDonald's. - Favorite chemicals used as part of the food making process are - titanium dioxide (found in dressings), azodicarbonamide (found in some Subway breads), sodium phosphate (found in coffee in fast food joints), monosodium phosphate (laxative), propylene glycol (chemical used to capture ground beetles), sodium acid pyrophosphate (a leather stain-remover used in some foods), sodium phosphate (foaming agent) and dimethylpolysiloxane (found in McNuggets and other fast food eats). - Health problems that are brought on because of regular junk food eating - asthma, strokes, type 2 diabetes, cancer (kidney / uterine / colon / breast / esophagus), liver disease, and cardiovascular diseases. - What goes into junk food during its processing? Here's the shocker - dyes (red and yellow are used, affecting behavioral attributes in children), additives (artificial sweeteners linked to cancer risks), high-fructose corn syrup, trans fat (partially hydrogenated oils / hydrogenated oils), MSG, emulsifiers, and of course sodium in high doses.

Does any of this sound appetizing? I think not. To indulge once in a while is all right, after all you are human enough to have cravings. What you shouldn't do is indulge to a point where it qualifies as gluttony. Treat yourself to healthy homemade foods using fresh produce instead, coupling low-sodium ingredients and all-natural add-ons. Eat your favorite junk food meal twice a month, and not more. Spread the good word.