Stop Eating Fast Food: The Link Between Fast Food And Health Disorders

Almost everyone has had fast food at some point during their lives, whether it is because it’s a quick and easy option or due to just laziness. Whatever the reason, there is no doubt about the link between fast food consumption and overall health deterioration. This has become common all over the world in past years. With increasing popularity and demand of these restaurants, both adults and innocent children have suffered greatly from all the diseases and disorders that are linked to the unhealthy foods, such as, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes just to name a few. An explanation or the cause for all these health deteriorating issues that come with the food is simply two main factors; first is how the food itself is made and second is how well kept and the cleanliness of the restaurant. Although it is cheap and convenient, there are many healthier alternatives people should be aware of that could most likely reduce the risk of these health complications. Following will discuss the links between fast food and the disorders, diseases, how the food is prepared, cleanliness of the restaurants and factories, along with healthier alternatives instead of fast food.

When it comes to fast food restaurants, it is almost common knowledge that they are not the healthiest or cleanest places to eat at. But do people actually know how unhealthy it really is? The main issue with fast food is that these foods are rich in high amounts of calories and sugars. The consumption of fast food in America has skyrocketed over the last few decades, which in turn so has the calorie intake by the American people. This exponentially growing calorie intake is one of the leading causes of overweight and obesity in both adults and children in the United States of America. There are at least 3 million cases of childhood obesity nationwide per year. Being obese has many increased health risks such as, certain cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. Not only are obese people affected, but also people who consume it on a regular basis. According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “Frequent consumption of fast foods was accompanied with overweight and abdominal fat gain, impaired insulin and glucose homeostasis, lipid and lipoprotein disorders, induction of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. ”

In addition to the fact that it deteriorates our health physically, it also affects our health mentally mainly because of the high amounts of sugars it has. According to Dr. Eva Selhub who is an author at Harvard Health Blog, “Multiple studies have found a correlation between a diet high in refined sugars and impaired brain function — and even a worsening of symptoms of mood disorders, such as depression. ” These health risk factors that have been confirmed to affect us both physically and mentally mainly stem from the quality of how the food is made. With hundreds of thousands of fast food restaurants popping up all over the United States and around the world, the food itself must be mass produced and manufactured to keep up with demand.

Mass producing and manufacturing has benefits and disadvantages. Some of the benefits include, higher-accuracy, reduced amounts of required workers because of machines, and faster production rates. The disadvantages however include overcrowding of animals, natural and artificial flavors are added to make sure taste is up to par, and the animals are fed a variety of foods that they wouldn’t eat naturally. Same species meat, diseased animals, and drugs/chemicals are some, just to name a few. As a result of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, it is almost inevitable to prevent the animals from catching many diseases while in these factories.

The solution that scientist and doctors came up with is to use antibiotics on the animals to prevent harmful infections and diseases caused by the dirty conditions and poor diets. Antibiotics are intended to be used by humans and animals to treat bacterial infections. When used improperly or when not needed, it can result in making bacteria resistant. Consequently, if someone eats those bacteria due to the meat not being cooked correctly, it can result in antibiotics not working for us when in need. Another commonly used chemical in the industry for meats are many various types of hormones to stimulate faster weight gain, lower the amount of time needed before being able to consume, and lower the amount of food required for the animal.

Once people actually realize what they have been consuming this whole time and the effects it has on our body both mentally and physically, most likely they would look to other ways to get a quick meal. There are many healthier alternatives to fast food such as packing a meal from home, cooking on weekends then reheating meals throughout the week, or even going to the grocery store and picking up ready to go meals. With these healthier alternatives, the risk of developing both mental and physical issues reduces drastically.

To conclude, people need to stop eating fast food or at least not as much due to the illnesses and disorders that have been proven to be linked to. Also due to the unsanitary conditions of how the factories and meat are produced in. Just because it is a quick and easy option doesn’t mean people should resort to it. Alternatives such as packing meals, reheating cooked foods, and food from the grocery stores are all significantly healthier ways you can avoid eating at these restaurants. For the sake of your own health and well-being, consider other options before resorting to the regular fast food on the corner.