Fast Foods are Bad, and Here's Why

Hey, it’s a balanced diet!” your fast food self protests. “I’ve got protein in the burger, I’ve got veggies on top of the burger, I’ve got dairy in the butter and the cheese, and I’ve got cereals and grains in the sandwich. Plus I’m going to have more veggies with my French fries and more dairy and fruit with a king-sized strawberry milkshake.”

We like fast foods for two reasons: they’re cheap, and they’re fast.

Price and convenience are high priorities for busy people today, but too many of us are trading current eating pleasure for serious heart and digestive problems down the road.

Burgers, hot dogs, fish and chips, pitas, fried chicken, pastries, and frozen desserts are the most popular fast foods we consume these days, and we can almost always find a McDonalds or other fast food outlet nearby.

Dietitians warn us that the three most dangerous ingredients in fast food are fat, sugar, and salt. Doctors tell us that obesity, diabetes, and heart problems are far more likely among their patients who rely on fast food for a major share of
their food intake than for those who choose good nutrition over convenience.

Here are some findings from a study conducted by Boston’s Children’s Hospital that followed more than 2,275 persons between the ages of 18 and 30 for fifteen years:

• Eating fast food twice or more a week resulted in a 50 percent greater risk of obesity than among those who eat this way less often.
• Fast food eaters have double the risk of abnormal glucose control, which often leads to diabetes, than do those who rely less on fast food for their nutrition.
• Eating fast food more than twice a week plus two and a half or more hours a day watching television triples the risk of obesity and abnormal glucose control, compared to those who eat out once or less and watch no more than an hour and a half of TV every day.
  

Not all food at a fast food restaurant is bad for you, of course. You can choose
salads, fruit, and milk. Or you can leave off cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise from
your burger and skip the french fries.

Or you can just be careful. Fast food once in a while won’t hurt you, but the
accumulative eff ect of relying on fast, tasty, unhealthy food day after day can
haunt you later for decades.

We tell you this for just one reason. We want you to be well!