By fast food, I'm not just talking about products that are processed and pre-prepared so that they can be cooked fast and handed over to the customer within a matter of minutes, such as is popular in the almost omni-present burger and fries restaurants that are advertised on TV all the time. I'm also including a lot of stuff that you buy at the supermarket that you pop into the microwave and have a ready meal for the family in a matter of minutes.
Convenience foods, or foods that require no preparation or traditional cooking by busy mothers trying to juggle a full time job with looking after a family are equally as unhealthy and unwholesome as the burgers and pizzas you get from fast food outlets. Here's why.
Foods that are processed and made into what can best be described as ready meals often contain few in any nutritional ingredients. They are bulked out with pasta, breadcrumbs, corn flour, processed potato, processed egg and milk products as well as hydrogenated vegetable oil, saturated fats, gums, sugar substitutes etc, then made to taste good by the addition of herbs and spices, salt, monosodium glutamate and sugars. They also contain artificial colours and preservatives as well as some artificial flavourings just to complete the unhealthy package!
What is the Health Impact of Fast Food?
The impact to health from fast food is quite staggering when it is consumed on a regular basis. Unfortunately, an ever growing number of households are doing exactly that, as fewer and fewer families rely on someone doing any conventional cooking using fresh food ingredients. Far too many households feed themselves on a constant, daily diet of microwaved ready meals with very little or zero fresh fruit or vegetables. Then they "treat" themselves to a meal out, by visiting a burger or pizza restaurant, or if they're feeling in need of a healthy meal, a steak and fries restaurant!
Here's what's wrong with that.
When your diet is lacking in fresh fruit and vegetables, your intake of essential nutrients that are derived from these sources is almost zero. Your intake of dietary fiber is also low to nonexistent.By replacing fresh wholesome food with processed, additive laden food, you do the following things to yoru body:
- Raise your blood pressure
- Increase the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol
- Retard your metabolic rate (the rate at which you digest, process and eliminate food)
- Weaken your immune system
- Destabilize your blood sugar levels
- Reduce the ability of your colon to function properly.
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