What happens if you only eat fast food? What is fast food. Why is it bad to eat fast food - overweight and obesity

Fast food has rapidly gained popularity among different age groups. Some people eat fast food without even knowing what danger it is fraught with. Parents buy hamburgers and french fries for their young children, and then face a number of problems, the main of which is obesity. What is the danger of fast food? Is it really better to give up any food? fast food?

Fast food is junk food

In all countries of the world, fast food is the cheapest food. It is often prepared right in front of customers. They buy fast food not only because of its low cost, but also because of its taste. Habitual buns and sausages with the help of mysterious manipulations acquire a particularly delicate taste. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers and Big Macs make you want to eat more and more. Fast food is addictive, and most people have seen this on own experience. However, fast food is unhealthy and its excessive consumption will definitely affect the weight and condition of the body.

The composition of fast food includes a large number of food additives, which are responsible for the taste of the product. Most of of which negatively affects the state of the body. If a person eats fast food several times a month, no serious complications will occur after eating such food. But if you eat it every day, then perhaps after a while there may be a malfunction in the body.

When cooking fast food, oil is almost always used. After heat treatment, it releases a large amount of carcinogenic elements, and this already answers the question of why fast food is harmful. Fast food and its harm affects the condition of both children and adults. Oversaturated fat foods are high in calories and lead to a number of diseases.

Fast food: benefit or harm?

Fast food has no benefit to the body. In some cases, it is better to refrain from eating than to eat dangerous foods. The advantage of fast food is fast cooking. A person can save time on cooking healthy meals, but then you have to make a lot of efforts to restore the body after such food.

Many people think that fast food is delicious. AT this case it is worth understanding why fast food is so tasty, and reconsidering the attitude towards it. Fast food contains a large number of food additives that are harmful to health. Due to chemicals, any dish can acquire an exquisite taste, but this does not make it healthy.

The harm of fast food on the human body

• Overweight and obesity;
• Stones in the gallbladder;
• kidney problems;
• Atherosclerosis;
• Increase in cholesterol;
• Increased blood sugar levels;
• Hypertension;
• Diseases of the liver and pancreas;
• Caries;
• Ulcers and gastritis.

Children begin to suffer from a variety of diseases much more often than their parents. And this can be explained not only by an unfavorable environment, but also by nutrition, which harms the body. Young children and students prefer high-calorie fast food.

Many families have become accustomed to visiting McDonald's and spoiling their children with junk food. Adults themselves quite often do not see special value in fast food and prefer to refuse it. Many students snack on fast food to save cooking time and money. Such savings lead to stomach ulcers and liver problems.

Why is it bad to eat fast food? excess weight and obesity

No matter how sad it may be, first of all, fast food is reflected in weight. Small snacks do not give a feeling of satiety, but for a short time cause extra pounds. If you eat fast food every day, you can gain at least five kilograms of excess weight in a month. Fast food is unhealthy and this is confirmed by thousands of Americans who are overweight.

Some people are frivolous about fast food, believing that it cannot cause excess weight. Even if so far there have been no problems with weight, this does not mean that they will not be in the future. With each new dish, the load on the digestive tract and liver increases - at any time, a metabolic failure can occur.

Why fast food is bad for the body - high calorie content

All fast food dishes are very high in calories and contain a large amount of fat and sugar. They do not contain vitamins and minerals, and they do not carry any benefit to the body. If we consider a standard lunch that includes a sandwich, potatoes and salad, then its total calorie content will exceed 1500 calories. Such a small snack is almost a daily calorie intake for people who do not lead active image life, and it says why fast food is bad. The most harmful fast food cinnabon has about 1000 calories per hundred grams of the product.

At the same time, a person could eat a vegetable salad, soup, lean meat, and he would definitely have a feeling of satiety for a long time. The total calorie content of these meals is much less than 1500 calories. An excellent substitute for fast food can be nuts and dried fruits, which, despite their high calorie content, speed up metabolism, nourish the body with vitamins and minerals, and also give a feeling of satiety.

Why you can not eat fast food - diseases of the heart and blood vessels

There are a lot of animal fats in fast food, which lead not only to excess weight, but also negatively affect the heart. Fast food raises cholesterol and can cause atherosclerosis. Animal fats put a huge strain on the liver. Fast food contains the cheapest and most dangerous fats - margarines. Their excess can cause cancer.

Eating fast food, a person causes great harm to the cardiovascular system. At first, this does not affect health in any way. An exception may be fatigue and dizziness. But if you eat fast food very often, this is a direct threat of atherosclerosis or blockage of blood vessels.

Why fast food is bad - lack of fiber

In fast food, there is practically no fiber, which is responsible for the feeling of satiety. But foods are rich in carbohydrates and fats. After a very short time, the person feels hungry again and wants to eat, which leads to overeating. Fast food does not contain proteins, which are the basis of body cells.

In order for the body to be able to process fast food, it takes a lot of effort. However, nothing but extra calories comes with fast food. A person cannot even fully satisfy the feeling of hunger, despite the rather large portions.

Is fast food harmful because of the high sugar content?

Sodas and smoothies are high in sugar. One can of soda contains about five tablespoons of sugar. Too much sugar is the most common cause diabetes and obesity. Most carbonated drinks have a diuretic effect, which also negatively affects health. If a person feels thirsty, it is better to drink ordinary water than soda.

It should be understood that excess sugar will never benefit the body. Moreover, it can cause many diseases. Not drinking enough water also has a negative impact on health. You need to drink at least 2 liters of water per day.

Fast food as a cause of beriberi

There is no vitamin in fast food, and if a person eats it daily, vitamin deficiency may develop. Metabolism is disturbed and a considerable number of diseases of the endocrine system may appear. The longer a person eats fast food, the worse his general condition. He begins to get sick more often and feel a breakdown. Despite this, his weight will increase.

It is much better to replace fast food with fruits or vegetables that are rich in fiber and vitamins. One apple will serve as a great snack that will make up for the lack of vitamins C and E, which are the best antioxidants.

There is nothing better than homemade food. Eat more vegetables and fruits, trying to give up high-calorie and fatty foods. Do not exceed the daily calorie content of the diet, and only in this way you can maintain a figure and health.

Four fitness fans abandoned training for a week and switched to processed foods, fast food and unhealthy, but very tasty food. That they all gained weight as a result was predictable, but it turned out that junk food harms more than just the body.

An experiment with the transition to an unhealthy diet and a relaxed lifestyle was arranged by the English sports nutrition store MuscleFood, says The Daily Star. Four sports fans and adherents of a healthy lifestyle were asked to abandon training and switch to a diet high in fat, sugar, salt and other not very healthy things. During the week, David Templer, Paige Modeste, James Tilly and his girlfriend Emma Taylor ate mostly processed foods, fast food, chocolate bars, pizza and other goodies.

For James, the task was especially difficult, because in his teens, unhealthy food was the norm for him, and he got used to healthy food and exercise only after serving in the army, Mirror explains.

I switched to a diet of booze and junk food. After it's over, I don't want to go back to it. The first two days I liked to eat this garbage, but then I noticed changes in my body. The abdominal muscles swam, and the body seemed loose. It influenced my thoughts. I started looking like a fat teenager again and I was angry and upset because of it.

By the end of the experiment, James was simply in despair and dreamed of returning to the lifestyle that he considers normal for himself.

Returning to vegetables, lean meats, and high-protein chicken has made me feel good again. My body was full of energy and motivation returned. And the anxiety I felt was gone.

For Paige, the most unpleasant consequence of the experiment was the changes that occurred to her skin. On the new diet Consisting of sweet pastries and processed foods with no fruit or vegetables, her skin became oily and covered with pimples.

By the end of the week, I felt terrible. I didn’t have the strength, but I had a rash and itching, I constantly had nausea and huge circles under my eyes. I couldn't leave the house without makeup because my skin looked terrible. No matter what I ate, I felt overwhelmed.

Paige says her weight changes were minor, but her waist size went from 69cm to 73cm in just seven days.

I can understand why people get into a rut of unhealthy cooked food. It is easy to prepare and contains a lot of sugar, which is addictive. It's hard to refuse this.

David during the experiment did not make a diet for himself, but simply ate the same thing that his roommates - pizza and other takeaway food.

Physically, I felt tired and found myself out of breath after only a couple of flights of stairs. My skin deteriorated and I began to gain weight. I felt weak-willed, although I had always been a self-confident person. Now I began to doubt my decisions.

David says that in a week without fitness, he realized that sport gives him not only a healthy body. Training in the gym helped the guy relieve stress, gave him time for unhurried reflection and making important decisions.

During the week that she ate processed foods, Emma realized that she had a sensitive stomach that did not respond well to unhealthy food.

I have a sensitive stomach and all these nutritional supplements with E and sweets make me feel sick and bloated. I was lethargic all the time and found that I couldn't concentrate. Even the simplest tasks have become complex. And I often had headaches.

As soon as Emma returned to her usual way of life, her headaches disappeared and she became energetic and attentive.

Nutritionist Rachel Hobbs, commenting on the results of the experiment, noted that just one week on convenience foods and fast food in the absence of exercise cannot have a serious impact on physical state a person, but changes in emotional and psychological health can be very noticeable.

A diet high in pre-cooked foods contains fewer vitamins and minerals than a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains. This means a lack of those nutrients that are necessary for our mental health - vitamin B, zinc and Omega-3.

Englishwoman Scarlett Skinner ate fast food stress from study and difficult relationships. From time to time she felt sick due to overeating, but her extra weight did not really bother her. Until her boyfriend made a single remark about the dance outfit. He did not know that Scarlett because of this.

And Canadian Tony Bassi lost more than half of his weight after. In two years, the man lost weight from 250 to 109 kilograms, although at first it seemed that he would not succeed.

The so-called "fast food" or fast food is firmly established in life modern man. While on-the-go snacking has only become extremely popular in recent decades, fast-food counterparts have been around since ancient Roman times, selling special scones with gravy for those who couldn't afford to cook a full meal.

What is fast food?

What food can be classified as fast food? Many experts conditionally divide fast snacks into three categories:

• Dishes prepared in establishments Catering– restaurants, cafes, kiosks. These include hamburgers, toast, hot dogs, shawarma, french fries and many other similar foods.
• No less popular type of fast food are semi-finished products. To prepare soups, cereals or mashed potatoes, it is enough just to dilute them hot water, and various cutlets, pancakes and meatballs - warm up in the microwave.
• Fast food also includes many types of snacks that you can eat on the go - nuts, chips, crackers and cookies.

All three of the above categories share two important features - the ability to use on the go and a minimum of cooking time. However, the secret of the popularity of fast food is not even in this. In order for people to visit fast food kiosks more often, special flavor enhancers are added to these dishes. The combination of fat, salt and sugar works hard on the taste buds, causing a strong addiction. Even ordinary vegetable salads in fast food establishments are richly flavored with mayonnaise, sauces and other high-calorie dressings.

The benefits and harms of fast food

Despite the ever-increasing number of opponents, eating this food has its advantages. The most obvious benefits of fast food are accessibility, time savings and rich taste. Agree, buying a hot dog at the nearest kiosk is much easier and faster than preparing a delicious, rich one. However, the low cost and abundance of harmful additives, including the “food drug” monosodium glutamate, will definitely affect health. Scientists have proven that people who eat fast food more than twice a week have serious health problems, are highly susceptible to developing diabetes and diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Fast food is one of the main causes of obesity and overweight. Such food is contraindicated for those who monitor body weight, as it causes painful addiction and is a source of "harmful" fats. The combination of fast food with a sedentary lifestyle in a few years can lead to a real disaster, since such food does not provide energy for intellectual activity, but contains only empty calories.

Eating fast food: basic rules

1. Try to eat fast food only in extreme cases and no more than once a month. If you already have an addiction to such foods, try to gradually reduce snacking.
2. Try replacing your on-the-go snacks with a visit to McDonald's, KFC, or another famous fast food chain. The requirements for sanitary conditions and the quality of products here are an order of magnitude higher than in the station kiosk;
3. You can reduce the amount of fat in chips and french fries by blotting them with a clean paper towel;
4. When ordering meals in a fast food chain, give preference to low-calorie foods - vegetable salad and green tea much healthier than a hamburger with cola;
5. Do not eat shawarma and hot dogs on an empty stomach. Hot soups or other homemade meals will reduce the aggressive effect of fast food on the gastric mucosa. If after eating you feel an unpleasant heaviness - drink, which contributes to the active digestion of food.
6. Limit the consumption of fast food by children. Frequent trips to McDonald's can cause disruption of the digestive tract, weakening of the immune system and other troubles for a growing organism.

At any public catering point there can be quite normal and healthy foods and dishes, including fast food. As a style of eating, fast food is, of course, unhealthy. Initially, such establishments were focused on a very quick and hearty lunch with simple and strong flavors - not for gourmets. That was the attraction of fast food for people. They tried to serve what people like: too sweet, too salty, spicy, as well as fried or deep-fried. Pricing and portion sizes are often chosen so that visitors choose huge portions: they are slightly more expensive than small ones, and buying the latter seems unprofitable.

Beverages

In most fast food establishments, carbonated sweet drinks are ordered with meals. 80% of visitors choose the most large volume because it seems economically viable to them. But even 250 ml of sweet water is too much sugar. Therefore, instead of soda, it is better to take just water, tea or coffee.

Salads

Over time, under the influence of criticism, fast foods began to introduce new dishes that are not so high-calorie, fatty or sweet. For example, salads have appeared in most fast foods. They are usually not the cheapest, and the choice of types of salads is small. Therefore, if you had to go to fast food, you can eat them without harm to health. And if you refuse fatty sauces for them, then this will be a healthy dish.

Main course

The best choice is any cutlet made from natural minced meat. It will be more useful than a hot dog or deep-fried pieces of meat, rolls and other things from fish and poultry, which are classic semi-finished products cooked in fat breading with a lot of food additives.

Bun or cake?

Often in fast food establishments there is such an option: take a dish in a bun (classic sandwich) or wrap it in a tortilla - the latter is more useful, especially if the bread or bun is made from premium flour.

Using these techniques, you can sometimes look into fast food, if there is no other opportunity to have a bite, there will definitely be no harm to health.

Study the composition

By the way, information is now available on the composition of dishes and products for many fast foods. Usually it is on official sites. And there you can find out what it's all about. Preference should be given to products without additives with an E index.

Fast food constructor

There are catering establishments where the dish is assembled in front of you from different components. In such cases, always take coarse bread, more vegetables and herbs (preferably fresh than salted) and as a base - not sausage, sausages or ham, but something from whole or chopped meat, poultry or fish without additives.

Aleksey Bueverov, gastroenterologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor of the First Moscow State Medical University. I. M. Sechenova:

- What is the most harmful thing in fast food?

Products are distributed in descending order of harmfulness as follows: sugary drinks and milkshakes are in the first place, they are equally unhealthy. You should not eat desserts in such places - they also contain a lot of sugar. And only in third place in terms of harmfulness are thick "multi-tiered" sandwiches. Many will probably be surprised by this. Why is that?

In sweet drinks with gas, there are a lot of pure sugars plus unhealthy chemicals (sodium orthophosphate, dyes). Even the smallest serving of 250 ml contains 27 g of sugar. So, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that those who are trying to lead a healthy lifestyle consume no more sugar per day than in this glass of drink. Now imagine how many sugars are in a large glass of 750 ml.

In a cocktail of ice cream and milk, there is even a little more sugar, but due to fat, it is absorbed more slowly. This is a plus. But the calories in it are almost 2 times more than in carbonated drinks. At the same time, due to the milk in the cocktail, there healthy proteins and calcium.

In desserts, the main hazards are fats and sugar. Despite the fact that it is sweet, they usually have half as much sugar as in the smallest portion of carbonated drinks.

There are a lot of things in sandwiches: harmful saturated fat, carbohydrates in a bun, salt. But there are useful animal proteins. Plus, you can get enough of this dish for quite a long period. So I wouldn't demonize him.

The algorithm for a healthy lunch in a fast food establishment is as follows: buy a salad and a sandwich with a cutlet, remove half of the bun and throw it away - you get a pretty decent lunch.

- But you can still choose the safest lemonade if you really want to?

The more sugar in soda, the more harmful it is, this is the most harmful component of such drinks. Its amount can be easily determined by the label: look at how many carbohydrates there are. When it comes to soda, carbohydrates are, in fact, sugar, since there are practically no other carbohydrates. And the main harm is not only in their in large numbers, but also in easy digestibility: liquid sugar (dissolved in water) is absorbed very quickly. As a result, it is converted into fat in the body, unless immediately after a glass of soda you start some kind of intense physical activity - running, playing sports, an intense walk, or at least an emotional meeting (although here the calorie consumption will not be so significant). Any activity in which sugar will be used as a source of energy is needed - if such an activity lies ahead of you, you can safely drink a glass of drink and not be tormented by remorse.

Children and fast food

The child eats only sweet and high-calorie harmfulness. How to wean him?

Responsible child psychologist Julia Gurevich:

Just by prohibiting a child from harmful things cannot be weaned. Be more imaginative. Create a cult of food at home: give up semi-finished products and ready-made meals, cook everything yourself, preferably with your child. Decorate your food as if you are the chef of a chic restaurant who wants to feed a dear guest. Soon the aesthetics of food will become a habit for all family members. Eat more often with the whole family, actively discussing the advantages and disadvantages of dishes with the child. Checked: in families where parents behave like this, children do not eat on the street and, importantly, do not get fat. Let your child be a bit of a snob who despises "junk" food. Be sure to give him homemade food to school and more than he needs - he will eat everything with his comrades. So it will be easy for him to explain to his friends why he does not like fast food. This is very important, because in a child and adolescent environment, relationships are very tough, and you need to behave convincingly and authoritatively. When your child's friends come to visit, invite them to the table more often. In such cases, also talk about food, not negatively, but with irony, speak about harmful foods and dishes. These tips work in a children's environment.

Everyone around them says that fast food is harmful, it is stuffed with trans fats, various additives and a huge amount of fat, which, apart from harm to our body, will bring nothing. But at the same time, we regularly see fast food ads that are shown in the best light and are positioned almost as the most best food in the world. What you put in your mouth is up to you, but we want to tell you about what will happen to your body if you regularly eat fast food.

Excess weight

Fast food has long become synonymous with excess weight, but for some reason this does not stop anyone. And if you just look at the composition of a burger, chips or hot dog, it will become clear that you can not get fat on fast food only in one case: if you eat only one dish from a fast food restaurant once a day. But this is physically impossible, because fast carbohydrates, which are almost all fast food ingredients, will make you hungry almost immediately after eating a burger or french fries.

Premature fatigue

In 2015, a study was published in the Daily Mail that talked about the experiment. The journalist tested the effect of fast food on overall well-being. To do this, she did not eat anything for a week, except for dishes from fast food restaurants. The conclusion was this: her concentration level decreased several times, and fatigue did not go away even after a good night's sleep. And this is backed up by scientific findings: sleepiness is caused by a certain type of amino acid called tryptophan. Due to the excess carbohydrates, this amino acid enters the brain faster if you eat fast food. In other words, the more fast food you eat, the faster you get tired.

Excess cholesterol

According to The American Heart Association, there are two types of fat in food: animal and artificial. The latter are industrially extracted and are essentially the trans fats that most fast food companies use because they are cheap. These same trans fats increase cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

unhealthy skin

Getting skin like that of a teenager, and not in terms of youth, but in terms of age-related defects, is very easy if you eat only fast food. The fact is that this food saturates the blood with glucose very quickly, that is, it is considered a food with a high glycemic load. It is this diet that in most cases is the cause of acne. Simple sugars, carbohydrates and trans fats can do things to your skin that require the help of a nutritionist.

Permanent swelling

Hamburgers, nuggets, French fries are just loaded with sodium - that's the way they're cooked. And sodium, of course, is still a part healthy eating, helping to control blood pressure and blood volume, but an excess of this substance can lead to disaster. To begin with, sodium serves to retain water in the body. If your heart is working normally, then this water will go away over time. But if there is even the slightest problem, you will have chronic edema, which is fraught with problems with the kidneys and liver.

Tendency to depression

The same experiment with the effect of fast food on general well-being from the Daily Mail showed the effect of this type of food on mood. When the participant ate all week only in fast food restaurants, her mood bounced up and down and made her irritable and impatient. This has also been backed up by science. A 2012 study shows that people who eat fast food are 51% more likely to suffer from clinical depression.

Development of cancer

From the abundance of information about carcinogenic foods, one wants to exclaim: “Is there any food that does NOT cause cancer?”. That's right, cancerophobia is a generational disease, and it is customary to see the threat of cancer development almost everywhere. However, a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2016 found that fast food contains toxic chemicals known as phthalates, a class of industrial chemicals. Phthalates are the most potent known carcinogens.

Addiction

There is fast food every day, and then you can simply refuse it. But it is worth knowing that this will not be so easy to do. A 2011 study found that fast food has a number of addictive properties. They are especially dangerous for people at risk - with obesity, heart disease and eating disorders.