In fact, typical American consumes three burgers and four orders of french fries per week, according to Eric Schlosser, author of the best-selling book Fast Food Nation. All this gorging on fast food is not healthful. Studies show that a diet sky-high in fat and calories can lead to obesity, which in turn fosters conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, gout, colon cancer, and arthritis.
“One meal from a fast food restaurant typically contains the amount of calories you need for the entire day,” writes Michelle Fisk in LiveStrong.com. For your information, the daily recommended allowance for calories for men is about 2500, and for women it is about 1800- 2000.
Live Experiment
One usual guy, Morgan Spurlock, tried to show the seriousness of this problem and made a documentary film “Super Size Me” in 2004. His film shows a one month period, during which he ate only McDonald’s food. He personally explored the consequences of fast food on his health. As a result the 32 year old man gained about 11 kilograms and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation on his liver. It took him 14 months to lose the weight gained from his experiment. McDonald’s in its turn cancelled selling of “supersize” portions during 2004 as a reaction on this documentary.
What happened to Morgan Spurlock’s body as a result of his 30 day experiment eating nothing but Mc Donald’s?
- He gained 24.5 pounds.
- His liver turned to fat
- His cholesterol shot up 65 points.
- He had an 11-15% body fat increase.
- He nearly doubled his risk of coronary heart disease.
- He became depressed and exhausted
- His sex life was non-existent
- He had bad mood swings
- He had massive cravings and massive headaches.
More facts from the film can be found here.
Scientific Approach
Based on already considered fast foods components and information from news-medical.net, we have below input data. Fast foods are typically:
- high in calories
- high in fat
- high in saturated and trans fat
- high in sugar
- high in simple carbohydrates
- high in sodium (salt)
Lets see which effects on human body might be caused by excessive consumption of this type of food.
According to healthline.com, which statements based on science researches from such authoritative sources as American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others, fast food impacts on the following organs and human activity systems.
The Impact of Fast Food on Cardiovascular System
The fast food and sodas contain a great amount of carbs and relatively calories. After consuming of such food the body transforms the carbs into sugar (glucose), afterwards it gets into the blood. After pancreases release insulin, which is crucial for transporting sugar to the cells of the body. When the sugar is consumed the sugar level in blood decreases. When the sugar level decreases the pancreases releases the hormone glucagon. This hormone signals the body to consume the sugar reserves. When that kind of food is consumed rarely the sugar levels in blood remain in within the normal limits. But when you consume it often it can impact the sugar outbreaks in blood and this destroys the normal reaction of insulin. All this can cause diabetes. Huge amounts of sugar don’t have any nutritional value, but contain a huge amount of calories. All the extra calories add to extra weight and cause the increasing of heart diseases.
The Impact of Fast Food on Digestive System
Trans fats is a very common thing in a fast food, which leads the increasing of cholesterol level in blood. This is a dangerous cholesterol which can cause the type 2 diabetes. The big amount of sodium can hold water in the body which can cause bloating and puffiness. Also sodium can cause the increase of blood pressure and the enlargement of heart muscle. If you have a heart failure or cirrhosis then too much salt can cause the dangerous liquid accumulation. According to American cardiology association, people who consume sodium instead of regular salt are double more likely to develop kidney diseases and stomach cancer. High level of cholesterol and high blood pressure are among the main factors of risk to develop cardiovascular disease and heart strokes.
The Impact of Fast Food on Respiratory System
Obesity can cause respiratory disease. Also it can cause shortness of breath or difficulties in breathing during the little exertion. Almost whole fast food is using the flavor enhancer, which is sodium glutamate. It causes the fast adaption and addiction. Besides that it can trigger the disturbance in a life of peripheral nervous system and the breathing difficulties up to asthma attack. According to healthline.com, a recent research showed that children consuming fast food at least three times a week are double more likely to develop asthma and rhinitis.
The Impact of Fast Food on Central Nervous System
There are a lot of types of headache and other different things which can be caused by consuming fast food. Some food nitrates that can be found in fast food include salt, processed meat, nitrates and sodium glutamate. The recent research of one of the American’s magazines discovered, that people who eat fast food are 50% more likely to develop depression, than those who consume regular food. Also has been proved that more they were consuming fast food more they got depressed.
The Impact of Fast Food on Skin and Bones
Greasy foods and chocolate is commonly accused to cause acne. It is related to a big amount of fast carbs in fast food. This kind of products rapidly increase the sugar level in blood which causes acne. People addicted to fast food are more likely to develop eczema. Consuming the food with a high content of sugar and fast carbs cause bacteria in your mouth to produce acid. The acid destroys the tooth enamel which leads to cavity. An excess of sodium in body can also cause osteoporosis (softening of bones).
Accordint to news-medical.net, obesity is linked to several long term health conditions, premature death and illness including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, fatty liver, arthritis and joint disorders and some types of cancer. A more complete list of diseases caused by obesity, with links to the relevant information, is shown below:
- Obesity and Blood Pressure
- Obesity and Diabetes
- Obesity and Cancer
- Obesity and Depression
- Obesity and Autism
- Obesity and Hormones
- Obesity and Genetics
- Obesity in Adults
- Obesity in Pregnancy
- Obesity and Infertility
- Obesity and Sexual Health
- Obesity and Stress
- Obesity and Urinary Incontinence
- Obesity and Fractures
- Obesity and Arthritis
- Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
- Obesity and Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
- Obesity Epidemiology
- Obesity and Periodontitis
- Obesity in Children
- Obesity and Respiratory Disorders
- Obesity and Heart Disease
- Obesity and Anesthesia
- Obesity and Skin Problems