Fast food restaurants are popular because the food is reasonably priced and has one major thing going for it-speed of service. Speed of service means fast food is very well-liked!
It is well-liked by people with a short meal break, with hungry and probably screaming children and anyone who does not want to or cannot cook for reasons of their own. However, this type of food has a negative side and is a definite set up for ill health in the future. This is why
It is not always made from scratch (or fresh)
Fast food is usually a pre-cooked meal kept in readiness for a customer’s arrival with waiting time reduced to mere seconds. It is sold to the customer to take-away or to sit-down at the premises and eat very quickly.
For speed and convenience this food consists of mass-produced pre-prepared ingredients like breads and buns, beef patties, crumbed fish, par-boiled chicken pieces, ready fried chips (from pre-cut frozen) and pre-cooked or sliced vegetables.
This fast food meal maybe peddled as freshly cooked but it is usually cooked long before the customer arrives or the cooking is finished off as the orders come (usually in less than 10 minutes).
It is loaded with calories
The majority of fast foods are loaded with calories; the portion sizes and high fat content are the main reasons for the high energy content. An average order will consist of a protein, a starch and a drink. Add to this some ketchup or BBQ sauce which are notorious for their high sugar content and it is not far reaching to say that your fast food meal and fizzy drink will have a calorie content that is by far more than the recommended daily allowance.
Assuming that your meal surpasses the daily allowance by an extra 220 calories a day and you eat fast food every day- at the end of the year do not be surprised when you find you are some centimetres wider and several kilograms heavier.
It will almost always be fried
To quickly serve food the fastest way is to fry it. And to fry food on a large scale the vendor will almost always re-use the oil. Oil that is used over and over again is especially unhealthy.
Reused oils break down with each frying, which changes their composition and causes more oil to be absorbed into the food. This means that you will be eating a lot more oil than you should. Eating too much oil will put you at the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels-and high levels of cholesterol are the main cause of heart attacks and strokes in adults.
The shifts in people’s eating patterns-usually away from traditional foods and the sedentary life that we are all living and the intentional marketing of unhealthy foods through advertising in the name of creating “loyal customers” for life is leading many people on to a path of obesity, high blood pressure, and coronary heart diseases.
Also it is no secret that many young people are over-weight these days and the current fast-food habits are contributing to this.
good food should not just taste good it should also be good for your health
