Friday, December 21, 2012

Get Away From Fast Food Keep Healthy

Fast food restaurants are popular because they serve tasty convenient foods for a reasonable price. Many people visit these restaurants frequently to eat their main meals. They don't realize that these type of food items are bad for health.
Here are some reasons why fast food is bad for your health.


Fast food contain more calories.

Majority of junk foods are loaded with calories. Large portion size and high fat content are the main reasons for the high energy content.

An average person need to consume about 400-600 calories in a mealtime. The calorie content of many items are far more than that level. For example; KFC chicken pot pie have 790 calories. If you eat that and drink 300ml of Pepsi, which contain 170 calories, you will have a total of 960 calories. A McDonald's Big Xtra Hamburger with cheese have 810 calories. A Burger King's Club Chicken Sandwich is loaded with700 calories.

Think that if you eat 220 more calories a day, you will gain one pound of extra fat in your body in two weeks time. That means, 24 pounds in one year. That is a lot of weight gain. So, don't visit those restaurants more than once a week.

Fast food contain more unhealthy fat.

Most of the convenient foods contain high levels of saturated fat. This type of fat is mostly derived from animal products such as meat, eggs and butter. Palm oil and coconut oil also contain significant amounts of saturated fat. Eating too much saturated fat can increase bad cholesterol level in the blood. Elevated levels of cholesterol is the main cause of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular diseases.

Another type of fat presents in these food is called trans fat, which is the worst type of fat. We do not need to eat trans fat, even in tiny amounts. Consumption of trans fat is linked to elevated levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. In addition, it can lower the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) in you body.

Fast foods are high in sodium.

Sodium plays several important roles in our body. We need to consume certain amount of sodium everyday. However, taking too much salt is bad for the body. It can cause high blood pressure, obesity, and osteoporosis. In addition, experts believed that over-consumption of salt is linked to increased risk of developing bowl cancer.

An average adult need to consume about 1200mg sodium per day. Many of the convenient foods contain far more than that amount. For example; KFC double down sandwich contain 1880 mg of sodium. Similarly, McDonald's Angus bacon and cheese contain 2070 mg of sodium. Imagine you eat one of these items for your one meal time. then what are you going to eat for the rest of the day?

Eating too much fast food is bad for your health because they contain more calories, more unhealthy fay, and more salt. They can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, and coronary heart diseases.

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