Why You Should Avoid Fast Food at All Costs
It is no secret that the average American diet is completely in the slumps. Consuming packaged foods, fast food, artificially enhanced products, and especially low quality cheap food is the norm, but is it any wonder that being overweight while also falling victim to a host of illnesses is also the norm. Being raised in this era of poor health makes it difficult to know what is truly healthful and unhealthful. Food has drastically changed since decades ago, and so parents often aren’t aware of the severe decline in food quality. Fast food in particular is one of the primary reasons for the drastic health decline seen today.
The Unknown (and Known) Dangers of Fast Food
If you haven’t already, take a couple of hours to watch the films Super Size Me or Fast Food Nation. After watching these films, you can see first hand how fast food causes severe damage to your body – even if you don’t consume it for every meal of every day like in one of the films. Fast food is nothing but a concoction of harmful and health-damaging chemicals which can easily be understood if you were to think for a moment how any restaurant could offer a double cheeseburger for only $1.
Most recently it was uncovered that these $1 cheeseburgers, along with the rest of McDonald’s’ beef and chicken, were actually harnessing ‘pink slime’ scrap meat covered with ammonium hydroxide. Not only does this fake meat provide no nutritional value at all, but it is chemically contaminated from ammonia, the toxic cleaning agent found under the sink. The meat is actually fat trimmings and connective tissue that are separated from the bone – scrap meat that is not fit for human consumption. The ammonia treatment is in response to the danger of contamination from salmonella or E. coli, but the scrap meats themselves are more likely to contain pathogens. Despite the chemical treatment, the meat is still in the line of fire for contamination.
Additionally, McDonald’s McNuggets contain 7 different ingredients making up the ‘meat’, many of which contain sub-ingredients. Instead of using real meat, the ingredient list utilizes sodium phosphate, safflower oil, wheat starch, dextrose, and autolyzed yeast extract – a particularly dangerous substance very similar to the toxic MSG. Along side with these ingredients comes the use of dimethylpolysiloxane, a silicon substance used as an anti-foaming agent and often found in breast implants and silly putty.
Of course the use of these ingredients is not limited only to McDonald’s. In fact, all of the fast food restaurants are guilty of using them. The worst part? They are aware of the destructive nature behind these ingredients, but truly couldn’t care any less. The truth behind such a statement can be exemplified by Taco Bell’s attempt to create a drive-thru diet where individuals would supposed to lose weight by eating fast food. It was only a few years ago when Taco Bell announced the “Drive-Thru Diet”, where they showcased their foods low in fat. But what they don’t tell you is that even if their food has 9 grams of fat, it is still made up of numerous ingredients contributing to the global health decline.
While the reasons for the influx of fast food consumption are many, one primary one is the usage of psychological advertising. Being one of the most powerful tools to reach both the conscious and subconscious, advertising plays a huge role in how society is ran today, and that includes which foods we eat. What’s more, children are much more influenced by what they see and hear, and research proves it. A study conduced late in 2011 showed that 71 percent of children will choose junk food like french fries over apple slices when given coupons for each of them. The number dropped only to 55 percent when parents encouraged children to choose the apple slices. But the desired reach does not stop at direct advertising and influence.
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A new children’s educational book has recently been launched by the Council for Biotechnology Information, educating young children on the ‘numerous benefits’ of genetically modified food. Of course genetically modified food has time and time again been shown to cause human and environmental harm, but still the attempt to brainwash young children is carelessly made. The advertising for such food is also heavily tied in with fast food, as virtually all fast food is constructed with genetically modified food and ingredients.
These are but only a few of the countless reasons to never ingest fast food.
Fast food kills, it shouldn't even be called food. Probably more nutrition in wet cardboard.
yeah, and taco bell meat is part wood pulp – yikes
Fast Food Nation was not a documentary.
I quit eating fast food during a period of time between the late '80s and early '90s. I must not be susceptible to advertising, because it just seemed to me that the stuff wasn't tasting very good anymore. I wasn't even very aware about it, it was more like "I feel like eating out—should I go to Hardee"s?"—and then I would think something like, "nah, that wasn't very good…" By the middle '90s, fast food was not a big part of my picture at all. Before I forget to mention it, I also must say that the service in those places got sloppier over time as well—I've never wanted to go somewhere where they would get my order wrong more than half the time, and some of those fast food places actually got it wrong that frequently.
Years went by, and I became more aware of nutrition. I realized that the time during which I tapered off from fast food was right after they started using vegetable oil for cooking french fries instead of lard or tallow—I suspect that that was the same period in which they started to use more additives than they formerly had, so the situation described in the article above became the norm.
This leaves me wondering what is wrong with most people that they can't sense that what they are eating is so bad for them, and allow advertising to dictate their diet…
yeah, but you cant beat the shelf life of fast food. 18 years and it still tastes like the day it was new
I had a friend some 20 years ago now, who was my swamper for me on my truck. Stopping for grub at less than savoury places is a norm…He swore up and down that "they" put something in the food to make it addictive. He never touched the stuff. I wouldn't ever even remotely call any fast food healthy, but I nievly (sp?) thought the govt would have rules in place already that wouldn't allow such nefarious practices. So wrong….
The quality of the food is only the tip of the iceburger. What about the cleanliness of the preparers and servers. There is intentional defilement of the product by disgruntled employees as well as unintentional, brought on by STD carriers and women on their periods handling food.
Eating out is as risky as Russian Roulette. All this before even considering that the average quick food is not as nourishing as the packaging it comes in.
A rich man was driving in the country, when he spotted several people eating weeds on the side of the road. He told his driver to pull over to see if he might be of help. Exiting his Rolls Royce he said, you poor people get into my car I detest seeing you in your poor conditions. They all piled in the Rolls. Thank you sir for your concern how could we ever repay you? Don't mention it, old boy, I've got a thousand acres of weeds you all can feast on till you are contented.
The thing with bad food is that it distorts the mind and creates a psychology of dumb downed- thats why its supported without question by Governments. People that have lost their mental and spiritual strength are easy to control.
Ten years ago when I was in Sicily I saw no fat people. None. In 2 weeks I had lost 10 pounds. I ate only healthy natural foods, no diet soda and lots of water. Plus I walked at least 7-8 miles a day.
So I asked one of the chefs what they ate and how they kept healthy. He said it's simple, plenty of fish, fruits and vegetables, wine and water. Even their desserts were not that sweet. I found that when I ate the food in Sicily I stayed full and had a satiety value that I didn't have from eating American food.
So the chef gave me a ton of recipes to cook at home.
When I got back to the USA I said I was not eating out for 90 days. I was cooking everything at home.
I lost 35 pounds and saved over $400. I was floored.
I no longer kept chips or sweets in my house. It's more difficult now as my husband has a sweet tooth. Some of the chips like cheese puffs I swear are like crack. You cannot stop eating them. That's why I cannot keep them in the house.
If we dine out both of us feel like crap for days. Now after reading this article we are definitely staying away from dining out. Both of us are committed to more of a raw diet. This article just convinced me that is the right idea.
I also want to point out that processed dinners and foods in the frozen food section and the canned foods sections of supermarkets are just as bad for you probably as are fast food "restaurant" foods are. I spent several years mainly eating frozen dinners (Night Hawk, Souffers, Chicken Pot Pies etc) and eating Hormel canned chili. I did not often eat fast food.
All of a sudden, literally, I started breaking out in hives after eating just about anything. At first I could see that natural yellow food dye, annato, as well as synthetic food dyes (Red # 40 etc)were the culprits, but soon it was clear that several other mystery ingredients were causing hives even when no dyes were listed on the label, as with Hormel Chili. The Hormel company would not tell me the full list of some of their composit ingredients and said that information was proprietary.
Anyway, a health writer friend told me I had "leaky gut syndrome" and I read up on that. Most MDs will not even recognize that condition as being real.
I got the condition from eating too much processed foods and almost no fresh fruits and vegetables.
I just thought I would share this info as fast food is not the only bad, low quality food that will make you sick. Most of the processed / prepared foods in the grocery story are just as bad.
I stipped eating fast food a couple of years ago (except for a tun sub from Subway) and if I didn't see a continuous stream of stupid ass commercials on TV I wouldn't miss it at all. And to think people in developing countries think they have become modern after the first golden arches goes up in their country is really sad.scary. The only thing I really miss is pizza….I will still order one every once in a while just because I love them…But Wendy's, Burger King, and Mc D's, et.al. are gone for good…….
This is a lifestyle choice for many. If you want to eat healthy food, it is entirely possible to pack a lunch made of your choices and go to work. I am surprised the financial incentive to do so hasn't spurred the masses into doing this type of activity because if they stopped for a minute and calculated how much they are spending on this swill and gruel, things might look more appealing. I have concluded that in a large part, it is simply the laziness attitude adopted by so many that would rather poison themselves with MickeyD's crappola than take the time to fix a sandwich and a side dish for lunch. I know that in my case, the folks I work with are perfectly capable and have the resources to do exactly that, but instead choose to indulge in feeding the corporate monster, while the monster slowly kills them, one burger, one fry, one giant high fructose soft drink at a time. I try to be sympathetic sometimes, but can't.
This is true, adults have a choice of what they consume and buy, but our kids sadly do not. A good example is a child on feb 14 or 15 went to school with a turkey and cheese sandwich. When he tried to eat it, however, the school said he couldn't because it wasn't heathy enough. So they made him throw their sandwich away,get in the lucnh line, and by chicken nuggets.
Hi Steve,
I can understand your scepticism, I actually have seen them, Brussels early morning, 4 walking in a park,changed back when they became aware of me.
Try getting up around 05:30 and walking in forest or parks. Even if you don't see one, it can only do you good.
If you do see them, no one will believe you.
did anyone ever stop to think WHY you can have a full meal in a container that you can microwave in 1 minute and it has a shelf life of 1 year with NO refrigeration at all????? ummmm. wouldn't touch it if i were starving. no, for me and my home, we eat ONLY homemade, made from scratch meals. most of which come from the garden, our butchering and the making of our own corn meal and flour. both of which come from the garden.
I have noticed this too as I clean-up my diet and get rid of the toxic food. I can actually taste the chemicals if I eat something bad now. It is hard to get people to believe the stuff that looks like food is actually not food at all.
Once when I was too poor to afford real food 3X daily, I substituted $1-burgers for one real meal a day.
Result: Weight gain, loss of initiative and general despondency. It just seemed like I had to work twice as hard to get anything accomplished. Sadly there are millions of people, especially kids, who are in this situation and who believe the lie that bad (fast food) is good (for you) even if they have the financial means to avoid it.
Hi, many nutritionists even question the need to eat 3x a day. We Americans eat entirely too much. Try skipping a full lunch a few times a week. One banana will do. After a few months reduce your breakfast to an apple or banana and a cup of coffee. I tried this and it works for me.
Another thing, I was reading the thoughts of a researcher who studies longevity – he
has convinced himself that the sensation of hunger was a GOOD thing. Of course you need your nutrition, so eat some fruit to get the full feeling. Good Luck…
This statement is the hard truth right here. Your body in a machine, an engine, when you put food into it, its like putting your foot on the gas peddle, your body is forced to work to process it. The more food you eat, the more miles your putting on yourself.
The key to longevity is to eat the absolute minimum required to sustain your body and lifestyle. The state of Hunger is our Natural condition, our ancestors were hunter gathers, eating small amounts, constantly on the move or working to eat. Hunger motivates you, small meals like a fruit, root or a palmfull of nuts or berries, 6x a day is old school eating right.
I went vegan in 1998 and will never go back. I feel healthier and have more energy. I drive by fast food restaurants and feel bad for the people that think they are getting any nourishment in those places.
For the past 3 months I have been on a health kick. My diet consists of NO fast food, no processed food (except some cheeses and pita bread.) I eat tons of vegetables, fruit, nuts, beans, lentils, fish and lean chicken and I have never felt better.
Three months ago, it was very typical of me to get an egg McMuffin for breakfast, a frozen “diet” meal for lunch and then for dinner I would often eat another fast food meal. It was killing me. I am in my mid-20’s and I am pretty. FAT, but pretty. I also have a lot of personal goals and I love doing outdoor activities, but my weight was keeping me from hiking, swimming, kayaking… all things that I used to love.
When I started my new eating habits (I refuse to call this a diet, because I have failed every other diet), I weighed 330 pounds. In only 3 months of green juicing, raw veggies and fruit, bowls and bowls of homemade lentil soup, water and green tea and the occasional oatmeal (the real stuff) and ZERO fast food, I have dropped almost 40 pounds.
Fast food is a killer. My body feels so wonderful. My husband and I hiked 3 miles the other day and felt so good. My house is cleaner because I have energy to clean even after a long day at work. ALSO, my period has come back. I am convinced that I was killing myself slowly. I am so excited to see my body transform even more.
Keep up the good work! Your results are your proof that you are on the right path~~
Good story. You've inspired me!
Fast food isn't healthy for anyone and its really there for people like myself that are to lazy to wake up and pack a lunch but if you look at most foods you buy at the grocery store they are no better for you than the steamed beef bi product burgers you get from anywhere what you eat is your choice so eat a burger from a fast food chain or a salad you made at home full of pesticides because society had made it to expensive to maintain a truly diet
And there's nothing we can do about it but eat what we as individuals choose to eat ourselves
never ever liked the KFC, McDonalds fast foods, l guess this article puts my doubts to rest cause the first time l had a burger from MacDonalds, it had this artificial obnoxious taste for a burger (patty) that made me throw it away there and that was it…
Even though my weight only goes up by ten pounds in the fall and comes back off every spring, I'm still cutting back on eating at fast food restaurants because of bad food combinations. Most of the time, I eat at Subway, or have a salad at BK, McDonald's, or Papa Gino's – or just a side of mashed potatoes and cole slaw at KFC. I found out that we've always been taught to eat foods in combinations that would cause them to ferment in our stomachs and also to eat them in exactly the opposite order that we should be. Supposedly, we should eat our fruit first, because it digests most quickly, followed by our non-starchy vegetables, then starchy vegetables, grains, beans/legumes, nuts and other fats, and meats and hard cheeses last. If we eat the foods that take longer to digest before the foods that digest more quickly, the faster digesting ones will just sit on top of the slower ones and ferment in our stomachs. I also noticed that when I ate proteins and starches in separate meals as "food combining" proponents recommend, my stomach settled down.
It makes sense, I get it. The FDA is passing crap food on us and telling us it's okay to eat. But when we try to choose raw milk for ourselves, they make it illegal. It's coorporate America !
One of the benefits of moving to S. Korea is there isn't a fast food joint every 100 yards. In the past 2 years We have eaten fast food about 5 or 6 times and that's more than enough. I have lost over 30 pounds and feel 20 years younger on the Korean diet. I recommend it to everyone. Koreans have an obesity rate of 3 1/2% the worlds lowest. God bless
Definitely agree that we should eat less fast food as a country. I think the biggest reason most of us resort to fast food places like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and the likes is that we don't have time to get food anywhere else. There is a solution, though! Food Trucks! Food trucks serve better food, serve MUCH healthier food, at a cheaper price, and are just as quick getting the food to you. For those of you who have negative preconceptions of food trucks, give them a try, I bet you're pleased.
Why even care what other people eat? We all know fast food is poison to the human body. Worry about what your family eats and not the rest of the world. People eat there by choice I would much rather go to the super market and by groceries than that crap they call food.
Part of being a decent human bring is caring for your fellow man. We could all use a little more unselfishness.
One reason why to care about what people eat is the more people you stop eating junk the less will get sick or die also here in the uk fat related illnesses are a burden on the health service.
I haven’t eaten fast food in awhile, but I ate a Wendy’s cheeseburger yesterday. It tasted like manure – not that I have tasted manure before. I regret it, but we were hurrying and my dad got it for us cause it was late. Never again.