and promote a healthy lifestyle!
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Monday, April 16, 2007
Oh my goodness. I just found out some really scary facts while surfing on Google. Everyone knows that fast food is extremely unhealthy, right? Yet fast food restuarants like McDonalds, KFC and Burger King remain so ever-crowded. Why is this so?
Fast food restaurants market their products very well. The advertisements of the company is very attractive to all nowadays. Especially those with the digital effects, enhancing the appearance of the food, thus make people crave for it. Not to forget, the convenience of fast food make it an apt choice for people in a hurry. Some outlets even have drive-in counter for busy people to take-away and grab a quick bite.
Even children as young as 5 to 6 years old like fast food. Take McDonalds for example, the famous Happy Meal is appealing to many young children as it comes with their favourite cartoon character toy. More than often, it is the parents who bring their young children to have meals at these restaurants. Shouldn't it be them who is discouraging the adolescents from eating such unhealthy food?
Now is the time to let them know the real danger of fast food.
Eating frequent fast food meals causes teens and young adults to gain more weight and face an increased risk of developing insulin resistance according to the results of a study funded by the National Heart,Lung, and Blood Institute(NHLBI) and published in the January 1, 2005 issue of The Lancet.
For some, you may be wondering what is insulin? Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas. It is neccessary to move sugar from the blood into other body tissues where it is needed for energy. Insulin also helps the body to metabolize (process) carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from the diet.
After 15 years, those who ate at fast-food restaurants more than twice each week compared to less than once a week had gained an extra ten pounds and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance, a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a major risk factor for heart disease.
Diabetes is nothing to joke with. A person who is diabetic has little or no insulin because the immune system — which normally fights harmful bacteria or viruses — has attacked and destroyed the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
There are many complications associated with diabetes, both long and short term.
Short-term complications, such as low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and a high level of ketones in your urine (diabetic ketoacidosis), require immediate care. If left untreated, these conditions can cause seizures and loss of consciousness (coma).
Long-term complications — blindness, kidney failure and nerve and blood vessel damage, for example — develop gradually and may be disabling or even life-threatening.
Besides increasing the chances of getting diabetes, fast food leads to obesity as well.
According to the nutritionists at the Medical Research Council, fast foods not only contain many more calories than traditional foods but that they are also likely to undermine normal appetite control systems. A typical fast food meal has a very high energy density of around 1100 kJ per 100 grams - 65 percent higher than the average British diet and twice as high as recommended healthy diets.
Obesity means having too much body fat. It is different from being overweight, which means weighing too much. Obesity occurs over time when you eat more calories than you use. The balance between calories-in and calories-out differs for each person. Factors that might tip the balance include your genetic makeup, overeating, eating high-fat foods and not being physically active.
If you're obese, you're more likely to develop a number of potentially serious health problems. These may include high blood pressure, diabetes (as mentioned), abnormal blood fats, coronary artery disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, cancer, fatty liver disease and gallbladder disease.
To find out more about each health problems related to obesity, visit
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=6It really freaked me out after i read all the possible complications. I swear I'm going to abstain from fast food for at least half a year!
Now we know the harmful effects of fast food, so please, avoid it
as much as possible! Also, exercise would help reduce the effects of obesity. SO START WOKRING OUT NOW!!
Credits: http://womenshealth.about.com/od/girlshealth101/a/fastfoodteenwei.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682611.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/DA99999
