WHAT IS

FAST FOOD ?

 Food that can be prepared and served quickly

 It can come from many places: sit-down restaurants ,
counter service , take-out drive-thru and delivery .

 Example :
 WHY IT IS
POPULAR ?

 Inexpensive.
 Conveniet.
 Tastes Good.
Due to following reasons , people prefer fast food over
homemade nutritious diet :

i. Time: People are addicted to eat fast food in spite of knowing its harmful
effects because it is easy to prepare and can be consumed very quickly.
It saves a lot of time and as it is cooked in oil and contains sugar and salt,
is added it to its taste. We eat it while going for job or when we do not
want to cook or while watching movies etc.

ii. Taste: Moreover not only time but also its taste because of salt , sugar
and oil, people prefer it.

iii. Fast foods like chips and biscuits etc do not require to be refrigated and
can be put on shell. So it has more shelf life.

iv. Fast food packing is so simple that it could be transported from one
place to another easily and hustles free as compared to perishable
foods.

v. Fast foods are cheap as compared to homemade food.

 THE
It is often made INGREDIENTS
with cheaper
ingredients such
as…

 Sugar
 Fat
 Monosodium
Glutamate (MSG)
 Colouring

These ingredients are not good for our health. Why ?

i. Eating too much sugar can cause serious health issues and is linked to
an increased risk of diabetes , cardiovascular disease & obesity.
ii. Consuming foods that are high in sodium on a regular basis has been
linked to increased rates of high blood pressure , diabetes & kidney
disease.
iii. High in Fat Content: Hard to digest which results in overweight leading
to obesity.
Harmful Effects of Fast Food :

i. Obesity: When people are having excess fat or weight, then person is
termed as obese and is suffering from obesity. It is a global problem.
Based on the research it is found that 33% of the people in the US are
suffering from it. Medically normal body mass indes should be between
20-25. But when it is more than it person is termed as overweight. But
when person has BM I of 30 or more than he is suffering from Obesity.
All this is caused because of trans fat in the fast food.
ii. Diabetes: Fast food contains high amount of sugar as a result of it
people could suffer from it.
iii. Hypertension: High amount of salt is present in fast food. As a result of
that when people consume fast food it increase the blood pressure of
the body. Excessive amount of salt in body could lead to hypertension,
which could trigger many other problems related to the heart and
obesity is also a cause of it.
iv. Heart Problems: Fast food fats get clotted in the heart arteries which
could increase the chances of heart attack. It takes more time to treat it
and is medically expensive.
v. Cavities: The junk food gets accumulated on tooth spaces as a result of
that it forms plague and ultimately causes cavities. This is quite popular
among children.

- It could also trigger kidney diseases related to renal or polyuria because

of salt and sugar present in junk food
- Fast food contains artificial flavors and preservatives which could cause
asthma.
- Fast food is prepared with lot of additives and chemicals and some
people can get allergic to it and it cause skin problems like rashes etc.

- Overweight people could suffer from digestive cancers as well.

- Moreover the fast foods makers do not do anything for healthy living
and people could also suffer from digestive problems like food poisoning
etc.
Reasons to avoid Fast Foods :

i. Lack of energy: In order to remain healthy body requires vitamins ,

minerals , proteins etc but fast foods lacks all these which leads to
weakness in people.
ii. Poor Concentration: This is also caused result of fast food. Some people
eat a lot and because of that there is lack of oxygen , nutrients which
makes people dowsy and other problems.
iii. High Cholesterol: It causes heart problems as it blocks the persons
arteries. It is not limited to it and also affects liver where it is
metabolized. It permanently damages it.
iv. Heart Diseases : It is major cause of it because arteries gets blocked
because of plague formation as a result of that heart needs to put extra
effort to pump blood. But it causes lack of blood in heart and triggers
heart attacks.
v. Low nutritional Value: If you want to give a rating regarding the
nutritional value then it will be 1 out of 10. When we make fast food
nutritional is lost so they add syntactic nutrients to it in order to
compensate which causes many diseases and effect our health
adversely.
vi. Addictive: Salt and sugar are added to make the food tasty but they are
highly addictive as it simulates receptors in the brain and people feel
goods because the dopamine levels increases as a result of this.
vii. Many chemicals like MSG , artificial colors etc are added to prepare fast
food. Medical report states that MSG causes obesity. Similarly fast foods
are canned and free zed as a result of that it loose flavor so chemicals
are added for flavors but it affects our health.
 THE KEY TO A
HEALTHY
DIET

o Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

o Cut down on saturated fat and sugar.
o Eat less salt: no more than 6g a day for adults
o Choose a variety of lean protein foods.
o Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
o Do not skip breakfast.
o Be active.
So , here is some advice on how to keep your body healthy :
NURRUL’ AIN BINTI ISHAK