Big Mac Heart Attack
What makes "unhealthy foods" unhealthy?
What is Health?
- The state of being free from illness or injury: "he was restored to health"; "a health risk".
- A person's mental or physical condition. (Google Define)
General health can be affected by a number of things; disease, injuries, exercise or in this case eating habits. Eating habits are by far the largest portion of your health YOU CONTROL!
HEALTH IS RELATIVE.
Why is fast food unhealthy?
Why are these Ingredients unhealthy?
Bleached White Flour- Bleached white flour is usually stripped of nutrients and fiber and adds little value to our diets.
One of the most used ingredients is bleached white flour, which is flour that goes through refining processes which strip a majority of the nutrients, including half of the beneficial fatty acids, almost all of the vitamin E (dissolving fat), 50% of the calcium, 70% of the phosphorus, 80% of the iron, 98% of the magnesium, and 50%-80% of the B vitamins while causing the flour to look more appealing when added with other ingredients to make the breading for chicken nuggets, or the bun for a hamburger.
When modified, the flour is mixed with the chemical alloxan, which causes the white appearance. Scientists have proven that alloxan deteriorates the cells in the pancreas, causing diabetes. Therefore consuming enriched white flour can increase a persons chances of developing diabetes.
High Fructose Corn Syrup- This ingredient is found in most processed foods, including lunch meats, and has no nutritional value. It has also been linked to increase risks of type 2 diabetes, and over consumption can be damaging to our livers.
High fructose corn syrup is found in almost all artificially created food products as a form of glucose. The problem with high fructose corn syrup is that it has no nutritional value, and by ingesting high fructose corn syrup, scientists have found that people are more likely to have a high levels of blood uric acid, which can block the action of insulin, or the hormone that regulates how body cells store and use the sugar they need for energy. When the sugar is not being stored or used properly, we begin to see the symptoms of diabetes.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils- Which are often found in cake mixes, peanut butter and baked goods can decrease good cholesterol levels, are linked to heart disease and are hard for the body to dissolve.
It is used for as the oil to cook french fries. Using hydrogenated oils is proven to cause cancer, diabetes, and obesity because the process that makes oils hydrogenated, causes the trans fats within the oil to become toxic for our cell membranes. When cells contain an abundance of these trans fats, the cell membranes are not able to function properly and allow substances to pass in and out of the cells uncontrollably. This can lead to mineral and vitamin deficiency.
Healthy Alternatives
Bleached White Flour ---> Whole Wheat Flour
Whole wheat flour contains high amount of nutrients: iron, magnesium, calcium
helps lower the blood cholesterol, blood sugar levels, slows down digestion (makes us feel full faster)
High Fructose Corn Syrup:
---> Sucanant
Processed sugar is typically sugar removed from molasses. Sucanant is sugar and molasses still together which leaves a lot of the vitamins and minerals from the sugar cane still intact.
--->Stevia
Stevia comes from herbal plants which causes it not to raise insulin levels. However if you are hypoglycemic, Stevia will actually lower your blood sugar.
Partially Hydrogenated Oils:
---> If you CAN avoid, try substituting it for Z-Trim, a fat substance that comes from corn & soy or Oatrim which comes from oats. These both taste and act like facts while eating but during digestion act more like fibers.
---> If you CAN NOT avoid, choose liquid vegetable oils or tub margarine. These will both contains less trans fat. When at restaurants, try choosing something fresh that is not fried but grilled or baked.
The Restaurant's Mission
Restaurants and food processing companies use these ingredients to give their food a longer shelf life, make their food look more appealing to the consumer, and because it is cheaper on their part. With today’s economy, fast food sells like crazy because it is so cheap and as the name denotes, quick. On a good day, you can be in and out of a drive through in less than 5 minutes, rather than slaving in the kitchen over a home cooked meal that could take an hour to prepare.
It's your choice to make...
With more and more of us consuming excessive calories of artificial flavorings and sodium nitrate, we are setting ourselves up for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and dying twenty years before our time is up. All of these artificial ingredients clog our arteries, and make our body not function the way it should. With diseases like diabetes, that are directly related to our diets, these medical problems can be passed down from generation to generation. Your choices now affect not only you, but your kids, and all future generations.
Sources
Sources
Adams, C. F., & Richardson, M. (1981). Nutritive value of foods ([Rev. Apr. 1981.] ed.). Washington, D.C.?: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration :.
Adams, M. (n.d.). How partially-hydrogenated oils and trans fats destroy your health. Natural health news. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://www.naturalnews.com/027445_fat_fats_trans.html
Harris, W. (n.d.). TLC Cooking "Top 10 Most Common Ingredients in Fast Food". TLC Cooking "Food and Recipes". Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/10-ingredients-fast-food1.htm
Mercola, D. (n.d.). The Little-Known Secrets about Bleached Flour.... Natural Health Articles - Latest and Current Health News and Information by Dr. Mercola. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/26/The-Little-Known-Secrets-about-Bleached-Flour.aspx
The mechanism of alloxan and streptozotocin acti... [Physiol Res. 2001] - PubMed - NCBI. (n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11829314