Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The effect of fast food on health
Fast food effects on health essay
Fast food effects on health essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The effect of fast food on health
“Grab and Go!” shimmer windows of many fast food restaurants in the new XXI century. “It is really comfortable and it saves time”, my old neighbor whispers to me as a secret. “Today is my birthday! Let’s go to McDonalds and order cheese hamburgers and fries!” – My niece is screaming with delight in her face. Finally, really big hamburger appears in TV screen during commercial and looking juicy with fresh green salads forcing every one of us to feel hungry. However, fast food restaurants serve not only food lacking of vitamins and nonnutritive value, but also are responsible for endangered species, biodiversity reduction, worsening human’s health, and risk to run out of natural food and medicine sources that can lead to human’s extinction. So, eating more different food and saying “No!” to the fast food, can be the solution of how to stay healthier, to live longer preserving biodiversity, natural food and medicine resources for our future generations. Even tough we try to simplify our lives eating faster, but our own bodies require biodiversity, otherwise they response us negatively. To produce fries or potato chips, are used mainly russet potatoes; however there can be used more kinds of potatoes that each of them contains different nutritional elements that effect metabolism positively. It seems that our ancestries fed more differently and nowadays human makes his life simpler not considering his health. As for diet and health, throughout history it is estimated that human beings have used more than 10,000 edible plant species, but now barely 150 are grown for the human diet. Most people live off no more than 12 species. Doctors recommend a much wider variety of food for good health (Hiramoto 35-37). As it seems, not only hum... ... middle of paper ... ...on of aflatoxin B1 in maize and barley as analytical quality assessment." Food Chemistry 113.2 (15 Mar. 2008): 629-634. Hiramoto, Meriel.”Asahi Evening News.“”Diversity in Diet Helps Preserve Species.” Global Oulook High Intermediate Reading. Ed. Brenda Bushell and Brenda Dyer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. 35-37. Raloff, Janet. "Americans eat faster, and more." Science News 165.24 (12 June 2004): 381-382. ROSENTHAL, ELISABETH. "Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs." New York Times (24 Sep. 2008). Rydell, Sarah A., et al. "Why Eat at Fast-Food Restaurants: Reported Reasons among Frequent Consumers." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108.12 (Dec. 2008): 2066-2070 Sass, Cynthia A. "The Worst Diet for Your Heart." Prevention 60.4 (Apr. 2008): 78-78. Smith, M. "Climate change and your health." Australian Nursing Journal 4.3 (Sep. 1996): 20-23.
Andrew F. Smith once said, “Eating at fast food outlets and other restaurants is simply a manifestation of the commodification of time coupled with the relatively low value many Americans have placed on the food they eat”. In the non-fiction book, “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser, the author had first-hand experiences on the aspects of fast food and conveyed that it has changed agriculture that we today did not have noticed. We eat fast food everyday and it has become an addiction that regards many non-beneficial factors to our health. Imagine the wealthy plains of grass and a farm that raises barn animals and made contributions to our daily consumptions. Have you ever wonder what the meatpacking companies and slaughterhouses had done to the meat that you eat everyday? Do you really believe that the magnificent aroma of your patties and hamburgers are actually from the burger? Wake up! The natural products that derive from farms are being tampered by the greed of America and their tactics are deceiving our perspectives on today’s agricultural industries. The growth of fast food has changed the face of farming and ranching, slaughterhouses and meatpacking, nutrition and health, and even food tastes gradually as time elapsed.
Pollan, M. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York. Random. 2006. Print
In the United States where heart disease is the number one killer, Americans should instead start looking at what they are eating for the sake of their health. The word obesity has hurt so many people due to the amount of processed foods that they are taking in which composes of lots of fat and high amounts of sodium which is notorious for heart disease. Pollan says “Eat food, Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Theories are wide and lasting: overabundances or deficiencies of certain nutrients; industrial processing; environmental issues; the Western world’s implementation on the raising of crops and cattle; just to name a few. In the end however, as Pollan put it, “they are only theories…of an empirical phenomenon” and thus, should be viewed as such. Whatever the reason for our diet being as insalubrious as it may be, one thing is clear, at least in Pollan’s mind: we need to “stop eating a Western diet.”
Advertising for fast food disproportionately targets children, obesity rates are going up, there are labs dedicated to creating food flavors, and the cleanliness of the restaurants where the food itself is served is questionable. The negative impacts the fast food industry has on the world have their roots in biology. The taste of the food is engineered to appeal to our taste buds, and after the access to fast food increased, our bodies began to crave it. Clearly, the fast food industry must undergo significant change to ensure its impact on the world is a positive one. It’s imperative that this change must be made within the near future, should the mass consumption of unsanitary food be prevented, and ensure that cheap food is somewhat
Food is a necessity in our lives; it provides us our basic biological needs; however, when it is misused it can be deadly. This is a problem faced in many western societies because the people of these societies prefer the processed fast food, over healthy foods. Over consumption of these fast foods can make consumers ill, obese, and can possibly shorten their lifespan. Many people in these societies believe the scapegoat is the diet itself, refusing to believe there are many other factors that contribute to the problem; however, there are many factors that come into play such as culture, personal responsibility, and a parsimonious food industries.
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
Every month, at least ninety percent of Americans visit a fast food restaurant and about forty- five percent of them make it a weekly occurrence. These statistics make it safe to say Americans are obsessed with fast food, but why are Americans addicted to these restaurants? Is it the low prices, quick service or the taste of the food? According to Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side off the All-American Meal, he believes “It’s easy, it's filling, and it's convenient and inexpensive.” Therefore, the consumption of fast food is now directly correlated to the obesity epidemic in America. Consequently, the recent obesity increase in the United States has labeled America the fattest country.
Nevertheless, some people insist that fast foods, such as chips, hamburgers and fizzy drinks, that are so cheap and tasty, are not a consequence of the health problems. However, I strongly disagree that fast food has no bad impact on people’s health. I believe that fast food has a negative impact on society and, therefore, people must take care of themselves and lead a healthy lifestyle if they do not want to face serious problems with their
Nutrition is a basic necessity of life. Without a proper and well-balanced diet, it is difficult for any being, regardless of species, to survive. Unlike that of primates such as the great apes, the human diet is more full of calories and nutrients. Humans have a great understanding of what types of food are necessary to maintain good health. It is difficult to tell when the eating habits of Homo sapiens split apart from the eating habits of these other primates. Yet, one fact is certain. As human evolution continues to progress, the human diet also continues to evolve.
Obesity rates have been steadily rising for the past 50 years (Fryar, Carroll & Ogden, 2012), alongside the rise in fast food restaurants in the United States. An obese person is clinically defined as a person has too much body fat and a Body Mass Index (BMI) that exceeds 30. Fast food restaurants are identified as businesses that serve food quickly and easily to their customers. The content of most popular fast foods is generally known to be unhealthy but it does not deter the choice of people in consuming them, as shown by the study conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (Dahl, 2013). Furthermore, an external opinion by Madeline Fernstorm, NBC News Diet and Health editor asserts that, “...consumers choose taste, value, and convenience over nutrient density and controlled calories,". The decisions made by consumers on their fast food consumption are conscious, taking away the blame from restaurateurs and shifting it to the consumers.
A surprising fact is that most of the corn we produce in the United States is not actually eaten. In 2008 the United States produced a total of 12.1 million bushels of maize. Of that 5.2 million was used as livestock feed, 3.6 million for ethanol production, 1.8 million for exporting, .9 million for production of starch, sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, and oils, and finally .3 million for human consumption in grits, flour, alcohol, etc.
Each individual in America has a goal he or she wants to accomplish. Whether it’s to purchase a new car or a huge home, it’s a goal wanted to be reached. However with the amount of fast food that Americans eat today, they will have a hard time accomplishing these goals because of the obesity or even disease they’ll have from the fast food. One major fast food that we like to eat while on the go is hamburgers. If it’s breakfast we grab a burger, if it’s lunch we grab a burger and even when it’s dinner we will grab a burger and might throw in some fires and a huge soda to go with it. Hamburgers are one of the leading causes of obesity and disease catching food.
Vandermeer, J. & Perfecto, I. Breakfast of Biodiversity. The Institute for Food and Development Policy: Oakland, CA, 1995.
Subway has just become the biggest fast food franchise in the United States. They advertise a healthy menu full of all natural ingredients. However a recent experiment by the Journal of Adolescent Health found people consume almost the same amount of calories at Subway as McDonalds (Lesser). Subway is not the only fast food advertising healthy options however. Despite the unhealthiness of fast food, these chains do offer some benefits. Natalie Stein,a writer for the live strong foundation, who focuses on weight loss and sports nutrition points out some crucial benefits of fast food. Stein acknowledges the convince of fast food in her article “What Are the Benefits of Fast Food?” She believes that having fast food restaurants on almost every corner is a good thing. This might be a good thing to some people, but what is too much? The conveyance of fast food chains has driven out grocery stores and ruined a chance at a healthy diet. With obesity growing in the United States maybe it’s time to rethink the actual conveyance of fast