French fries, pizza, hamburgers, tacos, hot dogs….YUMMMMMM…..!! Yes, I know you might want to just go out and grab something to eat right now. But hold on..! Don’t you have homemade food sitting right inside your bag? O yea… fast foods are more delicious than boring homemade food. But what about the Calories??
In today’s fast life consumption of food outside of home has risen alarmingly. It is well known that eating out may lead to excess calorie intake and increase the risk of obesity. Obesity is combined result of excessive food energy intake and lack of physical activity. It is a medical condition caused when excess body fat accumulates effecting health in a negative way leading to premature deaths and/or several long term health conditions and illness including diabetes-type two, heart disease, and fatty liver. Fast food falls in the category of foods that are typically-
- high in calories
- high in fat
- high in saturated and trans fat
- high in sugar
- high in simple carbohydrates
- high in sodium (salt)
An average person requires 2000-2500 calories per day (active lifestyle). Fast food or ‘junk foods’ are loaded with calories. For example; KFC chicken pot pie has 790 calories. If you eat that and drink 300 ml of Pepsi, which contain 170 calories, you will have a total of 960 calories (just 1 meal).Think that if you eat 220 calories each time it will take no time for you to gain excess weight.
Most of these foods contain high levels of saturated fat. Increased amount of saturated fat increases bad cholesterol levels in blood. High level of cholesterol is the main cause of heart attacks. Other type of fat found in junk foods is Trans-fat, which is the worst type of fat.
Agreed. We need to consume some amount of sodium every day; however, intake of too much salt is bad for the body. An average adult need to consume about 1200 mg sodium per day. But these junk foods contain way too much than that.
Fast food is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic.
Maintaining a healthy weight for a lifetime involves balancing the number of calories consumed with the number of calories the body uses or “burns off.”
STAY HEALTHY. EAT RIGHT.
– Harshali Amin
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