Tuesday 14 May 2013

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Food

More than 13,000 McDonald's restaurants in the usa itself, and over 8000 KFCs in 80 countries, only would go to reflect the popularity of junk food all over the world. Food that is prepared and served quickly known as as 'fast food'. Such type of food suits perfectly in to the fast paced life of a working individual. There's nothing more than ready-made food that a hard-working professional residing in the city away from family could request. However, those who are against junk food highlight the adverse effect it has on our health.

Advantages of Junk food
The most evident advantage of junk food is that it saves time. In the current fast-paced life, there is nothing better than obtaining a ready meal. No matter how much the chefs praise the advantages of fresh food, at the end of a hard-working day, when one returns home all tired and hungry, a pizza or perhaps a burger can be godsend. Aside from the time an individual has to spend in the kitchen area, cooking a meal also requires someone to make a trip to the supermarket to purchase the ingredients for the dish. Then there's the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All of this makes eating fast food score more preferably over cooking meals for a busy individual.

Besides time, cost saving gives junk food an edge over the meal prepared in the kitchen area. If one lives alone, then it's cheaper to buy a meal in the supermarket instead of cooking it in your own home. Also certain fast foods like fries and burgers come relatively inexpensively.

Fast food does raise health issues. However, if careful, you'll find some options on the menu of the fast food restaurant that could be healthier. Salads really are a smart choice. Go for bread items that are made from wheat bread. Go for lean meat. If you could choose from the fried and boiled options, order the boiled preparation. Avoid ordering carbonic drinks when you're thirsty. Go for fruit juices, low-fat milk, diet soda. Can there be anything better than plain water to quench your thirst? Nowadays, nutrition information of the food served (and ingredients used) is displayed within the menu card. You could always lean towards the 'make to order' option that certain junk food outlets offer, where you could restrict using ingredients that are not healthy. As dessert doesn't play an important role in the junk food meal menu, you can keep yourself from delicious and tempting sugary dishes.

Disadvantages of Junk food
Usually, fast food is higher in soya, fat, sugar, oil, fried meat, salt, cheese, mayonnaise and clearly calories. The greatest disadvantage of junk food is the adverse effect it has on one's health. It's true that fast food is more unhealthy than home-cooked meals, because it contains higher amounts of unwanted nutrients like salt, fat as well as other types of additives. It might contain harmful bacteria too. Frying destroys the majority of the essential nutrients from the food. Really small amounts of vegetables and fruits are normally contained in fast food. Moreover, 'serving larger portions' when many people don't need extra portions has resulted in several health problems. We need a small amount of salt to maintain the healthiness of the cells and tissues. Junk food being rich in salt, adversely affects the center health and the overall health of the individual. Such type of food is an essential contributor to obesity in the American population. Obesity is rising, and a direct link has been cited between fast food and obesity in youngsters.

Given the sedentary lifestyle that people lead today, the excess fats and calories that people take in with fast food sits dormant up completely. The result is that these accumulate within our body as fat deposits that create complications like cardiovascular diseases and other associated diseases of the heart. With obesity come other issues like high blood pressure and diseases from the joints. It is like a chain reaction trigger by fast food and carried forward by our unhealthy lifestyle. Actually, a recent study has shown that people who live within easy reach of a fast food restaurant are in 13% higher risk of suffering from strokes compared to those who live a considerable distance away.

The higher the number of people at a meal inside a fast food restaurant, the larger may be the bill. Eating at junk food outlets is economical just for a single person. Going out to a fast food eating joint with family every now and then won't matter much. However, frequent appointments with such restaurants with one's family may become quite an expensive affair, besides being unhealthy.

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