For a large population living in urban, suburban, and metro cities, who live a fast-paced life and run on tight schedules, fast food is a convenient food choice and replacing home-cooked meals with them an easy option. In fact, junk food has become a part of their daily diet; it also does not help that fast food is much more cheaper than real and organic food. What’s more – you can get such food at your doorsteps, without even having to step outside. Since cooking at home needs a bit of planning and prep, we cite lack of time to eat out at fast food joints and get them ordered from food-delivery apps. We all know junk food/fast food is not good for health, but having fast food regularly is also the fastest way to gain weight, and we are not even talking about the amount of calories in them. Shocked? Read about 8 surprising ways fast food can make you obese, read all about them here:
1. Causes Sharp Blood Sugar Spikes: Fast food is largely made of empty calories that cause rise in blood sugar and sharp insulin spike in response to that. Insulin, is a hormone which not only regulates blood sugar levels, it also encourages conversion of extra calories into body fat, particularly around the belly area.
2. Increases the Risk of Insulin Resistance: Taking further from the above point, frequent insulin spikes caused by empty calories and high sugar from fast food can increase the risk of insulin resistance. As we have mentioned earlier, insulin triggers fat storage in the body. When the body becomes insulin resistant, cells stop responding to insulin’s efforts and stop accepting glucose from the bloodstream. When you eat a lot of refined carbs, especially refined flour (maida, pastas/cookies etc.) or sugary substances (pastries/cakes/cold drinks), it triggers release of insulin from the pancreas. When there is an excess amount of calories and glucose in the blood stream, it gets converted into glycogen and gets stored in liver and muscle cells. Once this storage is full, insulin converts glucose into fat and stores them by creating new fat cells. It also encourages our bodies to hold onto this fat, putting it on “lockdown mode” and thus discourage fat burning. The biggest benefit of cutting down refined carbs and sugar is weight loss!
3. It Affects Digestive System: Fast food has loads of empty calories with little to no nutritional value, with zero fiber content. Fiber slows down the digestion process and also keeps one fuller for longer. Fiber is also necessary to keep the healthy bacteria that help to run the digestion process happy. When your digestive system breaks down food that lacks fiber, blood sugar rises sharply, which in turn triggers insulin spikes. Eating junk food on a daily basis can lead to insulin resistance and push you to being a pre-diabetic and from there, the journey to being a diabetic is very quick. Frequent consumption of refined carbs can spike up your in your blood sugar levels which can cause insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and rapid weight gain.
4. High Sodium Content: The food that you picked up from your nearest fast food joint may not taste that salty, but mind you, it’s may be full of sodium. We often underestimate the amount of sodium in fast food and junk meals. That fast food meal that you ordered may have a combination of sugar, fat and lots of sodium (salt) and is the reason why fast food tastes a lot better than home-cooked food. High sodium content will cause water retention, make you feel heavy, puffy, and bloated. A diet that contains too much sodium is also completely not advisable for people with high blood pressure. Sodium can increase blood pressure and stress on heart and cardiovascular system.
5. Too much Sugar and Sodium Content: Did you know that most fast-food meals have hidden sugar and sodium content in them. They come loaded with calories and provide little to zero nutrition. As it is clear by now, too much sugar and sodium in the daily diet will lead to rapid weight gain.
6. Transfat in Fast Food Builds Belly Fat: Not only does consuming food with transfat raise bad cholesterol, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, transfat is a complete no-no for people who want to lose belly fat because it can actually mobilize fat from other areas of the body to the belly area! Transfat is artificially made from vegetable oils by a process called hydrogenation where hydrogen molecules are added to the oil. This is done to increase the shelf life of the oil, to solidy the oil, and make it more appetizing and suitable for frying. Transfat is commonly found in French fries, pastries, pizza, crackers, cookies, biscuits, and baked foods, not to mention in fast food. Please go through this list of “15 Transfat Food Items you should Avoid to Lose Weight Effectively.”
7. Seed Oil used Raises Inflammation: A recent study has revealed that fast food elicits a response similar to bacterial infection in the body, especially those made with unhealthy seed oils. Regular consumption of fast food would also weaken your immune system. Scientists say that junk/fast food with high sugar, salt, unhealthy fats raise inflammation in the body, just like a bad bacterial infection! Chronic inflammation triggers insulin resistance, causes leptin impairment, and also increases the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes as well.
8. Effects Reproductive System: The ingredients in junk food and fast food may have an adverse effect on your fertility. According to a study, it was found that fast food have a high amount of phthalates and mono sodium glutamate. Phthalates and MSG can interrupt and play havoc with hormones in your body, and hormonal imbalances cause weight gain. Such chemicals can lead to infertility and birth defects in progeny.
Additionally, too much fast food can cause skin issues – from acne to textural irregularities. If you want clear and healthy skin, you should probably not even touch fast food. Healthy food would give nutrition to your body, skin and hair. The food that you consume is responsible for your skin’s health. Food rich in carbs leads to blood sugar spikes, and these sudden changes in blood sugar levels can trigger acne. If you really want to stay away from acne, avoid junk and fast food.
We are not against fast food, occasional indulgence is okay, but making it a part of daily diet is not at all okay. Hope this article helps you to stay fit and healthy. And if weight loss is on your mind, the most effective way to lose weight is by following the Rati Beauty diet. Download the Rati Beauty app for more details.
12 Eating Habits That Increase Inflammation and Prevent Weight Loss
15 Transfat Food Items you should Avoid to Lose Weight Effectively
Source: Makeupandbeauty
