The
Dangers of Fast Food
By:
Michael Pontisakos
Endemic corpulence.
Morbid obesity. Is this what we think about when we look at America's past with
its pioneers, its daring revolutionaries and its hardworking self-sacrificing
immigrants? Is our Manifest Destiny addiction to fast food with sclerotic
bodies and lifestyles? All Americans should be more careful with what they eat.
One in four Americans go
to a fast food restaurant at least three times a week. This could cause
obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and
stroke. Most Americans get more than half of their calories from processed
foods. These foods contain 90% of America’s added sugar intake.
According to a study by
the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Institutes of
Health, “The increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods
with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with reduced physical
activity, have led to high obesity rates among children. It was observed that
72.5% of the overweight or obese students [ in the study ] consumed fast food
at least 4 times/week.” Adding to this problem is the fact that it takes a long
time burn off the calories of many processed fast foods. According to Chris
Muir, co-founder of Caliber Fitness, it takes a man 53 minutes of
weightlifting, and a woman 64 minutes, to burn a large order of McFries at
McDonald’s and a man 57 minutes and the woman 68 minutes to burn off the
calories of a Big Mac. It takes 64 minutes for a man to burn off three pieces
of KFC chicken; for a woman it will take her 101 minutes. He also claims that
it takes 16 minutes for a man and 19 minutes for a woman to burn off just one
330ml can of Coca-Cola.
McDonald’s designs food
to target the opioid receptors, which are distributed widely in the brain,
spinal cord, peripheral neurons, and the digestive tract in order to get the
average person's mind to want more. This works almost like the addictive
effects of nicotine in smoking or using drugs. Once people start eating junk
food, they become dependent. In the short term people can become sick, tired
and overweight.
The evidence is clear;
all Americans should be more careful with what they eat. Frequent trips to
McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s and similar eateries may prove
to sabotage your health.
our writing was very good and engaging,but I did not agree with all of your claim. When you stated that if you go to a fast food restaurant at least 4 times a week I will have some health problems on the track of life, but I am very healthy and DO go to fast food restaurants at least 4 times a week.
ReplyDeleteone thing I like about this writing piece is all the data that's included.It helps me understand more things about this writing piece.I also get what your trying to say with the data,And I completely agree most kids or teens are overweight or obese "The increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with reduced physical activity, have led to high obesity rates among children" you see kids who are obese get less of the physical activity the need which leaves them obese for a while.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your introduction. This really made me think about the dangers of eating fast-food regularly. This engaged me and made me want to read more of your editorial. I agree with your claim that fast-food is unhealthy when eaten more than 3 times a week. Medical News Today has said that a person who eats fast food will be "more likely they are to eat more calories than necessary." This is because the food contains many carbohydrates making the body not feel full and wanting to consume more food, raising the amount of calorie intake.
I like how you support your claim by, stating percentages and facts of why Fast Food can be bad for you! One thing I do not agree with is how fast food can affect your health extremely if you have it consistently for 4 weeks! Nothing can really affect your health in 4 weeks. It takes more time. Yes it is unhealthy but in order for it to affect your health you would have to eat it for about 2 to 4 months without having any other kind of healthy food like, Vegetables, Fruits, and Meats. But overall I do agree with you Fast Food is bad for you! I really enjoy your editorial Michael! -Troy
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good editorial, I like how much information you used to help us understand the effects of eating fast-food. I do agree with you that fast-food is unhealthy when you eat it regularly but I also feel that even when you don't eat it too much it can still affect you in some way like being tired or feeling sick. Studies show that if you keep to the 80:20 diet (eat healthy food 80% of the time and you can eat less-healthy 20% of the time) you can enjoy some fast-food while staying healthy, but if you eat fast-food a lot you can develop long-term effects like obesity, depression, digestive issues, heart disease, early death, and many more conditions. Even just a few days with junk-food can change metabolism.
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