Do we really know what were putting into our bodies, when we eat fast food. What is fast food really made of? What potential health risks do we face when we eat fast food? Fast food is simply bad for your health and something needs to be done, in order to make it healthy for those who enjoy fast food, because fast food is known to cause health problems. Due to the fact that fast food isn’t natural, has a lot of added ingredients, and it is far from fresh. An article from the very well known even a healthy meal from Mc Donald’s isn’t even healthy like their crispy chicken salad has about the same calories as a Big Mac. The effects of eating fast food on a regular basis is bound to catch up to you, and some of those effects are diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol, and nevertheless obesity. One way to simply avoid these effects is to not eat fast food or to eat it in moderation.
All the ingredients in fast food. States that most of the ingredients in fast food we’ve never even heard of but we still eat it anyways. Like one of the ingredients in some fast food place’s chicken nuggets is a chemical preservative called Tertiary Butyl Hydroquinone which is derived from petroleum, which is used in cars. Also most employees don’t get training on proper food safety so therefore they possibly could be preparing your meal without washing their hands. And fast food is filled with trans fat which talks about fast food from every corner. States that the reason why fast food is so popular is because its inexpensive and widely available. Making something less healthy is almost impossible because we have no control over how the food is cooked therefore if the fast food place wants to cook the food in plenty of butter they have that right. And since fast food is filled with fat, sodium, and sugar people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease have to be extra careful when it comes to eating fast food. Some solutions for healthier eating is to eat at fast food places that offer vegetables, or make better decisions when ordering like ordering something with fewer calories. The main reasons why now more than ever fast food is becoming a health issue has to do with more people eating it. According to the book Fast Food Nation, “A generation ago, three-quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants--mainly at fast food restaurants” (Schlosser 4). And that has to do with the way its marketed, availability, and price. You can’t watch TV without seeing some sort of fast food commercial which advertises their latest cool invention or drive and not see a fast food billboard. And one of the main targets of fast food, is children who can convince their parents to take them to get fast food because of what the happy meal comes with, or because they want to play in the playground. “Unfortunately many kids are introduced to fast food at a young age and continue to consume it as they grow up” (Bill). Because kids are introduced to fast food at such a young age they face the risk of becoming obese, due to the fact that the kids meals are far from healthy since they are basically just a smaller version of an unhealthy combo meal.
The solution I propose is simply healthier food. If companies have to fill their food with sugar or butter to make it taste good or create fake grill marks on the burgers to convince people it was freshly grilled then they should be out of business. If companies want to serve unhealthy food then they should state all the ingredients and let people know the health risks, because we the people have the right to know. We should find a way to make the popular items on the menus less bad for us and more good for us. We should also have the food freshly made at the places instead of in factories that are then shipped to the fast food places. There should be healthier options on the menu because healthier food doesn’t necessarily mean disgusting food. For example, instead of the regular meat patties we can demand vegetable patties which are very good or instead of fries we can order fresh veggies that have a dash of flavoring to them. Or if that doesn’t work simply take the time out of your day to prepare something for you and your family that way you can assure that its healthy and fresh. But no matter what there is something that can be done to fix this problem its just up to us.