The last time when I was driving through Rajagiriya, what snatched my eyes was the newly opened “BURGER KING”. The restaurant was populated with old grandmas, middle aged men and little kids. Two days back I came across the sub headlines of a newspaper which said “Subway to make Lankan entry in 2014”. I knew they were coming. SriLanka will be a land of fast food eventually. Good for all brand marketers to increase their profits. But pity those hearts without arteries, messed up livers and kidneys.
In an age where we look for convenience, do I need to define Fast food? Every Tom, Dick and Harry would enjoy it whenever they get a chance. Indeed they are mouthwatering. A two minute call will bring down pizzas, big burgers, French fries and much more sizzling food at your doorstep. What more can you ask when you are living in a fast track? A loathsome moment entrapped by payrolls, collections, direct calls, counts, sort and file records can be switched to excitement with a little bite from a Cheese N’ steak burger. But did you ever think that this excitement can be deadly at some day?
Well, fast food tastes good but they are not nutritionally balanced. Therefore they can be destructive if consumed in a daily basis. Fast food is packed with calories from refined sugar and fats, specially the artery- clogging and hydrogenated fats which are countlessly reheated to high temperatures for frying purposes. Fast food has a high energy density caused by the excessive use of refined colas and sugars and less fiber and protein. Energy density is the amount of calories in food. Junk food is never huge in portions. Thus the body is tricked by a greater number of sugars and fats from a little round shaped burgher. Research has proven that high density food is what makes one look fatter the day he looks himself in front of a mirror. A thing to regret about being gross and unlovely from a handsome guy. Remember it’s not just the junk food, but all pre -cooked and convenience food like noodles, canned pasta, cooked chicken or meatballs available at supermarkets are unfit and confuse the brain’s appetite. Becoming fat is not the end of the story. Being obese will result the bodies physically inactive, opening doors to risky diseases like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and various cancers.
The message has been passed for a considerable number of years that “trans fat” = “bad”. Trans fat is what piles up unwanted fat and calories in the body. The interesting thing is restaurants and food manufacturers are too smart to fool the consumers. They avoid labeling trans-fat in food packets. Sometimes 5 grams of trans- fat is listed as zero. Further trans-fat is rephrased as “interesterified fats”. The word may not sound like trans-fat but consider both as partners in crime. Interesterified fats aren’t exactly trans-fat but combines food with unsaturated fat, rather artificial which doesn’t exist in nature. Food scientists show that the impact made my interestified fat is larger compared to trans-fat.
In general, trans-fat is stuffed in margarine, pastries, donuts, cakes instant flavored coffee, muffins and French fries. In short consider anything fried bad. The best is to avoid more intakes of such food in your meal plan. The body doesn’t know what to be done with trans-fat or interestified fat. So it gets stored as toxin in fat tissues. Unless you diet or exercise, these harmful toxins cannot be taken away. If not you may end up getting more toxoid with toxics letting harmful chemicals enter the blood stream.
What’s important therefore is to put more fresh vegetables and fruits into your bodies. Often try to eat home cooked food and avoid regular consumption of fast food.
( Published on the 12th of January 2014 in "The Nation" )
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