Fast Food Nutrition Facts
The Bottom Line
Learning about fast food nutrition facts
is a popular subject these days as more of us are becoming
aware of this fact: What we eat has a direct impact
on our health and energy levels.
First, what do we mean by "fast
food?" In this article, it refers to what
is offered at fast food chain restaurants like McDonald's,
Burger King, Pizza Hut or Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example.
Heck, grabbing a banana off the kitchen
counter is also "fast food" but that isn't what
we're talking about here.
Second, what does "nutrition"
actually mean? "The act of being nourished;
especially, the processes of taking in and assimilating
food for promoting growth and replacing worn or injured
tissue." The word "nutrition" can also refer
to anything that nourishes.
Nourish means "to feed or sustain
with substances necessary to life and growth."
When we discuss fast food nutrition
facts, the bottom line is: "Does fast food provide
nourishment to our bodies?"
I could just tell you that it doesn't,
but you probably want to know why, right?
Understanding fast food nutrition
depends on understanding what "processed food"
means.
Food processing is: "...the methods
and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food
for consumption by humans or animals." (Source: Wikipedia)
Fast
food burger... very processed! No nutrition! |
Very simply, "processed food"
is food that is modified from its natural state. Food that
is unprocessed is called "whole food."
Whole food contains the most nutrition.
The more processing a food undergoes, the less nutrition
it contains.
So how does this relate to fast food nutrition
facts? Well, the majority of fast food these days has been
processed to the point where many people question if it
can even be called "food" any more. As far as
being able to provide the body with what it needs to build
and repair itself and have energy, "fast food"
fails miserably.
Homemade
burger... not very processed, more nutritious! |
These days, snack foods, convenience
foods and fast foods contain increasing levels of synthetic
chemicals that are added not only to "preserve"
them for distribution and marketing, but to make them look
more appealing, enhance flavor and even to make us want
more. Have you ever tried to read the ingredients on a bag
of snacking chips? Oy!
I'm not going to provide you with a list
of additives that sound like a recipe from a mad scientist's
laboratory... that isn't what is important.
What IS important is that foods
that are overly-processed and that contain ridiculous amounts
of chemicals solely for marketing and sales reasons are
extremely detrimental to physical and mental health. Why?
Because the additives are toxic to our bodies.
There are loads of books and reference
material in print and on the Web if you're interested in
the gory details about the detrimental effects that too
much food processing and additives have on our health. "Natural
Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About"
by Kevin Trudeau is just one that I've personally read.
The 2004 documentary film, "Super
Size Me" vividly illustrates the effects that fast
food creates on health. I watched it when it first
came out and I watched it again just recently.
If you need evidence that eating fast
food is harmful to your physical and mental health, take
an hour and a half to watch this. Watch it even if you don't
need evidence! It's highly informative AND entertaining...
You can access the "Super Size Me"
documentary here: http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=98
(The first thing on the page is a YouTube video. When you
click on the "Watch Film Now" link, a new window
will open and the film, with control buttons, will be available.)
If you wanted information on fast
food nutrition facts, then watching this film will give
you a pretty thorough answer. One of the many things
that I have done to improve my health and energy has been
to wean myself off of "fast food." I also look
at the nutrition fact
label of things that I might buy for the actual ingredients
to see if something is full of additives or not! (Hint:
You usually can't pronounce them.)
What should you do now that you've
become enlightened on fast food nutrition facts?
Invest a little time in yourself and get educated on good
nutrition data, exercise
information, the
importance of sleep and most of all, stress
management and relaxation.
As you increase the amounts of more nutritious
foods and water
into your daily routine, increase your physical activity,
get more quality sleep and enjoy life more than you stress
out about it, your desire for fast food will decrease.
Cheers!
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