TAGS
By: Gabriela
You’re sitting in McDonald’s eating a juicy Big Mac in this popular fast food restaurant, but, is what you’re eating healthy? Do you know how much waste you’re producing by eating one fast food meal? Don’t get me wrong I love the food at Mickey D’s, but I strongly believe you should only have it as a treat. Did you know that one in four customers visit a fast food restaurant every day? That means one quarter of the people in the world are eating unhealthy food every twenty – four hours. Fast food has a negative impact on people and the Earth. Also, it is unhealthy, can cause obesity, plus it adds unwanted landfill to our environment. Do you support this?
One reason fast food is negative is that it is highly processed. For instance, processed food is everywhere, even in your refrigerator in addition to your cupboards at home. But, it is mainly found at fast food restaurants. These restaurants are convenient for people who have busy schedules, travel a lot, or want an easy meal already prepared, even though it costs more money than grocery shopping for the same types of food. Is what you’re digesting worth the risk? For your information, some restaurants use a half gallon of petroleum as an ingredient in their food. You might ask yourself: what is petroleum? Well, believe it or not, it is the same chemical that fuels cars. Unfortunately, so far scientists are not able to prove that fast food and/or petroleum causes heart disease for certain. However, there is a link between eating fast food to a higher risk of developing or dying from heart disease. Certain restaurants provide healthier choices by displaying the Heart And StrokeFoundation Heath Check Symbol. Some individuals believe on the McDonalds menu you can order a grilled meat instead of fried meat, add a fruit (apple slices), plus a vegetable (salad) to your meal. The Heart And Stroke Foundation Heath Check Symbol tells customers that this menu item or items has been reviewed by being registered by the dietitians plus meet the nutrient criteria on the Canada’s Food Guide.
According to www.medicaldaily.com, fast food can cause heart disease, liver damage, stroke, and type two diabetes. You can get the diseases listed by eating foods with high levels of bad cholesterol, and eating foods that have high fat levels which accumulates in the liver causing permanent damage, inflammation, and an increase to scarring. Also, obesity causes blockage in your arteries, which leads to high blood pressure and stroke. In some cases obesity causes type two diabetes because it forces the pancreas to not supply a sufficient amount of insulin. Some of these diseases can lead to fatal results.
For many years customers have enjoyed meals at McDonalds on a regular basis. With their misleading as well as persuasive advertisements, McDonalds has grown in popularity on the internet, Facebook and Instagram. These advertisements hook people’s attention with attractive commercials about their food, like Happy Meals. One commercial I recently watched had to do with an animated chicken nugget in the wild diving into an ocean of plum sauce. Even though the piece of chicken and sauce look good enough to eat, this company’s food digests five tenth present slower than regular food. Also, another negative result may include losing control of your blood sugar levels which can cause heart disease. “The ingredients can cause serious harm to your body, especially when consuming them on a daily basis,” is the advice found on the Fast Food Menu Price website. Did you know that one Big Mac has five hundred forty calories, 28 twenty- eight grams of trans fat plus nine hundred seventy milligrams ofsodium? This means this burger makes up one quarter of your recommended calorie intake for a whole day. Never mind the fact you haven’t included the calories or fat of a drink, French fries or a possible dessert item. All of these add up to an average of seventy- two present of the recommended daily calorie intake. Does this surprise you? Eating this type of food can lead a person to go over the daily recommended calorie intake, which may cause obesity or even lead to fatal results.
The final reason why fast food has a negative impact on people and the earth is that it is a big contributor to landfills. Every burger that you eat creates new garbage and other non-recyclable items. Some examples of this could be the packaging from the bag of sodium used to season the food or the plastic wrappers used to package items like nuts, forks and toys. Have you ever wondered how McDonald’s receives its beef? It does not come directly from a cow. It comes from different cities around Canada (mostly Alberta and Saskatchewan), manufactured in Alberta, and is wrapped in plastic and other shipping materials. The materials are opened and then thrown in the garbage or littered outside. Some individuals and groups believe we can change non-recycling habits worldwide. But let’s get back to reality, there is always going to be landfill. Did you know in one year sixty- four present of the garbage is not recycled? That is about forty- eight million tons of waste just from McDonaldsevery year.
It has come across to me that, even though fast food is not everyone’s first choice of a nutritious meal, sixty- eight million customers are intrigued to visit this world’s largest restaurant chain in one hundred nineteen countries every day. Although, it does not make eating fast food a healthy choice. Some people argue these places provide jobs, which is true as we cannot change the facts; however, to those employees who work at this restaurant, are you aware that serving only one burger to a customer could put their life in danger? Fast food has a negative impact on people and the earth. It is highly processed, is unhealthy, and is a big contributor to landfills. So the next time you’re craving a moist quarter pounder with cheese, ask yourself, it is really worth the risk?
All Heart And Stroke Foundation Heath Check Symbol products must meet a certain criteria. All products must have the right amount of:
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