Think about how popular fast food is and how people often resort to it when parents or workers don’t have enough time to make a full meal. Fair enough, it’s quick, it tastes good, and it’s simple. Although it can be fairly pricey, people just go for what is most convenient. Along with it being expensive, fast food is very high in carbohydrates, sugars, and sodium. 

Has fast food ever made you feel better mentally or has it just satisfied an unnecessary craving? According to Study Finds, nine times out of ten eating fast food constantly can make someone feel worse and more prone to depression and anxiety. This can make it more difficult to cook healthy home-cooked meals. Settling for fast food a few times is acceptable, but excessive consumption of fast food can cause a higher level of distress. While fast food contains trans and saturated fats that are needed for brain function, too much can cause an inflammatory response. 

Consuming large amounts of fast food can also cause the feeling of sickness. Too much saturated fats will build up in the stomach acid which can make its way into the esophagus causing acid reflux. When some people do feel sick, chances are they will not be in the best mood and just would like to wait for the next meal. 

While mental health and physical health are very different, one thing they have in common is that if one is affected, they both are affected. 

Fast food may be quick and easy, but it is better for your body to make a healthy snack in your kitchen rather than going out to buy your whole day’s worth of calories in just one burger. What happens when the amount of calories someone consumes each day is more than what they burn? While fats and calories aren’t ingredients, they are what the result is from actual ingredients. Calories cause weight gain because the body will store the excess calories as fats. In addition, fast food contains trans and saturated fats that are needed for brain function, too much can cause an inflammatory response. 

Consuming large amounts of fast food can also cause the feeling of sickness. Too much saturated fats will build up in the stomach acid which can make its way into the esophagus causing acid reflux. When some people do feel sick, chances are they will not be in the best mood and just would like to wait for the next meal. 

“You have to remember that the main objective of any fast food restaurant is to generate more sales and profit,” New Berlin West health and gym teacher Christopher Garland explained, “to do this, the majority of the items on their menus are high in fat, sugar, and overall calories. The high-fat content makes the food taste better, and the added sugars are highly addictive, which keep customers coming back for more.” 

One McDonald’s cheeseburger is 250 calories, while the quarter pounder with cheese is just under 1,000 calories. According to the National Health Society, the average person’s amount of calories they should consume per day is about 2,000 to 2,500. If someone were to have two quarter-pounder burgers from McDonald’s, they would already have a full day’s worth of calories fulfilled, and that’s just from one meal only. 

The amount of sodium that should be consumed each day in fast food can also be found in just one McDonald’s burger. Cholesterol, which is a waxy fat, is found in most dairy products and is a major contributor to excessive dietary concerns. Eating cholesterol-rich foods often gets rid of the good cholesterol a person needs and replaces it with bad cholesterol. Good cholesterol is considered a HDH (high-density lipoprotein), while bad is referred to as LDL(low-density lipoprotein). While LDL goes straight to the arteries, HDL carries cholesterol to the liver and can be taken away from the bloodstream before buildup on the arteries occurs. In some cases high cholesterol can be inherited, but for some, it’s caused by the food someone consumes. Being overweight can affect someone’s cholesterol levels because, “every ten pounds you’re overweight causes your body to produce as much as 10 milligrams of additional cholesterol daily,” stated WebMD. 

All these unhealthy ingredients can increase body fat. This can cause your body’s cells to become resistant to insulin, and when you have too much fat tissue, your cells can’t use insulin properly. This increases the production of insulin, eventually wearing out your pancreas to where it is unable to produce more insulin, causing diabetes. Grease is certainly something that comes out of any fast food, such as burgers, tacos, and pizza. Seed oils and grease are harmful to the body since they are highly inflammatory and also can also cause heart disease and diabetes. Fast food is very high in salt, sugar, saturated and trans fats, and other processed preservatives that can be addicting and cause harm physically and mentally.

Consuming a high amount of fast food can easily make an individual fall into a sugar and junk food addiction. “The fact is junk food stimulates the reward system in the brain in the same way as addictive drugs,” stated by Headline. Moreover, “Fast food can trigger the addiction circuit in the brain resulting in the body craving more of this food due to brain changes and eventually resulting in compulsive overeating,” stated the Center for Discovery. When the body is craving something, the strong urge in the brain of wanting to eat this food doesn’t get any easier. This can create an addiction which can lead to having a binge eating disorder. 

Eating fast food regularly can also be detrimental to your skin’s health, causing anything from mild breakouts to severe acne. According to partical.com, consuming excess added sugars almost immediately increases your insulin levels, leading to excess oil and inflammation. Another factor in food that contributes to acne is sodium. Daily, one should be consuming at most 2,300mg, and consuming too much regularly causes your body to retain a lot more water, which promotes unhealthy pressure on the skin.

After surveying 65 students at New Berlin West on their fast food habits and health after consumption, 11% say they rarely eat fast food, 56% say sometimes, and 11% say almost always. The survey also concluded that 73% say they feel satisfied after eating fast food, and 27% say they don’t. 

Although making food at home does not always seem like the easiest option and is sometimes less intriguing taste-wise, making homemade healthy, well-balanced meals are both better for one’s health and are almost always more satiating. For instance, instead of a fried chicken sandwich, a side of fries, and a soda from Burger King, it is just as easy to remake it at home for a lower cost. These swaps can save you from a load of physical and mental health problems and weight gain.

It’s not necessary to eliminate fast food entirely, but just by making healthier alternatives and being more conscious of the food one puts in their body, it can help decrease the risks of many health problems and ultimately help to live a happier healthier life.