Fast Food and Meat: Are Safe for Health
Subhash Kumar and Bimla Kumari
Subhash Kumar Verma
Assistant Professor
Department of Livestock Products Technology
College of Veterinary Science & A.H., Anjora, Durg, Chhattisgarh
Email Id-subhash90verma@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________
The habit of taking in junk food is seen particularly with children, teenage and young adult and in the long run it can tell on their health. The main factor that attracts people to eat junk food is their taste. This taste must be substituted with food that is cooked well and delicious, but at the same time healthy for the body while intake eating salads and fruits must be take up and even increased.
The Medical Research council has released a study concluding what many of us have probably suspected already: regularly eating junk food can increase your risk of weight gain and obesity. It’s all about the energy density of the meal, apparently. Junk food has a high energy density, meaning that it contains a lot of calories for its weight. This is often due to the presence of high levels of fat and sugar in the meal, with a corresponding low level of fibre and protein. For example, a fast food meal has an energy density one and a half times greater than that of a normal British meal, and a staggering two and a half times greater than an African meal. When people eat foods with a high energy density, they may not realise exactly how many calories they are eating, as the body is tricked by the relatively small size of the portions. This also makes it hard for people to make informed diet choices, especially in the case of children. The MRC team tested this by asking groups of volunteers to eat apparently identical meals. But the meals had been secretly altered to have a variety of energy densities, although the volunteers believed they were all eating normally. The scientists found that the group fed the high energy density diet put on fat at an alarming rate, while those eating the low energy density foods actually lost body fat. More research on people living in the UK and in Africa, as well as analysis of the composition of junk food, confirmed that fast food meals are a fast track to lardiness. But it’s not just junk food that is energy dense- the researchers warn about the perils of energy-dense supermarket readymeals and convenience foods, saying it’s important not to just swap one unhealthy meal with another. Obesity related problems are thought to cost the UK more than 2.5 billion pounds annually so the government are very keen to find ways to stop us eating all the pies. This new research lays some of the blame firmly at the door of the fast food merchants, so perhaps we will finally see health warnings on the sides of burger cartons.
Junk food is very tasty and no one goes by not noticing it and wanting to bite into it. Resisting junk food is difficult, but with age, taking in junk food is something to be desisted as they do not have a healthy effect on the body. How harmful can junk food be exactly on your body? … Here’s a look on why you need to cut down on junk food eating:
Junk food is made using a lot of saturated fats. Such fats are unhealthy and on digestion can release a lot of toxins into your body. You body gets food but not healthy food.
- Junk food is sometime made using ingredients that are not very clean. This can in the long run spoil your stomach, liver and intestines.
- Junk food does not contain vitamins and minerals and much of the nutrients seen in properly cooked food and in raw food. The body is not getting the necessary vitamins and minerals necessary to have good health and immunity from diseases. Consequently, it makes the person having such food very prone to illnesses.
- Junk food makes you put on weight. People who have obesity or morbid obesity are those who have a preference for junk food and snacking.
- Eating junk food can make you prone to diabetes, because it contain too much of sugar. You can also become susceptible to heart disease and blood pressure because of the salt and high fats found in this kind of food. Packed junk food contains preservatives and colouring, both of which contain carcinogenic substances.
- In the long run, junk food actually fastens the effects of aging. People show signs of old age faster because of continuously eating junk food. This is because continuous eating of junk food exposes the body to long periods of bad nutrition. The result is release of free radicals which are the chief factors responsible for aging effect.
Listed below are some important health complications caused due to sumptuous consumption of junk food.
Lack of energy:
Junk foods do not contain any nutrients that are beneficial to the human body. In most cases, these foods are filled with harmful carbohydrates, fats and cholesterol that do not provide any useful energy. As a result, somebody consuming junk food has reduced level of essential nutrients thereby causing weakness in the body.
Poor Concentration:
One disadvantage of consuming junk food is that it contains high amount of oil and fat. As a result, human body finds this food difficult to digest and needs to spend high amount of blood and enzymes. When a person consumes junk food in excess, a major portion of blood in the body is diverted to the intestine. As a result, the person feels drowsy and fails to concentrate.
Heart Diseases:
Junk foods have been identified as a major cause of heart diseases including myocardial infraction, cardiac arrest and atherosclerosis. This is due to the fact that junk food contains excessive amount of low-density lipoproteins and cholesterol that get deposited on the inner linings of blood vessels. This result in formation of plaques and the heart is required to put an extra effort for pumping blood through the arteries. Presence of fat in the blood also causes reduced oxygen levels. Another harmful factor present in junk foods is excess concentration of sugars and salt. Excessive concentration of sodium ions causes an increased heart blood pressure.
Liver Failure:
Even liver gets damaged due to presence of ingredients such as fat, cholesterol and salt inside the junk foods.
Diabetes:
Junk foods also cause damage to the pancreas resulting in insulin-dependant diabetes mellitus (IDDM).
Meat is not an essential part of the diet but without animal products it is necessary to have some reasonable knowledge of nutrition in order to select an adequate diet. Even small quantities of animal products supplement and complement a diet based on plant foods so that it is nutritionally adequate, whether or not there is informed selection of foods. Side by side with these known benefits of including meat and meat products in the diet are problems associated with excessive intakes of saturated fats, risks of food poisoning from improperly processed products, residues of chemicals used in agriculture and animal production and other potentially adverse aspects discussed.
Many people may not realize it, but much of the meat we eat contains synthetic growth hormones and other chemicals that may be harmful to us. Why would cattle owners want to use growth hormones? It is all about money. Ranchers today want to produce more cattle in a shorter period. A rancher may only have about 14 months to get the calf from a small size, say 80 pounds, to a selling size (around 1,200 pounds). Growth hormones help the cattle put on weight to get them ready for slaughter in record time as well as reducing the amount of fat in the meat. Nitrates are a chemical compound that can also be found in meat today, being used to cure meat and give them a healthy color. Most notably, nitrates are found in hotdogs, giving them their red color.
Hormones are approved for use only in cattle and sheep. Poultry, such as chickens and turkeys, and pigs do not gain much weight when given these hormones, so they are not given them. Most of these hormones are given to the animal by inserting a pellet under the skin of the ear. The pellet releases the hormone and the ears of the animals are thrown away during slaughtered.
What should you as a consumer do?
One thing you can do is purchase organic meat. Organic meat comes from livestock raised without hormones or steroids. There is no longer any doubt about the fact that eating excess of meat is bad for your health.
The list of diseases known to be associated with meat, which are commoner among meat eaters.
- Anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins are just some of the well known disorders which are more likely to affect meat eaters than vegetarians.
- Coronary or Ischaemic Heart Disease
- Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies (BSE)
- Carcinogens
- A number of epidemiological studies have suggested a link between the intake of animal protein and predisposition to cancers at various sites -pancreas, breast, colon, prostate and endometrium – but there are many contradictory reports. A summary of eleven case-controlled studies of colon cancer, three of stomach cancer and one of breast cancer concluded that the available data do not provide convincing evidence that removal of meat from the diet would substantially reduce the cancer risk (Phillips et al 1983; Kritchevsky 1990).
- The products of pyrolysis of organic material (by overheating and charring), polycyclic hydrocarbons, are believed to be carcinogenic. The most thoroughly investigated of these is 3,4-benzpyrene which is formed on the surface of barbecued and broiled (grilled) and smoked meat products (including broiled fish and roasted coffee).
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/is-the-processed-meat-you-are-eating-safe-shocking-facts-to-know/articleshow/84615451.cms
