The example above is just one of hundreds found on fast-food restaurants’ online menus. With almost 264,000 fast-food eateries in this country that have an annual revenue of $100 billion, it is almost inevitable that eight out of 10 Americans eat fast food at least once a month -- in most cases, more often. But did you know that eating fast foods just twice a week will increase your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic problems?
Sodium and MSG: Healthy Additives
Fast foods are famously high in sodium, which can be found in various forms, such as salts, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and MSG substitutes labeled as “Autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed proteins, textured protein and natural flavors.” Lots of MSG. In fact, Kentucky Fried Chicken was deemed to be the “worst offender in the industry,” according to Natural News magazine. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services sets the daily limits of sodium at between 1,500 mg to 2,000 mg -- less if you have kidney or heart disease, are African-American or have hypertension. Food chains are able to conceal MSG by using other additives that provide free glutamates, which then mimic MSG in the body.
Example: Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Chicken Pot Pie. Sodium content is 1,970 milligrams. Taco Bell’s new offering, the Sriracha Quesarito, gives you a sodium dose of 1,720 mg. Hardee’s new one-half pound Bacon Cheese Thickburger gives you more than the recommended dose by piling on 2,020 mg of sodium. Sensing a pattern here? Yep, some foods may be getting saltier, but the truth is that Americans prefer their foods about twice as salty as experts recommend. We use an average of about 3,400 mg of sodium a day.
What most people don’t know is that we naturally produce MSG in our bodies – it is the most common form of amino acid. Adverse reactions to MSG include hives, possible seizures, vomiting, skin rashes, asthma and heart irregularities. If the kidneys can’t excrete sodium fast enough, excess sodium can build up in the bloodstream. This makes the heart work harder, causing a rise in blood pressure and possibly leading to heart disease.
Trans and Saturated Fats Facts
Trans fats are made by adding hydrogen to liquid oils so these oils stay solid at room temperatures. The American Heart Association (AHA) states that this is one of the most deadly fats you can consume, but it is still used regularly in the fast-food industry. It has been linked to increased risk of diabetes, unhealthy cholesterol levels leading to fatty plaques and hardening of the arteries, heart attacks, and strokes. The AHA recommends limiting trans fats to 1 percent of the daily diet, or two grams.
To get close to your daily dose of trans fats, order McDonald’s Bacon Clubhouse Burger. According to McDonald's website, it has 1.5 grams of trans fat per burger. Another offering is Wendy’s large chili. It offers 1.0 grams of fat per serving. It is best to stay away from any trans fat in one’s diet if at all possible.
Another fat just as problematic as trans fats are saturated fats. The AHA recommends keeping these fats close to 7 percent of the daily diet. For those with heart disease and hardening of the arteries, try to take down your daily dose to 5 or 6 percent of your diet.
Again, Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Chicken Pot Pie scores a hit. This time with 37.0 grams of saturated fat or at least 185 percent of the recommended daily amount. This may seem high, but something more suspicious is that on the site for its one-half pound Bacon Cheese Thickburger, Hardee’s doesn’t have a measurement listed, just that it is “100%” of saturated fat content.
Adult and Childhood Obesity and Fast Food
Now, to address the elephant in the room. Obesity. That’s one issue on many, but not enough, minds in this country, judging by our obesity rate. Most experts agree that fast food holds a lot of responsibility for the epidemic of obesity seen in adults and children.
As of 2012, nearly 35 percent of adults were obese, with more than 68 percent either overweight or obese. Of these adults, 48 percent were African Americans, 43 percent Latinos, 33 percent whites and 11 percent of Asian Americans were obese.
In 2012, about 17 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 19 were obese, with more than 32 percent either overweight or obese. By 12 to 19 years old, more than 20 percent of adolescents were overweight.
With obesity often comes diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, once known as “adult-onset” diabetes is now being diagnosed among young people. Children who are overweight and have this disease can run into serious complications as adults such as amputation, blindness and kidney disease. Sixty-one percent of overweight 5-to-10-year olds already showed one risk factor for heart disease; 26 percent have two or more signs of risk.
Other problems that could pop up due to a fast-food diet are digestive problems and a sugar overload that could lead to insulin resistance -- a precursor to diabetes, eating empty calories and of course, offsetting consuming good and healthy food with junk food.
Americans are now eating one-third of their calories away from home, and of those calories, about 40 percent come from fast-food joints. Critics complain about the larger-than-healthy size of most fast-food meals, which appeal to the pocketbooks of many consumers. Also, these large meals contain calorically denser foods, which means the food in question has more calories than a similarly sized portion of a healthy product. So add up these factors, throw in stress and a sedentary lifestyle, and you get (near) instant obesity.
Now armed with some good knowledge of fast-food practices, you should be more comfortable turning down a yummy but ultimately unsatisfying and unhealthy fast-food meal. With a little online research, you can find healthy foods at these restaurants, but it may take time and patience to understand all the available information out there.