The FDA state that fast food restaurants provide their ingredients and fast food nutrition facts on their websites and in the stores themselves. This is vital as it provides us with detailed information about what’s actually going into our bodies – surely that’s something we should know? The information also outlines just how unhealthy most of this stuff is, being saturated in fat and full of carbs. Despite this, fast food chains such as Mac Donalds, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut remain very successful as people simply don’t have the time or the money to eat in other ways. As a result, obesity is on the rise and people are putting themselves at risk of clogged arteries, diabetes and heart disease. The problem got so bad that in America some Mac Donalds stores were famously forced to make their doors narrower so as to keep out the seriously obese customers. That’s just plain humiliating… (thank God for drive throughs eh?).

To be fair, part of the reason that fast food is so successful is because… well it’s delicious. This is an element that’s often missed out by health officials who are too detached from the real world to know what the real issues are. When we’re out and about in town and feeling really hungry, that’s when a kebab or some chips suddenly seem really rather tempting. And if you’re coming out of a club a little bit tipsy? Well then it’s irresistible.

So why is this? What fast food nutrition facts can explain why our body craves something so patently unhealthy? Well one of the reasons is that when we’re hungry, fatty foods always seem somehow more satisfying. And fast food is drenched in fat. So fatty is KFC that they actually provide hand sanitizers to wipe your hands afterwards and coined the phrase ‘finger lickin’ good!’ – that’s referring to fat. The reason that fat feels satisfying when we’re hungry though is that fat is hard to digest, meaning that it sits in the stomach for longer leaving us feeling bloated and full. While this might seem at the time like the sign of a big healthy meal, it will also leave you feeling bloated, tired and lethargic – not what you need when you’re in the middle of a big day of shopping. This also means that more food gets crammed in your stomach which means you’re more likely to stretch the lining giving you a larger stomach fast. If you don’t then burn off that fat, your body will then store it as fat cells in your own body. This requires no energy as the fat is already in the right ‘format’ to be stored in this way. Furthermore, excessive fat can clog arteries and veins. In short, after a fatty lunch of fast food you end up feeling slow and guilty after having done some serious damage to your body. So far the fast food nutrition facts aren’t looking great…

The other fast food nutrition facts that makes it so tempting when we’re hungry is that it’s absolutely covered in salt and is full of carbs. This makes the food taste extra savoury and that’s exactly what we crave when we’re really hungry (or drunk). Meanwhile, when we’re hungry we lack energy – the body has used up all its immediate sources of energy and begins to cannibalise its own fat and protein stores. At this point then the body needs fuel, and that’s precisely what carbs are, and the chips and bread in fast food supply it with ample carbs. Unfortunately fast food represents so many carbs – in the form of the chips (the equivalent of two bags of crisps) which have never seen a potato, the bread in the burger or kebab, and in the sugary sauces they completely cover the food in. This will leave us with excess carbs which the body will turn into fat and store in the body as fat cells. The nature of the carbs too (simple rather than complex) means that the body breaks them down for energy too quickly – leaving us with a quick energy high (scuppered by the fat in our stomachs) followed immediately by a trough with zero energy. This is in contrast to a complex carb such as a banana or rice which will slowly release useable energy throughout the day. Likewise, the amount of salt in the food makes it unhealthy and can contribute to heart disease and high blood pressure.

Fat, salt and carbs are essential for us to function healthily – fat helps to keep our skin, eyes, nails and hair in good check along with many other roles and helps with protein synthesis. Salt meanwhile provides us with sodium – crucial for the distribution of water throughout the body, for keeping our nerves healthy, and for helping with muscle contractions. If we have an imbalance of sodium and potassium in our diets it can cause muscle cramps and a deficiency can lead to weariness and low blood pressure. Similarly carbs are crucial to provide us with the energy to go about our daily lives. Diets that recommend eliminating any of these things from your food intake are sorely misguided and we need them all. However it’s a case of everything in moderation, and fast food will royally screw up this delicate balance. We only need 4 grams of salt daily, which tells you just how much a portion of fast food will throw you out of kilter.

The one good thing you might think you’re getting in the right quantities from fast food is protein, but if you pay attention to fast food nutrition facts then you’ll realise that this isn’t actually the case either.

Mack LeMouse

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