Here’s How Fast-Food Affects Our Health

by Rohit Bumrah Writter

‘We are what we eat’- this popular saying appropriately describes our food habits. Whether the goal is weight loss or improving overall health, it’s best to start with changing your diet. A busy lifestyle can influence us to eat junk food because it's quick, cheap and easily available. Regular consumption of junk food can result in serious health disorders like obesity, cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, and other ailments. An optimum healthy diet must include fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. An occasional treat is permissible, but regular indulgence in junk food can have serious side effects on your health. If you want to eat healthier, avoid these junk foods and beverages:

• Soda

All soda based soft drinks have a high level of sugar. Energy drinks and diet soda are loaded with artificial sweeteners which can increase the body’s glucose levels. Instead of reaching for that bottle of cola, quench your thirst with healthy beverages like flavored water, green tea, and fruit juice.

• Refined Flour:

Refined food grains are not a healthy source of carbohydrates. Replace all unhealthy food grains with wholesome grains like oatmeal, whole wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, brown basmati rice, millets, spelt, etc.

Eating gluten-free food grains reduces inflammation. And rice is a popular choice when it comes to gluten-free grains. Buy the finest basmati rice from Daawat for your rice dishes. Use whole-wheat or multigrain bread instead of white bread to make a sandwich. Choose whole-wheat or quinoa pasta instead of flour pasta. You can also make delicious Asian dishes with rice noodles and buckwheat noodles.

• Refined Sugar:

Pastries, cakes, ice-cream, cookies, brownies are loaded with sugar. Added sugar can be found in processed food items like sauces, salad dressings, chips, popcorn, chocolate, jams, preserves, etc. too. Packaged tea and coffee-based beverages also contain sugar. The thing to note here is that sugar substitutes like agave syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, jaggery, molasses, date syrup, golden syrup, and honey too contain sugar. Substitute your sugar cravings with natural sweeteners like Stevia. To add sweetness to baked dishes, use applesauce, banana, raisins, and dates.

• Trans Fats:

Trans-fats are present in all processed and junk food items. Processed cookies, sauces, bacon, pasta, chips, frozen food are loaded with trans-fat. It can cause serious health problems like cancer, infertility, and cognitive disorders. Always check for the ingredients list when purchasing packaged products. Look for the ‘trans-fat free’ label instead. Try to prepare sauces, salad dressings, vinaigrettes from scratch with fresh ingredients. For example, make a delicious pasta sauce with tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and basil instead of using a premade pasta sauce. Bake homemade granola with rolled oats, nuts, seeds, dried berries, coconut flakes and a drizzle of honey. Avoid snacking on chips which are high in trans-fats and sodium. Choose healthy snacks like nuts, dehydrated vegetables, fruits, oats crackers, etc.

Keep a healthy snack counter with wholesome food items. Eating food that nourishes your body is essential for overall wellbeing.