Are You a Fast Food Junkie?

Making healthy food choices

Eating fast food is a two-edged sword. At the time, it tastes delicious — yet it’s not healthy for you and you don’t always feel so great after eating it.

So why do we keep going back for more of the bad stuff and continue to eat less of the good stuff? Two obvious reasons stand out. For starters, eating fast food, and other processed foods, appeals to our taste buds. Second, eating healthy organic food is not easy on the budget.

To eat organically costs extra money and that is something that is in short supply these days during these hard economic times due to COVID-19. Not to mention the fact that even if we all eat healthy organic diets, we’ll never get all the nutrients we need in our daily diets. That’s where natural supplements come into play. They will help bring your body into total health and wellness.

In the book, Living on the Edge: Dare to Experience True Spirituality, by Chip Ingram, the author wrote a chapter on the subject that your mental diet could be killing your soul. The truth in this chapter is very eye-opening. One thing that stands out is his introduction to a documentary on a fast-food diet and its harmful effects.

The author described that a friend of his was watching a documentary with his children about someone who wanted to test the quality of food at one of the most well-known fast-food chains. The basic premise in the study was that the participant was going to only eat fast food for three meals each day for thirty days.

“Tests were done prior to the experiment and would be done after the experiment to evaluate levels of fat, triglycerides, weight gain, and overall health.”

Most people enjoy indulging in a Big Mac or a Whopper every now and then. People are different and there are those who do eat healthy foods and have a handle on their diet, but not everyone does.

Now in this study, after twenty days of a consistent diet of fast food, the participant’s body started shutting down. “The high-sugar, high-fat, fried, and processed food began to build up toxins to such a degree that he had to be hospitalized.” How ironic that food which tasted deliciously good, nearly killed him!

Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker of the documentary Super-Size Me, reported the following:

“He consumed an average of 5,000 calories each day, equivalent to about nine hamburgers, and gained 24.5 lbs.

In a new study, a few years later, 18 slender Swedish men and women partook in a similar fast food diet — “eating meals from popular chains twice a day (instead of three times a day like Spurlock) for four weeks while refraining from exercise.”

By the conclusion of the experiment, “blood tests showed evidence that the subjects eating fast food had liver damage. They also gained an average of 16 lbs.”

The take away from this issue: eating fast food can taste great but can be so bad for you.

Everything should be done in moderation. Of course, eating the occasional fast food meal won’t kill you. However, doing everything in moderation includes trying to stay consistent in eating a healthy diet.

In recent years, my husband and I have not eaten much fast food. We don’t have it in our budget to shop at a store like Whole Foods (like we did when we first got married 16 years ago) and eat completely organically. However, we try to eat a healthy diet, without processed foods, and snacks and desserts are eaten in moderation. We have salad and vegetables with every dinner.

What have you done to improve your diet and live healthier lives?

Joanne Troppello is an author, writer, and poet. She is the publisher of the online Christian lifestyle magazine, Mustard Seed Sentinel. Connect with Joanne on Twitter and join in cultivating positivity in your life and sharing it with others by subscribing to the Sunflower Quest Community.