Fast Foods And Health

As at the time of writing this post , I was having one of my favourite fast foods. Pancakes🥞
Like the name implies, fast food is a type of food that can come in handy when there's limited time to prepare a main meal. Or laziness strikes in.

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In Nigeria, almost every nooks and crannies of the towns have places you could find tasty verities of fast foods , ranging from as little as chin-chin to as big as grilled meat and so on.
There are also big stores , supermarkets and malls which these fast foods can also be found.

How often do you eat fast food, and why?	•

Being a student and knowing very well that I might not always have the luxury of time to prepare a proper meal, which I can also take to school each day, I have to be buying fast foods. It's not like I have a choice.
I think I eat them almost every schooling day. Let's just say 4 to 5 times a week.

I'm not saying I eat fast foods always.. I eat three square meals everyday and fast foods most times comes in between. Especially when I'm not at home.

What are your favorite fast Foods? Tell us about them.	•

Pancakes 🥞;
This one is really easy to make...
You know when you fry an egg..? If you did a great job, it'll come out round and unburnt. That's just how a pancake is also made. But in its case, there are other things added, like flour, sugar , salt, pepper a little bit of water. And so on... It actually depends on how you want your pancake to be . But the main components are; eggs, water and flour.
Shikina.....!!!!!

Doughnuts(milky doughnuts);
This is a round shaped baked food, made out of flour and other condiments. It usually has a hole in the middle of it , which makes it look like a nut. A dough that looks like a nut. Doughnut😂.
The milky doughnut is just and addition of liquid milk after baking...which makes it taste better.

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Toasted-bread🍞; I think this one is the easiest to make, out of all I have mentioned. It is an addition of fillings into an already bake bread. You know how meat pie is... ? Yes that's what toasted bread looks like too. But you may decide to use anything as your filling when making it. It may be beef, fish, a mixture of vegetables, mayonnaise, better, etc. Just how you like it. There's an electrical appliance called toaster that's used.

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Other favourite fast foods are ; Meat-pie, egg-roll, shawarma, pizza and some few others.

What do you think are the biggest health risks associated with fast food?	•

Unlike me, there are some people who consume fast foods in large amount. Morning, afternoon, evening. You'll see them walking around with a bottle of coke or so. This is most likely termed as addiction.
They can't do without it.
However, while fast foods are easy to prepare and also taste really good, there some extreme health issues associated with the consumption of it more often and in large quantities.

Let me list some of the Health risk associated with fast foods

Diabetes:
The carbohydrates found in fast foods are already processed. They have high glycemic index, which means it can be rapidly converted to sugar. This usually cause a rapid increase in blood sugar level, triggering the pancreas to produce more insulin to lower the sugar level than it should per-time.
After some times, the body becomes less responsive to insulin, causing indigestion of sugar, and leading to type 2 diabetes.

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High blood pressure:
Fast foods are usually made to be sweetened and tasty, so much sodium content is brought into it.
High sodium content in the body increase blood pressure which poses a risk to the cardiovascular system.
I read that Ideally, "most adults should try to keep their salt intake under 1,500 milligrams per day"—
Because high sodium has a way of stiffening the blood vessels , which can lead to stroke, heart attack or even heart failure.

Other notable health risks include; obesity, excessive weight gain, cardiometabolic disorder, etc.

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Do you believe fast foods can be made healthier. If yes , how?	•

Yes, it is possible to make healthier fast foods.

Here are some tips for making fast food healthier:

Grilled fast foods
Some food can be grilled instead of deep frying in order to reduce the amount of fat and oil.

Fruit drinks
Instead of buying all these sugary soft drinks, fruit juice with no added sugar is highly recommended.
It helps in proper digestion and also reduces the amount of soda/coke intake.

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Vegetables
Incorporating veggies such as salad pumpkin,etc, in the fast food and other meals can also help to lower the risk of its harm.

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Not too much
Being moderate with whatsoever is consumed per-time. People always tend to get bigger potion of fast foods than the recommended size because of how good it tastes. Learning to control oneself and knowing the amount of fast food to take in a day or week is very crucial.

By making good choices and being mindful of portion sizes, it is possible to enjoy fast food in a healthier way, without jeopardizing ones health.

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