[captionpix imgalt=”Disadvantages Of Fast Food” imgsrc=”http://www.kickthedietinghabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mouth-expecting-food.jpg” captiontext=”Programmed To Eat”]
The western diet (or daily dietary intake) has changed over the last quarter century which somehow got translated to less developed countries as something aspirational. Do we laugh or cry at such an interesting yet understandable development.
There’s no need to name names, because we all know who they are! Instead let’s ask ourselves how did saturated fat, sugar and salt products manage to become so mainstream? As a nation we’re addicted but is that due to any of the following:
Convenience: Maybe but as UK chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrated on his F-Word TV show a good wholesome meal can be cooked and served up in a matter of minutes. So its probably not a real time factor although it could be perceived time as we’re all convinced we’re too busy, busy?
Tasty: Not everyone would agree with that. Those who eat in a controlled manner probably wouldn’t finish a whole portion of any of the junk foods on offer.
Cost: Isn’t this the biggest misconceptions of all. You hear people time and again decrying the cost of fruit and vegetables and the latest national average figures, according to The Independent – 02.01.12, shows that people spend far more on takeaways and eating out than they do on fruit and vegetables.
[captionpix imgalt=”Disadvantages Of Fast Food” align=”right” imgsrc=”http://www.kickthedietinghabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/word-eat.jpg” captiontext=”Eating Fast Food”]
Improved Lifestyle
Have we been mis-sold on the idea of easy living by somehow believing the Fast Food Outlets when they tell us how much the convenience has improved things (which on occasion is fun) but when did they become a way of life taking precedence over fresh healthy produce?
It’s quite ironic that fast-foods are so attractive to the undeveloped world when it seems more fitting for us to adopt more of the health-enhancing dietary ways of which they’re letting go.
Although we see television documentaries about malnourished children suffering in countries like Africa it doesn’t seem to stop our propensity forpoor food choices that can escalate into Western-food-related diseases, such as cancers, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.
Is It All About Perception?
In the eyes of a speedily growing economy steered by its next generation the opening of a newly arrived western fast-food outlet seems decadent, a must-have mark of success.
But more importantly this pattern gives scientists some vital statistics when it comes to comparing both sets of eating-habits, where older generations maintain (their dyed-in-the-wool healthier choices), as opposed to the predictable ascendency found in a stress (and obesity) based lifestyle as it begins to have it’s own impact as soaring healthcare costs represent just one form of casualty, to say nothing of the reduced quality-of-life endured by health sufferers.
There’s such an imbalance in all of the above examples, yet none of these systems appears to have it quite right, what do you think is missing, is it educational, economic or social? Or have you got other ideas, please leave a comment, I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Looking at world history it’s clear that obesity has directly resulted in the earlier named conditions, but are we looking in the right places? With all I’m learning in META-Medicine it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that lifestyle is what lurks behind these diet-related health conditions and likely to be turned towards to release some of our everyday stresses. META-Medicine views our poor eating as more of a symptom (in the sympathetic stress phase) of the disease process, as stress automatically requires quick-release energy giving foods during the stress phase. So which comes first the chicken or the egg … which is a topic for another day.
Of course the way we eat fast-foods by their very nature encourages us to scoff because they’ve such a lack of nutritional content which is what the body really craves, and is why empty calorie products leave us wanting more and thus eating more.
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