Fast food can cause health problems

Fast food craze is a new social phenomenon that has taken the world with a storm. In every major city, you are likely to find a major fast food chain serving customers on the go. Many people like fast food because the food is ready and fits in their busy schedule. Fast food has been linked closely with the obesity and diabetes epidemics that have engulfed the US. This essay investigates the pros and cons of eating fast foods. 

Advantages 

Fast food is literally fast thus, a time saver. In the world we live in today, people are always on the move. Consequentially, people hardly have time to sit down and prepare a meal by themselves. Fast foods have become popular because they serve a certain need, especially the need to eat while on the move. On that note, fast food is a time saver (Frantic Foodie, n.d). The fact that people can walk into a fast food joint grab something and eat it on the go helps keep people on the move with their busy schedule. 

Fast food is cheap. People are always looking for the most in terms of quantity at the lowest cost. Fast food meets this objective. Fast food offers a cheaper alternative than buying food items and grocery store and settling down to prepare the food (Frantic Foodie, n.d). The fact that some fast foods come with drinks all in one inclusive cost makes them cheaper than food cooked at home. 

There is an increased availability of healthy options. Fast food has a reputation of being unhealthy due to high amounts of calories, salt, sugars and calories. However, as the society becomes more health conscious, all this is changing (Frantic Foodie, n.d). Consequentially, fast foods are beginning to offer more healthy options to their customers thus breaking the tradition of being notoriously unhealthy. 

Cons of fast food

Fast food has its downside which has to do with health. One of the leading health scourge that has been blamed on the fast food craze is the obesity scourge which interrelated to the diabetes scourge affecting the population. This follows that fast food, for the most part, only offers junk food which is mainly fat, sugar, salt, and calories. This means that there are no chances of having a balanced meal with fast foods (Fisk, 2016). The intake of large amounts of salt introduces large amounts of salt to the body. This poses a major risk of heart problems because of high blood pressure. Consequentially, kidneys are forced to work harder to expel the excess salt, which increases the risk of heart disease and also the risk of kidney failure (Fisk, 2017). Fisk of Livestrong (2017) notes that fast food could also be a major cause of depression. 

Conclusion 

Overall, Fast food has its pros and cons. For the pros, it is time saving, it is fast, it is relatively cheap and it is healthy. For the cons, fast food is a leading cause of many health epidemics such as obesity, heart disease, kidney failure and diabetes. Notwithstanding the advantages of such fast food, fast food is a threat to human health. 

Referrences 

Fisk, M., (2017). Fast Food & Bad Health Side Effects. Live Strong.  Retrieved on March 23, 2018 from https://www.livestrong.com/article/353199-fast-food-bad-health-side-effects/

Frantic Foodie, (n.d). 9 Big Pros and Cons of Fast Food. Retrieved on March 23, 2018 from https://franticfoodie.com/9-big-pros-and-cons-of-fast-food/