“The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger.”
-Chris O’Brien

Fast Life and Faster Food

How do countries like China, India, Italy and Mexico bond with the West? With their famed cuisines! These cuisines have helped to evolve the notoriously famous ‘fast foods’, which have prompted taste buds, across the globe, to work overtime.

Fast food, as the world understands, is mostly a burger, a pizza, with various toppings or fillings, accompanied by French fries and washed down with cola. The present day need for speed is dictating terms on how we live and what we eat. People on-the-go find it easy to pick up food or have it delivered at their doorsteps, depending on whether they are too rushed or can spare a minute to “dial a pizza”.

Though fast food began with the quintessential burger and French fries in the US, it now includes various food types ranging from locally adapted versions of Mexican food to Chinese food, prepared with all types of meats. The basic requirement is that they be hot, tasty, cooked fast and served across a counter or delivered at the required place, be it office or home.

Why Fast Food is Bad Food?

Fast food culture has changed what we eat and how we eat it. Food is no longer savored but just serves as a stop- gap measure to silence the pangs of hunger before we move on to the next activity on our busy schedule. Quality has taken a back seat, and likewise the balance in nutrition .

Taste is still high on our priority and that is why popular fast food outlets cater to taste without giving so much of a thought to the harm that some of the ingredients cause. Food dripping with cheese, loaded with spices or deep-fried to please the palate, spell bad news for our metabolism.

Some of the points to be noted about fast food are:

• It is high in trans fats and calories
• It is low in fibers
• It makes extensive use of white flour, which lacks vital nutrients.
• Often eaten as snacks, in between meals, hence increases calorie intake.
• Triggers metabolic disorders, Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), heartburn, acidity and constipation.
• Fuels health hazards like obesity, dyslipidemia, diabetes and heart disease.

Meal Time, TV Time

Differing work schedules of people within a family have gone against traditional family meals that are becoming increasingly rare. With the invention of television came quick meals and what are considered, hassle-free TV dinners. For many busy people in the West, dinner is a ready- made frozen pack, in a mall freezer, that gets into a microwave for a couple of minutes at home before it is stuffed into the mouth, with eyes glued on the TV. Fast food just took them one step ahead.

Global Survey on Fast Food

Synovate, the research firm that surveyed the food habits and health in 13 countries, with special reference to fast food and obesity, found that UK topped the list in fast food consumption across the world. “I like the taste of fast food too much to give it up,” said many youngsters who were interviewed.