Fast foods contribute to poor diets in two ways -- they are often served in excessive portions and contain more detrimental nutrients than beneficial. In certain quantities, salt, cholesterol, sugar and fat harm rather than help metabolism, taking the place of more valuable dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Over time, this nutritional imbalance creates health problems and causes weight gain. The USDA Nutrient Database illustrates the caloric impact of eating at the drive-thru: a large bacon cheeseburger, large French fries, vanilla milkshake and fried fruit pie totals 1,986 calories. That's nearly 100 percent of the total calorie allowance in an average 2,000-calorie diet.
Heart Disease
Submarine sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches and many other fast foods contain high amounts of salt and cholesterol, as per the USDA, which can cause heart health problems. Eating a poor diet of salty foods often can cause high blood pressure, which makes your heart work harder. Lots of cholesterol contributes to clogged arteries, or atherosclerosis.
Alone or together, these conditions can gradually build toward heart disease, the number-one killer in America, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chest pain and potentially fatal heart attacks can occur. A greater tendency for blood to clot can also cause strokes that affect the brain.
Weight Problems
The extra calories from the fat in meats, fried foods and ice cream, and the sugar in desserts and carbonated beverages, burdens the body with unexpended calories. If you don't compensate with other low-cal food choices, you'll gain weight.
Even if you do cut calories elsewhere, you may not get enough beneficial nutrients to improve your poor diet, and you may fall back on fast foods when you are hungry. This can lead to obesity, which the Office of the Surgeon General defines as a body mass index of 30 or more. Obesity increases your risk for many health problems as well as an early death.
Higher Risk for Many Chronic Diseases
Overweight and obese people carry a higher propensity for developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and asthma, as well as cancers of the colon, gall bladder, prostate and breast, the Office of the Surgeon General reports. Complications from these incurable diseases include cardiac arrest, kidney failure and respiratory arrest.
In respect to weight-related health problems, a consistently poor diet can be fatal or at least detract from your quality of life. Higher chances of poor surgical outcomes, passing on birth defects and acquiring arthritis also stem from the type of weight gains brought on by eating too much fast food, too often.
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