What you eat can affect your heart's health and your chances of developing life-threatening heart disease. While an occasional fast-food meal isn't likely to cause any permanent harm, a steady diet of fast food may damage your heart in a number of ways. When you must eat at a fast-food restaurant, choosing the healthiest offerings on the menu helps reduce your risk of heart disease.
Risk Factors
While anyone who eats fast food too often increases his risk of developing heart disease, people who already have an increased risk of heart disease -- such as diabetics, people who are overweight, people with elevated cholesterol levels, those with high blood pressure and those with a family history of heart disease -- should avoid fast food altogether.
Causes
One fast-food meal can contain an entire day's calories, unless you choose carefully or eat only part of your meal. Obesity is one of the main risks of heart disease. Fast foods often contain high amounts of saturated fat, the kind most likely to raise low-density lipoprotein levels, the "bad" cholesterol. High LDL levels increase plaque inside blood vessels, blocking blood flow and increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Many fast foods contain high sodium levels, the University of Maryland Medical Center reports. High sodium intake raises your blood pressure, which is another risk for developing heart disease.
Study Findings
Weight gain and increased insulin resistance, associated with diabetes, both increased in young adults who ate fast food more often, a study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health found. The University of California at Berkeley found that proximity to fast-food restaurants correlated with an increase in obesity. Both diabetes and obesity increase the risk of heart disease.
Avoiding Trans Fats
Between 10 and19 percent of heart attacks in the United States could be prevented by eliminating trans fats from the diet, Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health states. Avoid trans fats -- semisolid oils used for baking, deep-frying and in sweets -- by reading the nutritional information that many restaurants now provide. Americans consume 2 to 3 percent of their calories in the form of trans fats, the Harvard University Gazette reports. Children who consume trans fats at a young age will most likely develop heart disease at a younger age, the University of Maryland Medical Center warns.
Prevention
Keeping fast-food meals a "treat," rather than part of your weekly meal plan reduces their impact on your weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Read labels before you enter the restaurant and know which choices are healthier. Choosing a grilled chicken salad with low-fat dressing over crispy chicken salad with Caesar dressing saves 160 calories along with 23g fat, Rutgers University Cooperative Extension website states.
References
- Rutgers University Cooperative Extension: Fast Food, Can It Be Healthy in a Pinch
- Harvard University Gazette: Fatty Foods Feed Heart Attacks, Researchers Say
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Trans Fats 101
- University of California at Berkeley: Linking Fast Food Proximity to Obesity
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Sodium in Diet, Food Sources
- American Heart Association: Understand Your Risk of Heart Attack
