Nutrition Facts About Fast Foods

Overview

Fast food may be inexpensive, but it will cost you. The convenient, fun, tasty foods are unhealthy. Fast food can cause serious adverse health effects down the road.

Calories

More than anything, fast foods are heavy in calories. The fried and processed foods, served in extremely large portions, provide unhealthy amounts of calories. Excess caloric intake can lead to becoming overweight or even obese.

Saturated Fats

Most fast foods contain the unhealthy kinds of fat, including saturated fat. Saturated fat increases your total cholesterol level, which clogs your arteries and can cause heart disease.

Trans Fats

Fried and processed foods are common sources of trans fat. Avoid trans fats because they raise total cholesterol and deplete your body of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good kind of cholesterol.

Cholesterol

Fried and processed meats can greatly increase total cholesterol levels. This is extremely dangerous because cholesterol clogs arteries that can raise blood pressure and even cause heart attacks and strokes.

Sodium

Fast food is often packed with sodium. This mineral is vital to many human functions. However, too much sodium can cause increased blood pressure, leading to heart problems.