Why We Eat So Much?

Things we know but ignore about fast food

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

’For the first time in the Soviet Union, an American capital opened a branch. Approximately 5,000 citizens await the opening of the first fast food restaurant. On the first day, a record was broken with the number of customers.’

January 31, 1990

Many things have changed since then, both in Russia and in the world. Besides, there were some changes in the Fast Food menu ingredients. For example, the number of entrées and desserts in a menu increased by 226%, the sodium of items increased, the portion sizes increased, and therefore calorie intake increased. As these values ​​increased, health risk increased.

People who get bored with famines and wars over the years, now wish for prosperity, peace and tranquility after the effects of WW2. Fortunately, this didn’t take too long. After the war, the entertainment and service sector grew rapidly. Before only high-income people could go to restaurants, but now middle and low-income people could also benefit from this service. When it comes to the 1950s, people met a new term: Fast Food.

Fast food restaurant chains that can deliver delicious and satisfying menus, in a short time, have developed rapidly. It was very popular among the consumers and easy to open a new branch. There is no need for a chef for every branch; same recipe, cheap labor, and an area of ​​10–15 square meters was enough. However, these foods, which were loved and consumed at the beginning, would become known as “unhealthy ” as the time passed.

Yes, now we all know that fast food is unhealthy. But we still consume it. Perhaps the definition of ‘unhealthy’ in our mind has no meaning, or we think that no harm from eating one-off. That is the dilemma I want to untangle ‘Why are we still consuming although we know it is unhealthy?’ I think it would be easier to avoid that if we know why. So here we go.

Researches in many parts of the world indicate that fast food consumption is associated with obesity, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (China, Iran, USA, France).

• The biggest reason for these diseases is excessive caloric intake. When you eat a medium-sized McDonald’s menu, you get more than half of your daily calorie demand. In one meal! If you have chosen an ordinary diet, two more meals and snacks are left for the rest of the day. This leads to a caloric surplus and then, to be stored in fat cells. This causes obesity. Obesity, on the other hand, creates many health problems such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney problems, diabetes, and liver diseases. Fortunately, if you are a teenager and can do high-intensity intervals training every day, you can maintain your insulin resistance and cardiometabolic order.
• Another troublemaker is sodium. The recommended daily sodium intake is 2300 mg. The bowl of cereal with skim milk contains 250 mg, a slice of pizza, and a salad with a light dressing contains 710 mg of sodium (CDC). But with only one medium-sized fast food menu, you get 1325 mg of sodium which is 57% of the daily need. If it is consumed excessively, it causes hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. One-tenth of the deaths due to cardiovascular causes are connected to sodium.

The more sodium you take, the more calcium in your body will be taken out without being absorbed! For the sake of an example, approximately 40 mg of calcium is lost with 2290 mg of sodium. 40 mg of calcium loss per day is equivalent to 10% bone loss for a decade. This leads to osteoporosis in the future.

Of course, this is not over. There are other negative outcomes;

• For example, there is a correlation between depression and fast food. We call it correlation; Because the causality relationship has not been proven yet, so we cannot say with certainty that the cause of depression is due to the nutrient content that comes with fast food consumption. It is observed that people who consume fast food, are more tend to depression.
• There are some studies reporting that it is also associated with infertility due to fats and phthalates after long period of consumption. Fats and phthalates taken into the body due to long-term fast food consumption are thought to cause reproductive disorders.
• It is also associated with menstrual irregularities, low energy, and acne.

Just like milk.

Yes, milk! Milk increases the risk of heart disease due to the cholesterol, increases the risk of prostate cancer due to the calcium(AICR), and correlated pancreatic cancer, type 2 diabetes, and many other diseases due to vitamin D. But, if you drink more than 1 liter per day!

Just like fast food, if it is consumed too much, it will lead to much harms. Our main problem with fast food is: consuming too much.

“Everything is poison, there is poison in everything. Only the dosage makes a poison or not.”

— Paracelsus

So why is fast food consumed so much?

#1 More sugar is attractive

• The majority of fast food meals are accompanied by a soda, which increases the sugar content 10-fold. And that sugar allows us to eat more and be addicted to sugar.

According to an experiment, rats are given sugared water and forage every 12 hours for a week. (Dietary supplement — 12hr wait — dietary supplement — …)
Result: Thanks to sugar, rats want to eat more and withdrawal syndrome occur when they cannot find sugar.

#2 The pursuit of dopamine

• The reward systems in our brains are designed to reward us while encouraging for survival. While meeting our basic needs such as eating and sex, this reward system comes into play and a chemical substance is released: Dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that briefly says ‘Keep doing what you are doing right now!’. We perceive that as pleasure.

When we visit a foreign place, we meet with these pleasure centers i.e. familiar places such as fast food restaurants and we tend to eat in there.

#3 Instinctively, high-calorie foods seem more delicious to us

• The reason we want to choose fast food is not cheese or sauce in it: it is calories. High-calorie foods directly affect brain reward system. Human brain developed at the time when food was limited, so we became experienced at choosing food with calories. According to experiment about rats without sugar receptors, they were provided with normal and sugary water. Although rats preferred normal water at first, after a while they started to move on the water with sugar.

The brain may notice a diet with calories, even if it does not perceive taste.

#4 Brain have an ability to learn and make predictions about the world based on past experiences

• When you enter the restaurant, same texts, same colors, the same menus, the same smells … Just like Pavlov’s dogs; instead of ringing the bell, brands and symbols are stimulating our brain. Even the brand symbols of fast food chains directly affect people’s eating habits and other behaviors. These symbols have such a place in our brain when we are unconsciously exposed to these symbols, our reading speed increases even if there is no time limit and we prefer to get it at that moment, not in the future with larger returns.

Some researches show that the presentation is more seductive than the food itself.

#5 Cheaper?

• Being cheap is also a reason for preference. But this is actually a delusion. Because it is consumed more than enough due to accessibility and that means spending more money.

The fast food diseases lead more money loss in the future.

#6 GIP and Leptine

• GIP hormone that controls insulin and energy expenditure, and leptin hormone that creates a feeling of satiety and notifies us to stop eating. When fatty food is consumed, the level of GIP in the body increases and rushes to the hypothalamus. Then, inhibits the action of the leptin in there. And the feeling of satiety is delayed. In this way, we are eating more food. (Source)

#7 Usage of MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)

• MSG stimulates taste receptors, allowing you to perceive food more tasty and easily accept flavor. Usage of MSG is a highly controversial issue. Although some studies say that ‘it may be harmful’, health authorities of many countries have approved the usage of MSG.

All these factors increase our dependence on fast food products. Accordingly, our health deteriorates and our stress levels generally increase. Interestingly, there are studies showing that fast food consumption also increases due to stress. So more fast food means more stress and even more fast food. It is very difficult to break this cycle, and the obesity epidemic across the world points to this problem.

In fact, fast food is harmful as much as ‘everything’. What makes Fast Food more harmful than other foods is: we tend to eat it too much… We can reward ourselves by eating fast food. And it’s very easy to do. Because it is accessible, cheap, fast, and delicious.