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I love fast-food breakfasts, especially those odd spongy discs injected with syrupy goo - yum! As a health writer, I'm certainly aware that many fast foods are laden with unwanted calories and unhealthy fat, and eating too much of these foods can lead to weight gain. But I still find it hard to resist the appeal of speed, convenience and affordability, not to mention that inexplicably satisfying taste.
So nothing would make me happier than blogging about how eating lots of fast food is really not that bad after all. Unfortunately, I can't. The number of studies looking at the impact of fast food is expanding almost as rapidly as the nation's waistline. And collectively, these studies paint a pretty bleak picture. It seems that a steady diet of fast food may affect not only our weight, but also our overall health and behavior.
Eating may be hazardous to your health.
Many fast foods are high in calories and artery-clogging fat, and that's one way the national appetite for fast food may contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A recent study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill underscored this point. It found that young people who ate lots of fast food while growing up were more likely than those who didn't to have a higher weight, waist circumference and triglyceride level as well as a lower HDL ("good") cholesterol level at age 20.
You are what you don't eat.
It's not just what you eat that affects your health, however; it's also what you don't eat. Research suggests that easy access to fast food is associated with a lower intake of fruits, veggies and whole grains - foods packed with health-promoting vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals. From a disease prevention standpoint, it's a classic double whammy: higher risk coupled with lower protection.
Impatience is not a virtue.
The whole concept of a drive-thru is predicated on the idea that we're in too much of a hurry to get out of our cars, let alone cook a proper meal. Now a recent study from the University of Toronto suggests life in the fast-food lane may lead to impatience that extends beyond the eating realm. In the study, exposure to fast-food symbols increased people's reading speed, even when they were under no pressure to read quickly. In addition, thinking about fast food increased people's preference for timesaving products, even when there were other product characteristics to consider. Although not proven, it seems possible that, in some people, a fast-food mindset might foster the impatient, time-pressured psychological style that has been linked to cardiovascular disease.
Don't have a stroke over it.
Taken together, these factors seem to predict an increased cardiovascular risk, and that's exactly what one study found. The study looked at the risk of ischemic stroke - the common type caused by blockage of a blood vessel to the brain - in 64 neighborhoods from a county in Texas. The more fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood, the higher the stroke risk was there. All told, the risk of stroke was 13% higher in neighborhoods with the most fast-food restaurants, compared to those with the least.
And yet.
As I'm writing this at 9:00 a.m., my mouth is watering. Just thinking about those breakfast sandwiches makes me want one. I know I'll be driving right past the fast-food eatery that sells them on my way to an appointment in about half an hour. Will I make a quick stop? Let's just say that this time I'll definitely think before I eat.
Linda Wasmer Andrews writes about health and psychology for websites, magazines and books. She writes about healthful eating frequently, and actually eats that way sometimes.
Visit Linda online at LindaAndrews.com. | Follow her on Twitter.
