We’ve heard it a million times, but some still ignore it. However, recent studies show that the popular “Western diet” is not only unhealthy, but causes malnourishment. Ironically enough, researchers state that this wave of fast food chains and high calorie products is due to the average citizen’s rise of income.
So, basically, the richer people are, the more likely it is they will have an unhealthy diet of processed food found in supermarkets, pizza places or burger joints.
Most of the drawbacks upon our health have been repeated many times, but now it has also been observed that the lack of nutritional value in fast food also leaves us malnourished. It had nothing to with ‘how much we eat’ and all to do with ‘what we eat’.
There are poorer, less financially stable countries that do not promote fast food and have a more beneficial diet with much less access to the proper, fresher, healthier ingredients.
What is described as a “Western diet” is a food pallet consisting of mostly red meat, with high levels of fat, sugar and salt, and very low in fibers. It has gained great popularity and become more in demand from 1961 to 2009 in more economically developed countries.
The dominant and main characteristic of the diet is that it relies on the overconsumption of supermarket processes food with unhealthy fats, unnecessary addition of sugar and highly salted meals, all of which are harmful to our health.
This fact has been well established for a long while and it’s tightly tied to population’s migration to the cities. It restricts their former access to the proper food source and it undergoes several chemical processes before it travels from agricultural fields to our own markets. The urban life wants more calories and they’re provided in an ’empty’ form.
The consequences to living an unhealthy lifestyle are endless and our daily meals hold a vital role to our future. Problems such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease or joint pains are just a few of the long list of issues to affect us in our old age. Perhaps it’s not enough to caution everybody.
However, there is also hope as it can still be prevented through the most difficult thing to get and hold onto, sheer will. The change has to be made by our own choice and it is possible. Although it can be made difficult by the appetizing aspect and smell of unhealthier options.
It’s faster, sometimes tastier and, more importantly, easier to get. You can see fast-food restaurants spreading on almost every corner of our cities, with long lines already formed in wait. It’s a high contributor to one of centuries most common conditions, obesity.
The matter has been debated over numerous times and it’s impossible for anyone in this day and age not to be aware of the dangers awaiting in packaged processed food and every bite of pizza. While it’s fair to say that it’s fine to indulge every now and then, making a bad habit out of it, until we memorize the menu will eventually catch up to us.
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