Fast food and choosing one

Are you a foodie who cannot survive a day without snacking? Fast food is a type of food that is easy to get but hard to resist. Burgers, Fries, Fried Chicken, Chat, Samosa, Sweets, Donuts, Cakes, and anything that is cheap and readily available. These edible items are high in refined carbs, sugar, saturated fats, and processed ingredients that are not suitable and are junk for a healthy body.

Now overconsumption of these food items can make you fat and even harm your body as the ingredients do not provide any nutrients to the body. A lot of people crave junk food as it satiates the taste buds like no other food.

A heap load of funding goes into the research to find out the perfect crisp in the fries on the outside and to make the inside as gooey as possible. The outcome is a fry that makes you mindlessly pick another handful while your mouth is still full of the earlier stack.

The science behind craving is the release of the dopamine hormone while you munch on scientifically curated junk food. Even the thought of a particular fast food either through a visible cue or any other stimuli makes you crave it more. Even the roadside food stalls selling Paani-puri, chat, and samosas have been perfected to taste a particular way.

With the anticipation of having it, dopamine releases further and makes you crave even more. This craving peaks till you receive the food item on your plate. After you take the first bite the dopamine has already peaked. You enjoy the hormone rush and feel good. The brain has received its reward through the dopamine circuit that has rewarded your action. But the body has suffered the consequence of eating food that you are not meant to eat.

The rationale given by Foodies!

People often say one sweet does not harm. They have eaten fast food their whole life and nothing untoward has happened. The sad reality is that the effects are slow and unnoticeable at first. However, they compound soon. Due to the contrast principle, a slow and steady gain of weight goes unnoticed.

People also say it is one life and we should do and eat to our mind’s liking. True, being rigid about food choices makes you miss the goodness of food. But being a slave to your taste buds is no way of living either. Do you really need a sweet after each meal? Or the evening tea cannot go down without accompanied snacks or cookies? Are you so short of self-control that whenever offered, you can’t say no to a sweet being offered? These stark questions should be asked in tandem with the pitch of “one life to eat”.

Why we should ditch fast food?

Diabetes, Cancer, Heart disease, High Blood Pressure, mental health issues- which of these is the scariest? All scare me, I am sure you would agree too. And all of these can be caused by the excessive consumption of junk food. No, these claims are not exaggerated. You cannot actually afford to test for yourself. It is wiser to accept the authority of researchers who are fighting the battle against the greed of capitalism that is only concerned with profits.

So, what do you prioritize in your life? If you prioritize pleasure-seeking over your health, read no further. But if you are concerned about your long-term health and longevity, you must reconsider your default food choices.

What are the choices we have?

The first choice is to live a healthy life through a consistent exercise routine and eating nutrition-rich food that gives you leverage to indulge in your choice of food every now and then. But this is not to say that a workout gives you a free pass to eat whatever you like. You would not go far with this.

The second choice is to limit your intake of fast food if you happen to not work out but your nutrition is in the acceptable range. Also, you are not overweight and regulate your eating to not go overboard. So, the best way to manage this lifestyle is to eat fast food as less as you can because there is hardly any margin of safety left.

The third choice is to ditch fast food completely for a while if you prefer fast food every day. If you get your blood work done you surely will find many health markers in the wrong range. You are certainly overweight and a pizza is always a go-to choice over a salad bowl. The first step is to step away. Then rethink your priorities as you are certainly moving in the wrong direction.

You should take a break from your bad food habits and reassess your meals. While you strive to eat healthy you should replace your fast food options with some healthier options.

Replace your options

Choose healthier food options when you feel like snacking. Whenever I have to eat outside, I try to eat salads, grilled chicken, grilled chicken wraps, and sandwiches that are rich in protein. I try to eat wraps that have veggies and chicken wrapped in multigrain bread or wrap bases. I ask them to add minimum sauces to keep it as healthy as possible. I prefer eating Litti Chokha, Omelette, Corn, Sweet potato over Gol Gappe, Cholle Bhature, and Samosas which are the default Indian snacks for most people.

When I eat outside I request for less oil and spices in the food. I also try to avoid cold drinks which have added sugar. I know that the chicken used by outlets like Subway is packaged and processed. This is the case for every other retailer selling meat items with the exception of restaurants that use fresh-cut chicken/meat.

At other times I try to eat Indian food which is high in protein such as Dal and Paneer. I avoid food laced with butter such as Butter chicken or Butter paneer which is too high in fats. I invariably say no to fried items such as pakodas, samosas, matri, and a lot of other stuff. I almost always say No to Indian sweets which I know have no nutritional value other than sugar which I consider poison for the body.

So, if you are looking to find alternatives to fast food here is a replacement list for the commonly eaten fast foods:

Replace Crisps, Potato chips, or Namkeen with Popcorn, Chana dal, Peanuts, and Fox Nuts (Makhana).

Replace Coke with Coconut water/Buttermilk/Lemon water.

Replace Donuts with Oat Cookies without sugar.

Replace Mayonnaise dressing with mustard sauce.

Replace Fries with fruit cups or side salads.

Replace White bread with Multi-grain bread.

Replace Fried Chicken/Fish with Grilled Chicken/Fish.

These are a few examples where being mindful of your food choices can help you fight the ill effects of fast food. By consciously eating you not only increase your gut health but your overall wellbeing. Your mood, mental health, and productivity depend a lot on your gut. So, keeping the gut healthy is paramount to achieving your goals in other aspects of life too.

Start today as you might already be delayed. There are a number of lessons on health that one learns over time. Begin with this first lesson- Eat healthy to live healthy.