Fast food Essay Example for Free

fast-flying nutrient Essay1 Departm ent of Clinical Biochem istry , Gentofte Hospital Univ ersity of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denm ark of bombil ingest an Nutrition, Centre for Adv anced Food Studies, Faculty of Life Sciences, Univ ersity of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denm ark 2 Departm ent Correspondence A Astrup, Departm ent of Hum an Nutrition, RVA Univ ersity , 1 9 58 Frederiksberg C, Denm ark. Em ail ast kvl. dk Abstract.Although nutrition experts magnate be able to navigate the menus of nimble- sustenance eatery chains, and based on the nutritional information, compose app arently rose-cheeked meals, there are still many reasons wherefore frequent fast-food consumption at most chains is unhealthy and contributes to freightinessing gain, obesity, causa 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. tight food generally has a uplifted-energy density, which, together with large portion coats, induces over consumption of calories. In addition, we tolerate found it to be a myth that the typical fast-food meal is the alike intercontinental.Chemical analyses of 74 samples of fast-food menus consisting of French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/ fervent wings) bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries in 20052006 showed that the radical plummet content of the alike menu varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC. In addition, fast food from major chains in most countries still contains unacceptably high levels of industrially produced trans- rich acids (IP-TFA). IP-TFA capture powerful biological effects and may contribute to increased weight gain, type AB obesity, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.The food quality and portion size need to be improved before it is safe to eat frequently at most fast-food chains. Key words trans-fat t y acids, fast food, energy densit y Introduction In the documentary film Super Size Me, the lawsuit Mr Spurlock ate McDonalds food three times a day for 30 days and gained 11 kg . It is quite obvious that one can purposely lug on almost any diet, but the film raises the question of whether fast food poses a special health risk.To what extent this behaviour is a pictorial trait in the general population, and to what extent fast-food consumption contributes to obesity and other morbidities such as type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease, is still debatable. earlier drawing any conclusion as to whether there are causative links between intake of fast foods and disease, ideally randomised trials should be conducted to fork out square-shouldered evidence on this issue. However, it is highly unlikely that such trials comparing frequent and infrequent fast-food consumption will ever be carried out.We therefore have to rely on observational epidemiology and on mechanistic studies. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 1/5 1/3/14 external ledger of Obesity Fast food incompatible and unhealthy Epidemiological studies A number of observa tional studies have assessed the association between frequent fast-food intake and weight gain. The American population study Cardia suggests that frequent fastfood consumption is positively associated with weight gain and risk of insulin resistance over 15 years.Individuals who had meals at fast-food restaurants more than deuce times a week gained 4. 5 kg more weight and had a 104% greater increase in insulin resistance, at both baseline and follow-up, than individuals who ate less than one fast-food meal per week. 1 This study was the first long-term project to find that people who frequently expose themselves to fast foods are at increased risk of weight gain over time and of developing type 2 diabetes.The study had several limitations such as the population size of only 3000 individuals and the fact that self-reported information about diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors has inherent measurement errors. These factors, however, would normally tend to underestimate the strength of the determine associations. Other observational studies have to some extent supported the existence of a causal link. However, observational studies can non prove that the association between fast-food consumption and weight gain is causal.It remains possible that frequent fast-food consumption is simply a marker for a generally unhealthy lifestyle (e. g. , less restrained eating behaviour, fatty and sweet food preferences, and a sedentary lifestyle), factors which are the real culprits in weight gain and in the increased risk of diabetes. Although every trial is made to adjust for potential confounders, one cannot adjust for unmeasured or unmeasurable lifestyle factors. Mechanisms by which fast food can be obesogenic plenty size.Despite the above-mentioned limitations in epidemiological observational studies, most of us would accept that the link between intake of fast foods and weight gain is causal because there are several mechanisms whereby fast foods could produce weight gain. At least deuce important features of fast food could explain why fast food is fattening, namely, large portion sizes and high-energy density. It is well established that the bigger the portion size, the more we consume. 2 Portion sizes of burgers, fried potatoes, pizzas, and soft drinks at fast-food outlets have all increased 25-fold over the last 50 years.3 Energy density In addition to large portion sizes, fast food is also characterised by high-energy density, that is high energy-content/food-weight ratio. The energy density of the entire menu at fast-food outlets is typically 1100 kJ/100 g. 4 This is 65% higher than the sightly British diet ( 670 kJ/100 g) and more than twice the energy density of recommended healthy diets ( 525 kJ/100 g). Humans have only a weak unconditioned ability to recognise foods with high-energy density and to downregulate the bulk eaten to meet energy requirements appropriately. 4 Industrially produced trans fat.French fries and fried meat from fast-food outlets contain high amounts of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. Trans fats are fats in margarines, spreads, and frying oils, produced by industrial hardening of vegetable or marine oils, to make the product more stable and full-bodied for handling and storage. The hardening results in the creation of a so-called trans double bonds in the fatty acids of the lipids, in contrast to the normally occurring cis double bonds. This increases the melting points of the fats, thereby increasing shelf-life.Trans-fatty www. nature.com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 2/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food unfriendly and unhealthy acids are also found naturally in meat from ruminants and in dairy products, but not nearly to the same extent as in industrially produced trans fat (up to 5%, as compared to up to 60% in fats), and not of the same types as in IP-TFA. In a worldwide study of the content of IP-TFA in fast foods, biscuits, and snac ks, we found contents of IP-TFA ranging up to 50% of the fat in the products, enabling consumers to ingest 36 g of IP-TFA in a single meal in the US.5 A daily intake of 5 g trans fat, corresponding to 2 energy percent, is associated with an approximately 30% increase in CHD risk. 6 Observational studies have found that a high intake of IP-TFA is stronger associated to the risk of weight gain and gain in abdominal fatness than to the intake of other fat sources. 7 Although unaccounted residual confounding cannot be ruled out, other sources of research support that the relationship is causal. First, IP-TFA serves as ligands for the PPAR- clay and can exert a biological effect that promotes abdominal obesity.6 Second, a recently reported long-term randomised trial in monkeys delivers robust evidence that IP-TFA induces weight gain and abdominal obesity. Kavanagh et al. 8 reported their findings at the 66th ADA meeting in Washington, D. C. For over 6 years monkeys were fed two differen t isocaloric, western-style diets that contained either 8% of their calories from trans fat or the same amount of fat calories as cis-monounsaturated fat. After 6 years, the IP-TFA fed monkeys had gained 7. 2% in organic structure weight, compared to a 1. 8% increase in body weight in monkeys fed with cis-monounsaturated fats.CT scans showed that the monkeys on the trans-fat diet had deposited 30% more abdominal fat than the monkeys on the cismonounsaturated fat diet. Taken together these studies suggest that IP-TFA is obesity promoting, and that they particularly facilitate the deposition of the harmful abdominal fat associated with CHD. These findings can contribute to explaining why high intakes of IP-TFA may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. 9 Fat content in fast-food menus To select more healthy choices at the fast-food restaurants, nutritional labelling must be both available and accurate.While most chains provide nutritional information about total calories, calories fro m macronutrients, and fibre content of their products, we do not think that the average consumer who eats at a fast-food chain has the time or ability to make a reasonable estimate of health consequences of such meals or their contribution to the days caloric intake. The results of our analyses of total fat and trans fat in 74 French fries and fried chicken (nuggets/hot wings) samples bought in McDonalds and KFC outlets in 35 countries during 20052006 are given in Figure 1.The figures represent the total fat and trans fat content in 160 g of chicken meat and 171 g of French fries, corresponding to a large serving at an American McDonalds outlet. In these meals the total fat content varies from 41 to 65 g at McDonalds and from 42 to 74 g at KFC the trans fat content varies from 0. 3 to 10. 2 and 0. 3 to 24 g, respectively. The differences in total fat content can at least in part be due to local taste preferences, but this is not the case for trans fat, which does not add a special flavour to the food.The results show that the same product, by the same provider, can vary in fat calorie content by more than 40%, and in trans fat content by several orders of magnitude. This demonstrates that the same product, unknown to the consumer, can vary substantially in its compliance with recommendations for healthy food. Figure 1. The entire length of the bar (both colours included) indicates the am ounts of total fat in a large fast-food m eal consisting of 1 7 1 g French fries and 1 6 0 g chicken nuggets.The darker colour indicates the am ounts of industrially produced trans fat. The v alues in parenthesis are the am ounts of trans fat as a percentage of total fat. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 3/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food unfriendly and unhealthy Full figure and legend (305K) Conclusions Fast-food restaurant chains may argue that the evidence linking their products to the supersizing of their customers is too weak. But should not the customer be given the benefit of the doubt?Appropriate actions would include reducing portions to normal sizes, eliminating industrially produced trans fat, and selling burgers of lean meat, square grain bread/buns, fatreduced mayonnaise, more vegetables, lower-fat fried potatoes, reduced-sugar soft drinks, etc. Moreover, reliable nutritional information should be given by the chains, which requires better standardisation of the foods used. 10 Although these measures may raise prices, such changes in fast-food meals would have no adverse health effects but quite the opposite References 1. Pereira MA, Kartashov AI, Ebbeling CB, Van Horn L, Slattery ML, Jacobs Jr DR et al.Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study) 15-year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005 365 3642. Article PubMed ISI 2. Diliberti N, Bordi PL, Conklin MT, Roe LS, Rolls BJ. Increased portion size leads to increased energy intake in a restaurant meal. Obes Res 2004 1 2 562 568. PubMed 3. Young LR, Nestle M. Expanding portion sizes in the US marketplace implications for nutrition counseling. J Am Diet Assoc 2003 103 231234. Article PubMed ISI 4. Prentice AM, Jebb SA. Fast foods, energy density and obesity a possible mechanistic link.Obes Rev 2003 4 187194. Article PubMed ChemPort 5. Stender S, Dyerberg J, Bysted A, Leth T, Astrup A. A trans world journey. Atheroscl Suppl 2006 7 4752. Article 6. Mozaffarian D, Katan MB, Ascherio A, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. Trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med 2006 354 1601 1613. Article PubMed ChemPort 7. Koh-Banerjee P, Chu NF, Spiegelman D, Rosner B, Colditz G, Willett W et al. Prospective study of the association of changes in dietary intake, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking with 9-y gain in waist circumference among 16 587 US men.Am J Clin Nutr 2003 78 719727. PubMed ISI ChemPort 8. Kavanagh K, Jones K, Sawyer J, Kelly K, Wagner JD, Rudel LL. Trans f at diet induces insulin resistance in monkeys. Diabetes Care 2006. Proceedings of 66th scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association Abstract 328-OR. www. nature. com/ijo/journal/v31/n6/full/0803616a. html 4/5 1/3/14 International Journal of Obesity Fast food unfriendly and unhealthy 9. Salmeron J, Hu FB, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Rimm EB et al. Dietary fat intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in women.Am J Clin Nutr 2001 73 1019 1026. PubMed ChemPort 10. Astrup A. Super-sized and diabetic by frequent fast-food consumption? Lancet 2005 365 45. Article PubMed Acknowledgements SS and JD declare no difference of interest. AA is medical advisor for Weight Watchers, and is member of several advisory boards for food producers. The Department of Human Nutrition receives/has received research funding from over 50 Danish and international food companies. Otherwise, I declare no conflict of interest. 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