It is easy to fall into a trap of eating unhealthy foods, as they are quick, convenient and taste great. You may not immediately be affected by a regular intake of fat foods, but over time it could contribute to many different health issues including heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Unhealthy foods they are top heavy in calories with little, to no nutritive value, meaning it does not benefit your body in any way. We understand that it can be quick and convenient, but once the nutritional value is replaced by foods high in sugar, bad fats and salt it can be hard to then turn it around.
We take a look into how detrimental a regular intake of fat foods can be to your body.
Digestion
Eating a balanced diet means your meals consistently involve an even amount of carbohydrates, protein, fats and fibre. When you start to eat a balanced diet, your body begins to work in tune leaving your blood sugar levels normal. Large quantities of carbs cause your blood sugar levels to soar as your digestive system breaks carbs down into sugar and releasing it into your blood stream.
Once sugar is released into your bloodstream, your pancreas reacts by releasing insulin to transport sugar to different cells located around your body. If you begin to eat fatty foods too frequently, your insulin resistance increases and could potentially cause type 2 diabetes.
Some believe you may need a fixed amount of sugar, but remember that they add nothing beneficial to your body. A balanced amount of fat is exactly what you need, however over consuming adds little to no extra value to your body or diet. Both sugar and fats are contributing factors to heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
High Cholesterol
Junk foods or unhealthy foods offer an unhealthy amount of trans fat. Trans fat is produced through ‘hydrogenating’ different types of oil and has become increasingly associated with health problems.
Trans fat also has a direct relation to heart disease, as they are known to increase your bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) levels and decrease your good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) making your body more and more vulnerable.
Bad cholesterol is where the fats from the foods are known to deposit themselves within your arteries making them a lot less flexible. Good cholesterol carries LDL away from your arteries and straight back to your liver. As you can see one builds your cholesterol whilst the other prevents it.
Obesity is caused when you consume too much food and do not move enough. If your diet is high in fats and you do not exercise, your body stores the extra energy as fat.
Eating fast, or junk food can be seen as a quick fix, but it can damage three essential organs; your heart, kidneys and liver. Junk foods are packed with saturated fats, which help bad cholesterol settle in your arteries.
Not only is it packed with saturated fats, it can damage your blood vessels producing considerable inflammation. This is how cholesterol sticks to the walls of your arteries, blocking them and eventually blocking the flow to your heart.
Unsurprisingly, junk food can have the same effect on your liver as alcoholic beverages. The trans fats found in junk food are known to cause your liver to dysfunction.
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