Fighting the Fast Food Giants
A ParentGuide® Web Exclusive

If you’ve ever wanted a reason to boycott fast food, keep reading.

Dr. Carson Liu, Medical Director for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Garden Grove Hospital, is a firm believer that one of the major reasons contributing to the childhood obesity problem is prevalence and easy access to fast foods—foods high in calories, salt and fat. “Kids can afford to go out and buy these foods and eat lots of calories quickly,” he contends. What’s more, “the body craves fat, salt and sugar.”

There’s a growing body of research supporting Liu, research that suggests that fat, salt and sugar can actually be “addictive” and can actually affect our bodies’ hormonal balance. In addition, the high concentration of carbohydrates in fast food works on our brain chemistry by releasing the hormone Serotonin—a hormone that calms us and make us feel good. So, naturally, we want more.

To add to the concerns about fast food, Liu asserts that fast food companies may even know this information and design foods with lots of sweeteners, fat and salt “so the mind is trained to work on getting in the next bite.” For example, ketchup at some of the fast food restaurants has high fructose corn syrup in it, a sweetener that makes the ketchup taste sweeter, but that may be absorbed differently in the body, functioning more like fat than glucose (sugar).

So, if you decide to burger and fry it, beware. You might be setting up a possible addiction for your child—and you!

To read more about healthy eating, pick up the SEP/OCT 2006 issue of ParentGuide®!