Fast food is not exactly seen as a contribution to a healthy diet. Even the friends of burgers, kebabs, fries, pizza and co. do not claim this. The obvious disadvantages of this form of nutrition are too great when it is made the main component of the daily diet.
Asthma is also a potential side effect of fast food
The direct consequences can be read on the scales every day. Of course, because fast food, just like many convenience foods, has a decisive disadvantage: They are usually high in calories and contain a lot of saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids and trans fats are not only calorie carriers, they are also metabolically active and can promote inflammatory reactions. This often little-noticed property of saturated fatty acids could also offer an explanation for the observation by epidemiologists that lovers of fast food carry a significantly increased risk of asthma. After all, allergic asthma always has an inflammatory component.
Asthma is also a potential side effect of fast food
The direct consequences can be read on the scales every day. Of course, because fast food, just like many convenience foods, has a decisive disadvantage: They are usually high in calories and contain a lot of saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids and trans fats are not only calorie carriers, they are also metabolically active and can promote inflammatory reactions. This often little-noticed property of saturated fatty acids could also offer an explanation for the observation by epidemiologists that lovers of fast food carry a significantly increased risk of asthma. After all, allergic asthma always has an inflammatory component.
Researchers from China and Australia, for example, report in a comprehensive analysis based on several hundred thousand participants' data that eating more than 3 hamburgers per week correlates with a significantly increased risk of asthma and severe asthma. Not only that, but also for other inflammatory-allergic diseases such as hay fever, inflammatory diseases of the skin, nasal mucosa and conjunctiva, a correlation was found in the data analysis between the consumption of burgers and co. and the risk of disease.
Saturated fatty acids increase the risk of allergic diseases
The researchers found a 58% increase in the risk of asthma and a 43% increase in the risk of hay fever. These are serious differences that should make fast food lovers with a tendency to allergies think about changing their eating habits. But the study also has a positive message: If the fast food lovers limited themselves to 1-2 burgers or similar per week, no increased risk of allergic-inflammatory diseases was found in the data analysis. Not only that. Even the daily trip to the scales could literally be easier.
Tip: No one has to give up fast food completely for health reasons. With an otherwise balanced diet, burgers and the like can be eaten in moderation without any additional risk of allergic respiratory diseases.