Final Draft

Fast Food, Short Life.

Life is more hectic than ever, between school, sports, clubs and friends, who has time to think about what to eat? Time for another choice: fast food. This kind of food is popular and commercially successful in most modern societies, because of its variety of flavors. There are fast food restaurants on every corner, and also the prices are very cheap, which makes it available to everyone. However, “junk food”, another name for this type of food, is often criticized for having side effects which people would regret for the rest of their lives. Fast food can cause medical problems such as a fatty liver, heart attacks and strokes at early age.
Fast food can cause medical problems such as fatty liver. Where the liver’s cells are build up to fat. The liver in the body plays an important role in the metabolism or breakdown of fats. By eating a lot of “junk food”, the fat is accumulated in the liver, producing another health damages as diabetes mellitus and high blood triglycerides (any of a group of lipids that are formed from glycerol and fatty acids and are widespread in animal tissue). Dr David Ludwig, who led the research, Fast-food Diabetes Link Warning (2002) said: "Fast-food habits have strong, positive, an independent associations with weight gain and liver problems in young black and white adults."
Another risk that is taken by ingesting fast food is strokes, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Where the blood supply is interrupted by rupture or obstruction of a blood vessel of the brain. As a consequence a stroke involves the sudden loss of neuronal function and can cause neurological damage or even death if not promptly diagnosed and treated. Strokes can affect patients in different ways such as physically, mentally, emotionally, or a combination of the tree. Some of the physical problems include paralysis, pneumonia, appetite loss, vision loss. Also stroke can result from direct damage to emotional centers in the brain or from frustration adapting to new limitations. 30 to 50 % of strokes survivors suffer depression which is characterized by irritability, sleep disturbances and lethargy. According to the book PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 1 (2004), pp. 112-118, people who ate fast food, compared with those who did not, consumed more total energy (187 kcal; 95% confidence interval), more energy per gram of food (0.29 kcal/g; 95%), more total fat (9 g; 95%). These results prove that “junk food” is a fuel for all kinds of diseases.
As a result, fast food is rich in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, salt and cholesterol, which are the main factors that lead to suffer heart disease. Most heart attacks are caused by a blood clot (mass formed by a portion of liquid thickening and sticking together) that blocks one of the coronary arteries. When blood can not reach part of the heart, that area starves for oxygen. “A diet high in cholesterol combined with smoking and lack of exercise can accelerate the heart attack process” this is an extract from the article “Heart Attack” (http://www.emedicine.com/).
In conclusion, fast food is harmful for people’s health because its effects can be lethal, such as, heart attacks, strokes even fatty liver. Therefore, knowing all the consequences that eating fast food caused in the body; people should be more sensible on their choices in order to have a healthier life.

Montenegro, Silvia.

Hurtado, Yndira.

Chacon, Edi.

Rengifo, Nasha.

Gonzalez, Patricia.

Saparrat, Rita.