Outrageous Eats: Some Fast Facts On Fast Food

Convenience comes at a price. Fast food may be cheap, but your body and your health are paying for it, big time. Here are some stats that may surprise you.

Reality check

Here’s what you should be consuming daily:
Calories:           2400
Total Fat:             65g
Saturated Fat:  18g
Trans Fat:     < 1g
Cholesterol:  200mg
Sodium:      < 2400mg

 

So what?

It’s tempting to enjoy the convenience and tastiness of fast foods. But limiting portion sizes and your intake of calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium can help you live a long and healthy life, and can help prevent certain diseases. Your body will thank you.

• You need calories to live and breathe, but consuming too many will lead to weight gain.
• Your body needs fat for certain functions, but eating too much of the wrong fats will increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
• Too much cholesterol in your diet can lead to heart disease and heart attacks.
• Sodium causes your blood to hold fluid, so having too much salt in your diet can raise your blood pressure.

What the fat?

If the recommended daily amount of total fat is 65 grams, but you should only be consuming 18 grams of saturated fat and less than one gram of trans fat, where should the remaining fat come from? Healthy fats do exist. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good for your heart and your health. Peanuts, avocados, olive oil, and salmon are good sources of healthy fats.

Written by Faze contributor Kristen Aran