Habits: Fast Food

Habits%3A+Fast+Food

Amber Songster, Reporter

We are all guilty of choosing fast food after rummaging through our kitchens and coming up empty-handed. The worst is when you have a pantry overflowing with healthy foods and you choose the McDonald’s drive way simply because of laziness. 

According to health and wellness teacher Kelly Payne, fast food can be addictive. 

The amount of sugar in most fast foods causes your brain to light up like a Christmas tree, meaning the body will crave more the next day,” said Payne. “It is understandable that high school students are busy with after school activities such as sports or a job; being able to grab fast food is convenient. However, consuming fast food regularly can cause one to feel fatigued and even depressed.”- And to add to that, not only is fast food timewise convenient but it is also financially so, however, it quickly adds up. 

“When you make your budget each month one category you should budget for eating out. You just need to decide how much you want to spend on eating out, which would include fast food. The key is that you stick to your budget and don’t spend more than you allotted for that category during that month.”

So fast food is a definite no but what about instant foods? Personally, ramen noodles are always a saving grace but as to be expected, they are no better, if not worse, than fast food. 

“Ramen Noodles are made to last Armageddon if our atmosphere can’t break down Ramen Noodles what makes you think the human body can break it down? It is full of preservatives-one of which is sodium,” said Payne. “Ramen Noodles also contains TBHQ, it is the same chemical found in lighter fluid.”

I often find processed foods are cheaper than healthy foods when I stroll through the grocery store, and it has been proven true. 

The researchers found that healthier diet patterns cost significantly more than unhealthy diets,” according to Harvard School of Public Health. “On average, a day’s worth of the most healthy diet patterns cost about $1.50 more per day than the least healthy ones.”

So what do we do about this? 

“You will need to create a category for groceries in your budget each month,” Scott said. “If you prefer to buy healthier foods that tend to be more expensive you will need to adjust your grocery category accordingly.”

So with that in mind, how good does McDonald’s sound right about now?

“The less you eat fast food the better, but when you do eat it try to go for healthier options,” said Payne. “Subway, Qdoba, Topp’t. When choosing items look for fewer caloric foods-foods that are grilled and not deep-fried, baked chips instead of regular, whole-grain bread over white, brown rice over white, etc.”