The Root Cause of the Fast Food Epidemic Fast food is so addictive that Connecticut College found it to be comparable to cocaine and morphine (Schroeder, et al., “Student-faculty research suggests Oreos can be compared to drugs of abuse in lab rats”, 2013). Bad choices have led fast food to become so integrated into American culture that one of the most popular fast-food chains, McDonalds, has become an informal symbol for America. Many social scientists are been investigating why fast food has become such an epidemic, and they have several different opinions as to what is causing this crisis to wreak such havoc on peoples’ bodies.
It is not just adults—frequently, kids don’t even consider home-cooked food as an option. Think back to a time …show more content…
With their high sugar and lack of sufficient nutrients, fast food is strongly coordinated with mood swings, anxiety, and those with “short fuses” (Thayer, R., Energy, tiredness, and tension effects of a sugar snack versus moderate exercise., 1987). Fast food and irritability/tiredness then becomes a paradoxical cycle. It may seem that people’s decisions may not have as much influence when considering this, yet I implore you to think about how these biological complications got there. More often than not, it is because they or their parents initiated the bad choice to begin becoming dependent on these …show more content…
That’s right, people flock to fast food restaurants enough to become addicted. While there is a high correlation between good-tasting food and food addiction, fast food may have another factor. The high amounts of sugar present in fast food can lead to a physical addiction.
Since it is unethical to experiment on humans to find possible addictions, hard evidence is unavailable. However, sugar has been proven to be addictive to rodents that show signs of withdrawal and tolerance, and there’s a strong correlation to people doing the same (Garber & Lustig, “Is fast food addictive?”, 2011). As mentioned in the beginning of this essay, sugar addiction is comparable to hard drugs that send many people to rehabilitation (Schroeder, et al., “Student-faculty research suggests Oreos can be compared to drugs of abuse in lab rats”,
It is not just adults—frequently, kids don’t even consider home-cooked food as an option. Think back to a time …show more content…
With their high sugar and lack of sufficient nutrients, fast food is strongly coordinated with mood swings, anxiety, and those with “short fuses” (Thayer, R., Energy, tiredness, and tension effects of a sugar snack versus moderate exercise., 1987). Fast food and irritability/tiredness then becomes a paradoxical cycle. It may seem that people’s decisions may not have as much influence when considering this, yet I implore you to think about how these biological complications got there. More often than not, it is because they or their parents initiated the bad choice to begin becoming dependent on these …show more content…
That’s right, people flock to fast food restaurants enough to become addicted. While there is a high correlation between good-tasting food and food addiction, fast food may have another factor. The high amounts of sugar present in fast food can lead to a physical addiction.
Since it is unethical to experiment on humans to find possible addictions, hard evidence is unavailable. However, sugar has been proven to be addictive to rodents that show signs of withdrawal and tolerance, and there’s a strong correlation to people doing the same (Garber & Lustig, “Is fast food addictive?”, 2011). As mentioned in the beginning of this essay, sugar addiction is comparable to hard drugs that send many people to rehabilitation (Schroeder, et al., “Student-faculty research suggests Oreos can be compared to drugs of abuse in lab rats”,