Many people question how fast food causes diabetes.  The answer isn’t as simple as you might think.  Fast food is a great convenience to us as a society.  Americans in general work long hours and have very busy lives.  So, a nice fast meal is a good thing, in a way.  It provides us a way to eat quickly and at a good price.  However, these foods are usually not nutritious and they often have high levels of salt and carbohydrates that are pleasing but in no way good for you.

To understand how fast food causes diabetes, you must first have a basic understanding of the disease.  There are genetic factors at play, but for the most part type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance.  Insulin is the hormone which helps sugar to enter the cells so that it can be converted into energy.  Overtime, as we eat more and more carbohydrate-rich foods (such as fast food chains often serve), the cells begin to ignore the insulin and stop taking in sugars from the bloodstream.  When the body is no longer able to use the insulin properly, it causes the glucose (sugar) to remain in the bloodstream.  Elevated levels of sugar in the bloodstream cause serious damage to various parts of the body, such as your eyes, teeth, nerves, and vital organs.

 

Fact Showing How Fast Food Causes Diabetes

 

LiveStrong.com provides information about how fast food causes diabetes in their article labeled Fast Food and Diabetes.  Several studies are reported here.  One such study was conducted over a 15 year period, and at it was found that young people who eat fast food on a regular basis are, not only more likely to gain weight, but also develop insulin resistance by the time they are middle aged.  Furthermore, a geographic study found that communities which have high amounts of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores also have higher rates of obesity and diabetes.  These results were completely independent of income, gender, or ethnicity.

Here are some other important facts, provided by K12.Mo.US, which may help you understand how fast food causes diabetes:

  • The fast food industry has grown almost 1000% over the last 35 years.
  • Over 50 million Americans eat fast food daily.
  • Americans spend over half their food budget on fast food.
  • Portion sizes have become 600% larger over the last 50 years.  In 1950 most hamburgers weighed 1 ounce, and today they typically weigh about 6 ounces.
  • On average a fast food meal is about 1500 calories.  This is ¾ of the average daily caloric intake recommended for a person.
  • It is predicted that 1/3 of the children that were born in the year 2000 will someday develop type 2 diabetes.
  • Insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes is caused by people being overweight and having bad eating habits 90% of the time.