Fast food

According to Wikipedia.org: "Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly…typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away."

Fast food dates back long before the twenty first century however.  In the cities of ancient Rome for instance, street vendors had stands that sold bread soaked in wine as a quick snack in the mornings, and cooked vegetables and stews were sold in simple eating establisments later in the day.  Many people living in urban areas during these times had no means to prepare or cook their own food, so they relied on these vendors for their meals.  During the Middle Ages, large towns and major urban areas such as London and Paris had many vendors that sold dishes such as pies, pastries, flans, waffles, pancakes and cooked meats.  Like the early cities of Rome, many of these vendors catered to people who did not have the means to cook their own food or could not afford housing with kitchen facilities.  Thus, they relied on fast food.

As we fast forward to 1916, a gentleman by the name of Walter Anderson had built the first White Castle restaurant in Wichita Kansas, in which he introduced a low cost, limited menu, high volume hamburger restaurant.  People liked the low cost hamburger, fries and colas that were offered.  As time went on, more and more fast food establishments were opened and familiar sights such as the ‘golden arches' have now become mainstream places to eat.

Along with the popluarity and increase in fast food restaurants, many serious health issues have also become popular and are on the increase.  Nutrient depleted and high-calorie foods, as well as lifestyle choices, are taking their toll on the health of many people.  Obesity, type 2-diabetes (now being coined ‘diabesity' because of the relationship between weight and diabetes), high blood pressure, heart disease, and arthritis are becoming the popular and ‘accepted' chronic diseases of Western civilization, with many other developing countries not far behind.  And researchers are now beginning to admit that diet plays a huge role in the prevention and treatment of disease.

Fast food is highly processed and loaded down with additives.  Many of these additives found in fast and processed foods are substances that damage our cells.  Although many of these chemicals have been approved by the regulating government bodies, they are still foreign to the body and can cause health issues.  If these substances cannot be processed and disposed of (or eliminated), they can end up lodged in our tissues or fatty areas, which creates an acidic pH.  Considering disease can only survive in an acidic pH environment, it makes sense to stay away from foods that are doing this.