Fast food is loaded with calories from refined sugar and fats (especially, the arteryclogging saturated and

hydrogenated fats, which are repeatedly reheated to high temperatures for frying purposes). It is also very high in sodium, coming from common salt and other additives. On top of all this, fast food is deficient in dietary fiber and essential micro-nutrients like vitamins and minerals. To make matters worse, heaps of fast food are normally guzzled down with gallons of sugarrich colas which many fast-food restaurants serve free with food as an incentive. To make a long story short, all this results in piling up of unused empty calories in the body, which get stored as body fat " till one day you look in the mirror and realize that your great figure has been replaced by this creature in the mirror. But that's not the end of the story, it's just the beginning. Consuming too much fast food not only turns a handsome guy into an unsightly obese man, but as Eric Schlosser points out in his book it is a big health hazard too. And being physically inactive only adds to the problem of obesity. Not many people who love fast food are ready to acknowledge that obesity is not simply an eyesore. It is a major risk factor for a large number of deadly diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and even many types of cancers. Recent scientific studies have shown that high-calorie foods rich in fats, refined sugar and salt could reconfigure the hormones in the body in such a way that they make you crave for such foods and always leave you asking for more. In other words, fast food is kind of addictive; you get hooked on to it and continue consuming it in an uncontrolled way in spite of knowing that it is unhealthy. The more you consume, the more difficult it is for you to opt for healthy foods. The situation is worse in case of children who from a very young age get hooked on fast food. Making them change their food habits from fatty and sweet foods and develop a taste for health-promoting fruits and vegetables is a task easier said than done. Such children would grow up to be obese adults who have never felt the advantages of being a healthy weight.

Weight Gain and Obesity A typical fast food meal is extremely high in fat and calories. Weight gain occurs when you consume more calories than you burn in a day. In a 2004 study published in "The Lancet," researchers found that eating more than twice per week at fast food restaurants is linked to significantly more weight gain over time than occasional visits. Similarly, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley in 2009 noted that living near a fast food restaurant is linked to a 5.2 percent greater risk of obesity. Type 2 Diabetes The 2004 study noted that regularly eating fast food doubles your chance of developing insulin resistance, which heightens risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The number of people worldwide living with diabetes has more than doubled since 1980, from 153 million then to nearly 350 million in 2011, according to a report in "The Guardian." Fast foods are typically served with soft drinks, milk shakes and other beverages that contain high levels of sugar. These added sugars contain no nutritional value and can promote weight gain, thereby negatively affecting heart health. A 2013 study published in "Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care" notes that high-sugar diets increase insulin resistance, promote weight gain and are a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and type-2 diabetes. The study concluded that reducing added-sugar consumption could increase longevity and quality of life.

Cardiovascular Conditions Higher densities of fast food restaurants are linked to a greater risk of cardiovascular health problems. In a 2005 study published in the "Canadian Journal of Public Health," researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Ontario, Canada found that regions with high concentrations of fast food restaurants are 2.62 times more likely to have extremely high levels of hospitalization for coronary problems. A 2010 study by researchers at the University of South Australia supported this. Their findings, published in the "European Journal of Epidemiology," indicated that, for each 10 percent increase in the density of fast food restaurants in a region, people are 1.39 times more likely to die from a cardiovascular condition. Many foods use trans fats to bring costs down, preserve foods and add desirable flavors and textures. Fast-food restaurants often deep-fry foods using trans fats. These unhealthy, manmade fats can both lower your good cholesterol while increasing bad cholesterol. This, in turn, raises the risk of developing heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes. A 2010 study published in the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association" notes that when 2 percent of total caloric intake is composed of trans fat, the risk for cardiovascular disease rises by a whopping 23 percent. The American Heart Association notes that saturated fats, when consumed in excess, also increase the risk for heart disease and stroke.

Sodium for Hypertension sodium's flavor-enhancing properties make it a favorite ingredient among fast-food restaurants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that over 75 percent of dietary sodium comes from restaurant foods and packaged foods. When high levels of sodium are consumed, blood pressure rises, and the risk for hypertension and heart disease increases. A 2012 study published in the "American Journal of Medicine" notes that a high sodium intake is not only linked to hypertension but stroke, ventricular hypertrophy (the thickening of the heart's walls) and proteinuria -- a condition that indicates kidney damage. All-Cause Mortality Fast food is associated with an increased risk of death even after ruling out deaths due to cardiovascular conditions. In its 2005 study, the Canadian research team noted that regions high in fast food restaurant density are 2.52 times more likely to be extremely high in all-cause mortality. Similarly, the researchers at the University of South Australia in 2010 noted that each 10 percent increase in the concentration of fast food restaurants in a region is linked to a 1.36 times greater risk of all-cause mortality.