Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick: Top 10 Possible Reasons

If you want to know, Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick? Keep reading this article.

Many people don’t really feel that good after eating fast food. But even if you feel no effects, it’s unlikely your body has been entirely spared from the consequences of what you’ve eaten.

Hormones and neurotransmitters are both affected by the fast food you consume, leading to a number of possible negative side effects, including headaches, stomachaches, moodiness, fatigue, and more.

Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick: Top 10 Possible Reasons

The average restaurant meal contains a huge variety of different chemicals, fats, and sugars which can upset the digestive system.

These include highly refined starches such as refined white flour (which make up to 50% of the food on your plate), processed meats, foods high in fat, and sugars such as cakes, desserts, and other assorted sweet foods, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives.

Even if you eat only a small portion of what’s on your plate or only one specific type of food, then you’re sure to suffer from negative side effects.

Top 10 Possible Reasons Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick:

1. Food Processing Is Unnatural

Processed foods are made by removing the whole food from its natural state, blending it, removing any remaining fiber, and then heating/cooking it to make the food easier to eat or digest.

In all cases, the food is completely stripped of its natural nutrient content, leaving you with little more than empty calories.

2. Food Additives Are Unnatural

Added sugar and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharin are added directly to processed foods to improve taste and prolong shelf life.

These chemicals have also been found to harm health, including contributing to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick
Why Does Fast Food Make Me Feel Sick

3. Food Additives Are Harmful

Added food colors are food additives that have been linked with hyperactivity in children, ADHD, and autism.

But food colors aren’t the only additives to be considered potentially harmful to your health: high salt levels, as found in processed foods, have also been shown to impair memory and cause heart disease.

4. Food Processing Uses Pesticides

Processed foods are treated with high volumes of pesticides such as paraffin wax, hydrogenated oils, and artificial colors.

These chemicals can have serious negative effects on your health, and they’re not even necessary – the use of these chemicals is banned elsewhere around the world due to their work against human health (more on this here).

5. Hot Foods Can Upset Digestion

Eating food at hot temperatures has been shown to damage the villi found in your gut, leading to a poorer ability to absorb nutrients from the food you eat.

6. Fast Food Contains Chemicals

Processed foods contain high volumes of chemicals that may cause you harm. Highly refined starches such as white flour, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives are all included in processed foods.

All of these disrupt your neurotransmitters and hormones, leading to problems ranging from moodiness/fatigue to disrupted sleep patterns and memory loss.

7. Fast Food Is High In Unnatural Fats

The amount of fat in processed foods varies depending on the specific product, with some being high in omega-6 and omega-3 fats while others are full of trans fats.

Both unhealthy fats can be found in processed foods such as pastries, pizza, biscuits, and other foods cooked at high temperatures – but they don’t stop there.

8. Food Additives Will Harm Your Health

These include artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives that have been found to cause negative effects, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

9. Fast Food Imbalances Your Neurotransmitters

Many of the chemicals found in processed foods, such as sugar, artificial sweeteners, and other additives, cause disruption in the neurotransmitters that control your mood and sleep patterns. These chemicals can lead to problems such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and insomnia.

10. Fast Food Increases Appetite

Processed foods have been shown to increase appetite and reduce sensitivity to insulin, leading to an increased risk of weight gain.

Why Does Fast Food Upset My Stomach?

Frequently eating unhealthy processed foods such as burgers and fries can upset your stomach or cause bad symptoms that make you feel worse than you already do.

However, suppose you’re not feeling sick afterward, and the effects of what’s been eaten don’t affect the rest of your body. In that case, it’s very likely that the food hasn’t contained enough “healthy” ingredients to actually digest.

The majority of processed foods contain whole ingredients which are stripped from their natural state before cooking. This means that you’re left with highly refined carbohydrates (such as white bread), potentially harmful pesticides and chemicals (such as aspartame), and high levels of trans fats, which can upset your health.

Why Does Fast Food Make Me Poop?

While you may not have the desire to poop after eating food, bowel movements are very common after eating a meal that contains high levels of processed foods.

This is because many addictive processed foods contain large amounts of refined carbohydrates, which are known to cause bowel movements.

Fast Food Makes Me Poop: Top 10 Reasons Why

1. Fructose Is Hard To Digest

Processed foods and fast foods often contain high levels of fructose, which your body finds difficult to digest in large amounts. The fructose found in processed food is often used as a sweetener, but it can be harmful if consumed in large amounts.

2. Trans Fats Are Difficult For The Body To Break Down And Process

Processed foods contain large amounts of trans fats, which are known to be harmful to human health.

3. High Levels Of Bad Bacteria Can Cause Constipation

Processed foods often contain high levels of preservatives, chemicals, artificial colors, and flavors – all things that have been shown to disturb your gut microflora and cause diarrhea and constipation.

3. Processed Foods Are Lacking In Fibre

The body needs fiber for optimal digestion and elimination, but it often doesn’t get it from processed foods: refined carbohydrates and added sugars remove the vital fiber from whole ingredients before adding extra sugar, preservatives, or other chemicals.

4. Processed Foods Lack Digestive Enzymes And Friendly Bacteria

Your digestive enzymes and friendly bacteria are vital for healthy digestion. However, when whole ingredients such as fruit and vegetables are refined, your body has less organizational power to break down food into nutrients. This means you’re left with fewer enzymes and beneficial bacteria, making digestion more complicated.

5. Many Fast Foods Are High In Sugar

Processed food often contains large amounts of added sugars, artificial additives, and colored food additives: all ingredients which can disrupt your gut microflora and cause weight gain.

Sugars also have a very low nutrient content and cause problems such as gut damage, hormonal imbalances, and tooth decay.

6. Raw Vegetables Upset My Stomach

Many processed foods contain large amounts of refined carbohydrates – something that many people aren’t used to eating in their natural form, resulting in an upset tummy or inability to digest them fully.

7. Processed Foods Contain Harmful Chemicals

Many processed foods contain chemicals, artificial colors, preservatives, and other additives that disturb your gut microflora and cause diarrhea, constipation, or worse symptoms.

8. Processed Foods Contain Fats That Damage The Gut

Fats in processed foods are known to damage the health of your gut in many ways. These include creating inflammation and producing fatty acids that prevent apoptosis (cell death), leading to cell growth/cancer and causing cell death and toxicity.

9. Processed Foods Are High In Damaging Chemicals

Many processed foods contain high levels of trans fats, which have been shown to cause changes in brain chemistry and have been linked with health issues such as cancer.

10. Fast Food Contains Artificial Colours

Fast foods are often high in artificial colors and flavors, many of which have been linked to health issues such as cancer and hyperactivity in children.

How To Feel Better After Eating Fast Food?

The symptoms you suffer after eating processed foods will depend on the type of food you’ve eaten, the quantity and consistency of what you’ve consumed, and the time it’s been since you last ate.

However, if your symptoms are severe or get worse over time, then it may be best to follow a raw food diet or eat more real food.

If you’re still troubled by your symptoms after following a healthy, balanced diet, it may be best to seek medical advice from a trained doctor, as some conditions can result from eating unhealthy foods.

The Bottom Line

Eating a diet high in processed foods can have a negative impact on your health. However, there are ways to ensure that what you eat is more beneficial to your body than it could possibly be harmful.

The easiest way to improve your health is by choosing the right foods, in their natural form, lightly processed, and containing very few preservatives and chemicals.

You may want to think about removing fast food from your diet altogether or at the very least limit yourself to once or twice a week. One of the worst things you can do for your gut health is to eat fast food, particularly processed ones, which contain so many chemical additives and preservatives.

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Hello! I'm Naznin Aktar, the food enthusiast and recipe curator at Naznin's Kitchen. Want to turn everyday ingredients into extraordinary dishes? Explore Naznin's Kitchen for a collection of recipes that are sure to inspire your inner chef and delight your loved ones.
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