Food is one of the essential needs for a person to live a healthy and sustainable life. We all believe in the saying that “you are what you eat”. Your eating habits reflect what kind of person you are and what kind of lifestyle you have. It is important for a person to eat healthy in order to live healthy, but in the fast paced world we are forced to eat unhealthy food that will make us full than satisfied. The need of people to eat has been served by fast food restaurants and instant foods. Fast, delicious yet unhealthy foods delivered right on your doorstep anytime and anywhere. The convenience of unhealthy and unhygienic foods makes people eat it more than healthy foods. The availability is also the reason why people chose it over home cooked meals that takes too much time and is not always available.
One of the most unhygienic foods that people consume too much is fast food and instants foods. Some may be puzzled how it became unhygienic if it came from restaurants and fast food chains that promises quality product and service. The problem with fast food is that it is cooked fast and most of the items on its menu are fried. When raw food is cooked fast, it has the tendency to be cooked outside but raw inside and this happens most of the time when you order on fast food chains. Another thing that makes it unhygienic is the oil used in frying most of the food on their menu. Because they are always rushing to serve many customers at a very short amount of time, they do not have enough time to change the used oil and to clean to kitchen area while cooking the food. The only time they get to clean the place thoroughly is when closing time approaches or when the wave of customer subsided. Imagine other restaurants that are open 24 hours straight.
Instant foods also suffice our needs when hunger strike but it is not very good for our health. Instant noodles for example, a study show that instant noodles when consumed takes up to two weeks before it is fully digested by our stomach. The chemicals added on to it are foreign to our body that is why our body takes too long to digest it. Canned goods are also the same because the preservative added to it are chemicals that can be harmful to our body if consumed regularly. The added sugar on canned fruits to preserve it also dissolves its nutrients and makes it a food that will make diabetes worse. All the instant food and drinks that we thought will make our life convenient is actually taking a toll on our health. It is more important to eat natural food than to consume the instant ones. Last example of unhygienic food is street foods that can be bought on street sides. This may be cleanly prepared, but the fact that it is sold on streets makes it unhygienic. The dust and pollution coming from cars and the air can be mixed to our food without us knowing.
It is still safer and healthier to eat home cooked meals and fresh fruits and vegetables. It may be a little inconvenient because food products without preservatives can spoil easily, but it is still the best way to keep track of a healthy lifestyle. A little effort and planning will be enough and will surely benefit everyone. Always think that health is not something you can buy when it’s gone, so if you still have it take good care of it so that you will live a longer and livelier life.
