- 1. Weight gain
- 2. Increase in blood pressure
- 3. Increase in cholesterol
- 4. Diabetes
- 5. Intestinal problems and cancer
- How to reduce consumption of industrialized products
Frequent consumption of frozen ready-made food, such as pizza, lasagna, nuggets and hamburgers can bring several health hazards, such as increased blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.
This is because these foods are rich in salt, sugar, saturated fat and chemicals to enhance flavor and preserve food for longer. Below are the main problems that these products bring to health.
1. Weight gain
In general, frozen ready-made food is very high in calories, leading to weight gain and uncontrolled amount of body fat. Even small portions of this type of food have a high caloric concentration, and do not bring satiety to the intestine, which leads the individual to eat more and more often.
2. Increase in blood pressure
Ready foods like lasagna, nuggets, powdered soups, instant noodles and diced spices are rich in sodium, a salt compound that is primarily responsible for raising blood pressure.
A 300 g serving of lasagna, for example, has more than 30% of all the salt an adult can eat each day, while a cube of meat seasoning has twice as much salt as an adult can eat the whole day. Thus, it is easy to overdo the salt when consuming industrialized products, which increases the risk of developing high blood pressure.
3. Increase in cholesterol
In addition to salt, these products are rich in saturated fat, which is primarily responsible for raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol. This increases the risk of developing problems such as atherosclerosis, which is the clogging of blood vessels by fatty plaques, fat in the liver, heart attack and stroke.
4. Diabetes
Another common characteristic of ready-to-eat foods is that they are rich in sugar, an ingredient widely used to improve the taste of the preparations and increase and leave the consumer addicted to the sweet taste.
However, excessive sugar consumption increases the risk of developing diabetes, especially in people with a family history of this disease.
5. Intestinal problems and cancer
Due to the high content of chemicals, such as preservatives, flavorings, dyes and flavor enhancers, frequent consumption of these foods can also lead to health problems like stomach irritation, colon cancer, headache, tingling, kidney stones, nausea and reduced absorption of vitamins in the intestine.
In addition, food additives such as monosodium glutamate leave the palate addicted to the artificial flavor of the food, which causes increased consumption of this type of product. See Chemical additives are most dangerous to health and what foods they are in.
How to reduce consumption of industrialized products
To reduce the consumption of processed foods and the dangers they bring to health, one should prefer to consume foods in their natural form, such as rice, beans, fresh meat, milk, cheese, yogurt, fruits and vegetables. In addition, it is important to use natural spices to flavor food, such as garlic, onions, basil, pepper, parsley and oregano.
Industrialized products should be avoided, especially for children, the elderly and people with health problems such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. In this way, it is possible to have a more natural diet with less fat and chemical additives, which also helps in weight control and the prevention of various diseases.
