Pizza, Burger, and Packaged Food Eaters to Quit Bad Habits After Reading This News

MP News: Serious Illnesses on the Rise Among Youth, Alert Issued on Smoking, Junk Food, and Processed Packaged Foods.

MP News: If you are consuming pizza, pasta, burgers, instant noodles, soups, ready-to-eat meals, and packed snacks for lunch and dinner, you might face chronic digestive cancer and serious heart conditions in the future.

According to a study report by AIIMS and Gandhi Medical College, cases of digestive cancer and heart disease among people aged 35 to 50 years have increased in recent years.

Excessive consumption of deep-fried and ultra-processed packaged foods is as dangerous as smoking. These have a slow effect on the body, and by the time the disease is detected, the condition has already become severe. The study indicates that the growth rate of colorectal cancer (intestinal cancer) is accelerating among youth in metropolitan cities, primarily due to the high consumption of ultra-processed foods. Doctors suggest transparency in the labelling of food products.

Why is it Dangerous?

1. C-reactive Protein Increases: It was revealed from patients' eating habits that 60% of their diet consists of ultra-processed foods and packed snacks. This leads to a continuous increase in the level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the body, which fosters heart disease, cancer, and metabolic disorders. Excessive consumption of pizza and burgers increases blood glucose, leading to the formation of insulin and cancer cells.

2. Disrupts Metabolism: According to doctors, artificial colours, sweeteners, flavours, additives, and preservatives are extensively used in packaged foods to make them durable, tasty, and appealing. These chemicals and artificial additives disrupt the body's metabolism, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and mental illnesses.

3. Junk food is high in calories and fat, and low in fibre.

4. Processed food contains high levels of trans fat. This type of fat is very dense.

Risk of Heart Disease

Food products made from refined flour, including pizza, pasta, burgers, and instant noodles, as well as processed foods, are high in trans fat. This fat is very dense and poses a risk of accumulating in the heart's arteries and thickening their walls. Consequently, the risk of heart disease at a young age increases.

– Dr. Rajeev Gupta, Head of Cardiology Department, Gandhi Medical College

Junk Food: An Indirect Cause of Cancer

Processed and junk food is high in calories and fat, and low in fibre. These indirectly cause cancer. Consumption of such food leads to obesity, and obesity increases the risk of cancer. Other chemicals are also used in these food products, but their harmful effects are not yet fully understood.

– Dr. Ankit Jain, Cancer Specialist, AIIMS Bhopal