Fast Food Genocide

by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

  In other words, oils give you calories fast, so they do not trigger satiety signals to stop eating—they actually induce overeating—and neither do they keep you satisfied for very long, compared to consuming a similar number of calories ingested from eating nuts and seeds. When you use nuts and seeds, which are a whole, natural food, as the major source of fat in your diet, you get anti-hunger and weight-favorable benefits. In addition, when you eat nuts and seeds, all the fat calories consumed are bound to plant fibers and not fully absorbed, resulting in a significant percentage of calories that are removed from the body via the stool and deposited in the toilet.9 A hallmark of the fast food diet style, which promotes obesity, is a high amount of fat calories coming from oil and very little from natural nuts and seeds.

  CRAZY FOR WHITE BREAD?

  Processed fats and oils are certainly bad for you, but sugar and white flour take the cake as the most dangerous fast food ingredients. According to accumulating evidence, these high-glycemic carbohydrates, with their huge glycemic load, are the most powerful obesity-causing, diabetes-causing, heart disease–causing, and even depression-causing components of fast food.

  Let’s be perfectly clear: Commercial baked goods containing white flour are devoid of nutrients and have almost the same glycemic load as pure white sugar.10 Eating breads, rolls, pizza, and pastries is not much different from sucking on a cube of sugar or eating candy. These foods not only promote obesity, heart disease, and diabetes—they also promote cancer.11

  A HIGH-GLYCEMIC DIET IS LINKED TO

  Colon cancer

  Breast cancer

  Endometrial cancer

  Lung cancer

  Pancreatic cancer

  Prostate cancer

  Fast food is not just loaded with sugar, sweetening agents, and chemicals; it also contains high-fructose corn syrup and other products made from white potato and white flour. To make things even worse, fast food is usually fried in oil, which increases its glycemic rush, obesity-promoting potential, and toxicity. Fry white flour, sugar, and artificial flavorings and colorings in oil, and you have a doughnut—a Frankenfood linked to a high risk of death.12

  According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amount of added sugar (other than what is contained in fruit and other natural plants) that you should have in a day is 25 grams or 100 calories. According to me, you should have none. Nevertheless, a 64-ounce soda, which equates to a large size at many fast food restaurants, can contain as much as 200 grams of sugar. That is mass addiction in action—and it’s legal. Even worse, many sugar-addicted parents give these harmful substances to their children.

  Addiction can be a powerful drive and difficult to resist, but food addiction is particularly insidious—it destroys people’s health, leads to medical dependence, and splits families apart. There is an epidemic of junk food addiction in many of our inner cities, where lack of access to fresh produce keeps segments of society sickly, sluggish, and mentally burdened—and thwarts their chances for educational and economic opportunities.

  FAST FOOD IS ADDICTIVE

  Consuming fast food is legal and socially acceptable. But these foods, rich in added sweeteners, salt, oils, and artificial flavoring (called “highly palatable foods” by scientists) have addictive properties. Eating a little makes you want more. Overeating and substance/drug abuse share important common characteristics, including tolerance (needing greater amounts over time to reach the same “high”), unsuccessful efforts to cut back on consumption, and use of the substance despite negative consequences.13

  Sugar-izing all foods to reach the “bliss point” that maximizes pleasure (and purchases), leads to a gradual deadening of the taste buds. Over time, this has two negative consequences: First, you crave more and more sugar; and second, the level of sweetness in natural foods (such as berries and carrots) no longer has any appeal. Children raised on fast food meals, soda, and frequent junk food treats do not like fruits and vegetables. Why? Because they can hardly taste these foods. Their taste buds have been shut down by excess salt and sugar and simply can’t register the nuances of flavors in real food.

  Fast food prevents you from tasting the naturally delicious flavors of fruits and vegetables; therefore, the very foods that provide the body with the necessary nutrients to thrive and live a long, healthy life are made less desirable by human-made processed foods designed to cultivate addictive consumption.

  Feeding sweetened soda, doughnuts, cake, and junk food to children is practically the same as handing them a shot of whiskey or lighting up a cigarette for them. There is just a small degree of difference between one addictive, dangerous substance and another. The same brain centers are stimulated by cocaine, narcotics, and super-sweetened foods. It is debatable which is more deadly, as so many people eat super-sweetened foods multiple times a day, every day.

  Drugs and food can have similar effects in the brain.14 We don’t eat solely because we’re hungry; we crave the pleasurable feelings we derive from food. Dopamine is a neurochemical that regulates motivation, pleasure, and reinforcement related to certain stimuli, such as food. The amount of pleasure we derive from eating a food correlates with the amount of dopamine released in the brain.15

  In the long-ago past, the dopamine reward system was a survival advantage, driving early humans to consume calorie-rich foods so they could store up energy for times when food was scarce. However, the effect of today’s processed, Frankenfood environment on these drives is a dangerous experiment thrust upon our species. Not only do these fast food calories shorten life span, but they slowly destroy the brain (see Chapter 2). Fast food calories affect intellectual function and judgment and can contribute to depression, aggression, and memory loss. Fast food intake also promotes drug addiction. Since fast food consumption can depress mood, decrease intelligence, and affect judgment it makes it more difficult to break free from food addiction. People become caught in a vicious cycle of brain stimulation with dangerous foods, which makes them more susceptible to all kinds of addiction, including dependence on prescription drugs.

  When someone abuses a substance—whether it’s alcohol, a drug, or addictive food—the brain reduces the number of dopamine D2 receptors, which is thought to result in a diminished reward response and a higher tolerance to the substance. In the case of overeating and obesity, for example, frequent consumption of ice cream has been shown to reduce the reward response. This means that over time, lesser amounts are no longer satisfying, and the consumption of more sweetened calories is needed to elicit the same amount of pleasure.16 The more fast foods people eat, the more they lose dopamine receptor function. This enhances the drive for more and more fast food and contributes to other addictive behaviors. The desire for fast food actually becomes more intense the more often it is eaten, because it excites impulse pathways in the brain. This drives the deadly cycle of overeating, weight gain, and more overeating.

  FAST FOOD: PLEASURE AND PAIN

  In addition to the effects on the brain, withdrawal symptoms from toxins that accumulate in the body because of fast food also contribute to overeating and food addiction. Toxic metabolites are waste products produced by the body that can cause inflammation and disease if allowed to accumulate. Consuming a diet low in micronutrients and phytochemicals results in inflammation, oxidative stress, and the accumulation of these toxic metabolites, including free radicals.17 The more fast food eaten, the higher the amount of toxic waste products in the body. The toxic load to the body and the simultaneous lack of micronutrients and antioxidants inhibit repair and removal of waste, leading to chronic inflammation and the inevitable development of serious diseases.

  Fast foods contribute to a constellation of substances that can congest our cells and lead to disease. Some are wastes produced by the body from consuming such foods, and some are toxins in the food itself.18

  CELLULAR TOXIC WASTES THAT INCREASE FROM FAST FOOD CONSUMPTION

  Advanced glycation end products (AGEs)

  Free radical
s

  Lipofuscin and A2E (a component of cell lipofuscin)

  Lipid peroxides

  Malondialdehyde

  Heavy metals

  Petrochemicals

  Phthalates (DEHP and DINP)

  Bisphenol-A (BPA)

  FOOD ADDITIVES CAN BE TOXIC

  •Potassium bromate is used in bromated flour and sold to commercial bakers to make dough more flexible and allow for higher rising. Bromine interferes with the body’s ability to metabolize iodine, promoting thyroid disease. It also induces tumors and cancers in rats.19 Bromated flour is considered a class 2B carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and has been shown to cause malignant tumors and to damage human DNA. It is banned in most of the world, including the United Kingdom, Europe, India, and China. Even though many fast food chains have stopped using it, bromated flour is still one of General Mills’s best sellers; the company supplies it to bakeries, supermarkets, and commercial food manufacturers within the United States.

  •Sodium phosphate or phosphoric acid is added to most fast foods and processed foods for leavening and to add moisture, color, and flavor. The least expensive processed foods, fast foods, and baked goods contain the most added phosphorus.20 In other words, the food purchased at convenience stores and fast food establishments are loaded with phosphorus. High levels of phosphorus in the blood are not just linked to the development of kidney disease in the future and death in kidney disease patients; high normal serum phosphate levels have been a predictor of cardiovascular death. This additive is associated with intravascular inflammation and calcifications as well, weakening bones.

  •Artificial coloring agents, such as Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, and Red No. 40, are added to just about every fast food menu item. The yellow colorings supply a golden hue to sauces, cheese, puddings, and soft drinks, while the red color is added to meats, shakes, and desserts that contain fruit.

  These toxic food additives mix with the metabolic toxins that accumulate in the body from eating a low micronutrient diet, leading to immune system dysfunction, autoimmune disease, and chronic degenerative diseases. The amount of toxins in the body rises with fast food consumption in proportion to the amount of fast food consumed. These toxins are linked to lower IQ, fibroids, endometriosis, thyroid disease, and the development of serious autoimmune disease.21 Unfortunately, not many people recognize the link between the accumulation of cellular toxins and poor health, serious autoimmune disease, premature aging, and excess weight and obesity.

  TOXIC HUNGER

  When digestion is complete after eating a meal, the body attempts to mobilize and eliminate accumulated waste products. This causes uncomfortable symptoms such as headaches, light-headedness, irritability, and fatigue. I call these withdrawal symptoms from an inadequate diet toxic hunger. Since eating halts this detoxification and removes the symptoms, people mistakenly believe that these uncomfortable withdrawal sensations indicate hunger.

  I have been researching this phenomenon for the past thirty years. During this time, I have observed that my patients’ perceptions of hunger change as they improve their diets. Their feelings of hunger become less frequent, less uncomfortable, and morph to be mainly felt in the mouth and throat, rather than in the head or stomach.

  My observations and conclusions have been documented in a study of 764 individuals published in a 2010 issue of Nutrition Journal. In the study, we showed that enhancing the micronutrient quality of a person’s diet, and removing processed foods, led to changes in the experience of hunger and a reduction in uncomfortable symptoms associated with hunger, despite a lower caloric intake.22 A diet of healthy food does not produce withdrawal symptoms; when the body is fed mostly vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds, there is nothing to detoxify. With natural healthful foods, toxic metabolites are minimized, and people no longer feel the need to overconsume calories to keep their energy up. When you eat healthfully, with adequate colorful produce, you don’t feel hungry between meals. When hunger eventually does kick in, it is because your body has a real biological need for calories.

  True hunger does not cause fatigue; it is not painful, and it is not uncomfortable. True hunger is a signal that directs the body to the appropriate amount of food it needs to maintain a healthy weight. True hunger does not drive overeating behavior; only toxic hunger does that. Responding to, and satisfying, true hunger cannot cause obesity. True hunger symptoms, felt mainly in the throat, only occur to maintain muscle mass, not to store fat. Improving the nutritional quality of your diet is the most effective and sustainable way to achieve—and maintain—a normal body weight.

  RESOLVING FOOD ADDICTION

  The only way to break an addiction is to abstain from the addictive substance, and that can be difficult at first. The period of discomfort associated with breaking your ties to addictive foods usually lasts two to three days, and then the discomfort lessens considerably. Two to three days of discomfort is a small price to pay for breaking away from food addiction.

  Trying to eat fast foods or sweets in moderation almost always fails, because your toxic hunger symptoms and addictive drive kick in. This is evident in the fact that most randomized controlled trials on weight loss have reported only a 6- to 13-pound sustained weight loss after two years.23 Compare that to the average 50-pound weight loss after two years reported by individuals who started out obese and switched to a high-nutrient diet.24

  To achieve sustainable weight loss, you need to pay attention to nutritional quality and eat a sufficient amount and variety of nutrient-rich, natural plant foods. If you continue to eat fast foods and try to lose weight by attempting to reduce calories, you are highly likely to fail. Eating unhealthful foods that cause toxic hunger will leave you forever fighting against powerful addictive drives that urge you to eat more, and to eat more frequently.

  Natural plant foods are not as intensely sweet and salty and as fatty as the processed fast foods that are purposely engineered to excite your bodily reward systems. When you consistently base your diet on healthful foods, in time your tastes change and the addictive desire for junk food fades away. Plus, as you continue to take care of your body and know that you are taking care of your future health, your self-esteem rises. Eating right is self-care, not deprivation.

  People should be aware that withdrawal symptoms from unhealthy foods, especially excess sugar and salt, can sometimes be severe. Fatigue, headaches, itching, low-grade fever, sore throat, and mild anxiety are common. Because people initially feel so ill when they try to eat healthfully, many are deterred from sticking with it. But as I’ve said, these symptoms rarely last longer than three days.

  The slow poisoning of the body from fast food does not merely occur from the toxins within the food. As a higher and higher percentage of our caloric pie is taken up by foods with empty calories—that is, calories that provide energy but very little nutrition—it becomes impossible to meet our requirements for micronutrients. Plus, for the body to digest and assimilate those empty-calorie foods, is uses micronutrients that are then subtracted from the body’s stores of nutrients. Modest micronutrient insufficiency is ubiquitous in the United States and is a major cause of immune system malfunction and chronic disease.25

  SWEETENERS AND THE KISS OF DEATH

  Fast food restaurants add high amounts of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to everything. It is not just in milk shakes and sweet desserts; HFCS is also hidden in breads, pizza crust, tomato sauce, and salad dressing, and even in the chopped meat used for burgers.

  HFCS is much sweeter than simple cane sugar, and it’s also cheaper. In addition, it acts as a preservative, extending the shelf life of foods. Fructose is highly soluble and does not crystalize, so it can remain effective in processed foods forever and not cause the food to harden. This allows products like cookies and candy to stay soft. HFCS is cheaper than sugar because of government corn subsidies, so the average soda size has ballooned from being 8 ounces to 20 ounces at little financial cost to manu
facturers. But the human cost—increased obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease—is great.

  Any type of sugar causes obesity, diabetes, and heart disease; sugar is also a major cancer promoter when used in excessive amounts. The person who regularly eats fast food and processed foods can be exposed to the equivalent of 100 teaspoons of sugar a day or more. Just one large soft drink or milk shake may contain the equivalent of 50 teaspoons of sugar. That is more sugar than our ancestors would have been exposed to in a month of eating natural fruits.

  Interestingly, for more than fifty years, the soft drink industry and the sugar industry have provided millions of dollars of research funding to academic and governmental researchers to influence and cover up the health risks associated with consuming sugar. A recent medical investigation published in JAMA Internal Medicine and reported in the New York Times revealed that five decades of research into the role of nutrition and heart disease, including many of today’s dietary recommendations, have been largely shaped by the financial influence of the sugar industry. “They were able to derail the discussion about sugar for decades,” said Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of the JAMA paper.26 Information regarding the dangers of modern processed foods is effectively suppressed by powerful economic interests that spend lots of money to influence public perception.

  Biochemically, HFCS is only slightly different from white cane sugar, and the dangerous effects on your health are the same. Regular table sugar (sucrose) is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose, and HFCS contains up to 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Fructose is a naturally occurring substance, but it never occurs naturally in the concentrated and isolated way that it does in soft drinks and other processed foods. In whole foods, most of the fructose and glucose are usually bound together as sucrose and are always balanced with micronutrients and fiber, which reduce the glycemic effects of sucrose and the insulin response by the pancreas.27