Fast Food of Mass Destruction: Foods That Harm Your Health

Most of the fast foods on this list have several common features. They are high in calories, unhealthy fats, salts, artificial flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives. And what makes these foods even less attractive is that they contain very little amounts of important fiber, vitamins and minerals or even don't have them at all.

So if you care about your health you way want to drop the following from your menu:

1 French Fries

High in calories, sodium and fats. The average portion of french fries (170 g) contains 30 g of fat, up to 1200 mg of sodium and 550 Calories.
Contributes to obesity, high cholesterol and heart disease.
Cooked in ultra-hot oil which is high in trans fats.
Trans fats increase bad LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin levels and reduce beneficial HDL cholesterol, promoting heart attacks and stroke.
High amounts of trans fats are not safe for pregnant women. Recent studies have demonstrated that high consumption of trans fats is associated with miscarriage and the risk of preeclampsia.
High consumption of potatoes and french fries is associated with increased risk of diabetes.
French fries contain acrylamide, a known carcinogen and neurotoxin, which is formed in foods during high temperature processes such as frying, baking, roasting and extrusion.

2 Burgers

Hamburgers, cheeseburger, etc. are source of unnecessary calories and fat and have no nutritional value, they lack vitamins, minerals and fiber. Depending on cooking methods and ingredients, a regular hamburger with condiments, vegetables and without mayonnaise provides about 280 Calories (about 14% of the needed daily value) and more than 13 grams of fat (about 20% of the needed daily value).
Regular eating of hamburgers is a risk factor for weight gain and obesity, and is associated with abdominal obesity in women.
Burgers have a lot of saturated and trans fats. Trans fats raise total cholesterol levels, bad LDL cholesterol, and significantly increase the risk for heart disease.
Most hamburgers contain the flavour enhancer, MSG (monosodium glutamate) which causes among other headaches and allergic reactions.
MSG is a chemical used to fatten up laboratory animals and evidence suggests it will ultimately make you fat when consumed.
Most burgers contain more that 1000 mg of sodium (45% of recommended daily value) and can promote water retention and high blood pressure.

3 Soft Drinks

An average 325 ml can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 Calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, artificial food colors and sulphites. There are no nutritionally beneficial components in soft drinks.
Besides contributing to numerous health problems, soda often replaces healthy drinks.
The average American drinks about 57 gallons of soft drinks each year.
Consumption of a large number of soft drinks leads to the increased acid levels throughout the body. Most soft drinks contain citric, phosphoric and malic or tartaric acids. These acids are what give the drink the refreshing "bite" or "sting" and at the same time preserving the "quality" and sweetness of the drink. All soft drinks are very acidic, but dark colas such as Coke and Pepsi are much more acidic.
Prolonged increased acid levels will cause erosion of the gastric lining, which is very painful and disrupts proper digestion.
Soft drinks harm teeth, they are responsible for doubling or tripling the incidence of tooth decay. Sugar and acid in soft drinks easily dissolve tooth enamel.
Soft drink consumption is a significant risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome, a combination of the symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance. They also contribute to increased risk of diabetes.
Soft drinks have negative effects on bone mineral density and contribute to osteoporosis. Adolescents who frequently consume soft drinks are at increased risk of bone fractures than those who do not.
Sugary drinks promotes weight gain and obesity. In fact, the relationship between soft drink consumption and body weight is so strong that researchers calculate that for each additional soda consumed, the risk of obesity increases 1.6 times.
Drinking too many soda puts you under increased risk for liver cirrhosis similar to what chronic alcoholics have.

4 Doughnuts

Doughnuts have no nutritional value. Most are loaded with trans fats or damaged fats due to deep frying.
High consumption of trans fat is a significant risk factor for coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of trans fats you eat to less than 1% of your total daily calories. This means that if you need 2,000 calories a day, no more than 20 of those calories should come from trans fats. And that’s less than 2 grams of trans fats a day. Given the amount of naturally occurring trans fats you probably eat every day, this leaves virtually no room for industrially manufactured trans fats.

5 Hot dogs

High contents of calories, fats and nitrates
Hot dogs meat may contain mutagenic heterocyclic amines, some of which are proven carcinogens. These compounds are formed during the cooking of meat.
To increase shelf life and preserve flavor, fast foods are packed with trans fats.
Trans fatty acids cause between 30,000 and 100,000 premature deaths a year from coronary heart disease.
Frequent consumption of processed meats like hot dogs and sausages is associated with an increased risk of diabetes.
High salt content will promote water retention.

6 Bacon

Fat
Fat
And more fat! It's not really a meat.
Fried bacon can drastically increase the level of cholesterol.
It's also high in salt and full of both nitrites and nitrates.
Recent US study has linked eating cured meat like bacon and hot dogs with increased risk of lung disease.
Frequent consumption of red meat, especially bacon and hot dogs, may increase the risk of developing diabetes.

7 Chips

Corn chips, potato chips, tortilla chips have literally no nutritional benefits.
Fried potato products such as french fries and chips may contain substantial amounts of carcinogenic substances like acrylamide.
According to some studies, in foods like french fries and potato chips, acrylamide is present in the amount of about 300 times more than the "safe" limits recommended by WHO (World Health Organization). However, acrylamide content does not appear in the dietary nutritional information that goes with the packaging.
Chips contain large amount of added trans fat. Even "reduced fat" brands can still have trans fat. Trans fats tend to increase blood cholesterol levels and are linked to heart disease.

8 Cakes and cookies

Many cakes and cookies combine all three "whites" together: white sugar, flour, and fat.
These foods frequently contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, texturizing and processing agents, and other additives.
Cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, and bread are the major food sources of trans fat for American adults.

This is a shortened version of the article. Full article with every statement backed by reference to a scientific research is available here