French fries is every kid’s favorite meal, they can even have it alone not as a side dish as many of us do. Nowadays mothers are too busy, they always go for the fast and easy choices. But what if it’s your child’s health that we’re talking about, the most precious thing you have in life, wouldn’t you think twice?
Perhaps you think that all the reports and warnings out there about the dangers of fast food is an overstatement, but is it okay with you to gamble your child’s health because you refused to believe the facts!
Your child trusts your choices; he is in no position to decide. You decide for him, so are you willing to be untrustworthy!
Let’s get straight to the point.
What’s the problem with French fries?
French Fries Contain Bad Fats
There are two types of fats; saturated fats which is the bad type that we try to avoid because believe it or not it can put you on the way towards getting heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. On the other hand; unsaturated fats is good for your body, it comes in the form of vegetable oils, sunflower, and olive oil which actually can have some protective effects on our health.
The problem with saturated fats is that they are directly linked to the clogging of arteries. Damage caused by saturated fat is found in margarines, vegetable shortening and anything that says “partially hydrogenated!”
Bad fats have been shown to raise levels of “bad” cholesterol or Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). Saturated fats also stay in the body longer and raise circulating blood triglycerides that lower the “good” cholesterol or High Density Lipoprotein (HDL).
When our children consume these bad fats they make the platelets in their blood stickier. These sticky little platelets then form clots that attach to the walls of arteries that supply vital areas of the body with oxygenated blood. These sticky little clots create a wall of plaque that can eventually lead to heart attack or a stroke.
2- French Fries Are Made Of Bad Carbohydrates
No potato in its natural state is bad for us, but rather we make it bad because of how we eat it orwhen we decide to eat it. A potato is a starch and it is made up of simple carbohydrates. Most conventional French fries are made up of white potatoes, and white potatoes have been proven to more easily convert in the body to sugar.
When our body takes in these quickly-absorbing carbohydrates we are forced to use them as energy right away or store them in fat. Unless we are headed to the gym after we eat or consume them after exercise, we are more likely to gain weight from these kinds of potatoes.
When we continually consume quickly absorbing carbohydrates, the high conversion of sugar causes a surge in insulin production. When we continually spike our insulin, we develop a resistance to insulin that has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Sadly, our children are not an exception to this process. Some will argue that children need lots of carbs and many nutritional experts push whole grains, but the reality is that healthy whole grains are becoming more and more difficult to find.
3- French Fries Contain Trans Fats
French fries have high levels of acrylamide, reported to be a possible cancer-causing substance. While there are not yet any conclusive studies in children that show a link has been established to consuming French fries and cancer, it has been reported that cancer in children is on the rise in children ages 2-4 years old.
It makes sense to keep the French fries out of the hands of your children until more is known. That is unless having your fast food is more important than the health of your children…
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