Hunger Killing Facts

Blogpost #5 The psychology behind eating fast food

Fast food is not only bad for physical health but also for mental health.

Even though the fast food may appear to be a great saver of time and money, it can determine your physical and mental health. Regularly viewing images of fast food restaurants and visiting food restaurants can cause you to be impatient and less conscious on how to spend your money.

Mental Health is much more than the absence of mental illness. It is about physical and emotional well being which includes our wills and emotions. It is about having the capacity and physical well being contributes to our overall health fitness. To ensure good mental health, we all need some means of creative self-expression such as art, drama, music and a sport or hobby. Our minds need to receive to take in to appreciate and enjoy but also our minds need to express, to give out, to perform, participate and display. If we fail to feed our minds what is needed then something else will take its place. Boredom and material conflict are often symptoms of mental starvation without compensation taking place.

According to an article “What is in my food?” from the site www.healthpsychology.org by Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, States that the reason why so many people choose to eat fast food is the branding, and it is fast, so it just makes sense in a society that moves at lightning speed people also want to eat quickly. The more complex level is that there are many sociological forces at play in the undertones of the fast food movement. First, women have entered the workforce in record numbers in the last several decades. The former housewife that lovingly cooked healthy meal is now busy with being employed in the work.

“The reason why so many people choose to eat fast food, a substance virtually void of nutrition in many cases, is both simple and complex” says Dr. Cheryl MacDonald. Many people choose to eat fast food because it is fast and it can save time also it is the most we used to see in some ads.

Another article “Psychologists Say "Fast Food Culture" Promotes Impatience” from the site www.science20.com by Chen-Bo Zhong, states that not only fast food companies make us fat and tempt the children with some advertising, they also make us impatient according to a new study in Psychological Science. In fact, exposure to fast food and related symbols can make us impatient increasing preference for time saving products and reducing willingness to save the study found.  Also they’ve made some experiments. In first experiment, the researchers flashed fast food symbols such as the golden arch of McDonald’s on a computer screen for a few minutes so quick that participants couldn’t consciously identify what they saw. They found that this unconscious exposure increased participants reading speed in a task compared to those in a control condition even there was no advantage to finishing sooner. A final experiment found people exposed to fast food logos exhibited greater reluctance for saving choose a smaller immediate payment rather than opting for a much larger delayed payment.

“Fast food is one of many technologies that allow us to save time but the ironic thing is that by constantly reminding us of time efficiency” says Sanford Devoe. This kind of thing can lead us to feel more impatience. A fast food culture that commend saving time doesn’t change the way we eat but it can also alter the way they experience our time.

What we eat affects how we feel. Food should make us feel great. It tastes good and nourishes our bodies. When eaten in too little or in excessive amount. However our health and appearance can be altered which can create negative feelings toward foods. By learning how to make better decisions you might be able to control eating and gaining weight. In addition to better appetite control you might also experience feelings of calmness, high energy and some alert feelings from the foods you eat.