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| Photo credit: www.9jafood.com.ng |
Gbe nor,
As I have always shown intention
to showcase Nigerian languages on this platform, I have come to you speaking
Ososo language in Edo State, Nigeria, saying, Good morning. Hope it is a
pleasant morning over there as it is here?
I will be discussing something that we all know but we
usually ignore for many reasons ranging from laziness; change of taste; tight
schedule; traffic congestion and many more. Well, I will want to ask you some
questions, have you gone to a restaurant to find out that the condiment is
overwhelming? Have you gone to a restaurant to buy a sour meal? Let’s reason
together as we consider Fast Food vs homemade meal.
Fast food
is defined by Wikipedia as a type of mass-produced food that is
prepared and served very quickly, was first popularized in the 1950s in the
United States, and may be relatively less nutritionally valuable compared
to other foods and dishes. Food sold in a restaurant or store with
preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged
form for take-out/take-away. Fast food restaurants are
traditionally distinguished by their ability to serve food via a drive-through.
The consumption of fast food leads to at least a 50 percent increase in
calories consumed, sodium and total fat intake which may lead to weight gain
and high blood pressure - risk factors for diabetes and heart
disease.
Homemade meals are food made for
the consumption of a sizable family. Homemade meals taken into consideration the
dietary needs of everybody and it is also less expensive while everyone can
have sufficient quantity. Some people who are used to homemade meals ‘find it
tasking’ to eat out. Homemade meals do not have complaints but it is much healthier
with natural supplement and less consumable ‘cosmetics’. Homemade meal is largely
a balanced meal. Contrarily, many mothers refuse to train their sons how to
cook as such he has no choice but to constantly consume fast food.
According to research conducted
at Harvard University, families that ate together every day or most days had
higher intake of health-promoting nutrients such as calcium, fiber, iron,
vitamin B-6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin C; they also had
less overall saturated fat intake.
Children
who eat more processed and fast foods that are usually less healthy than
home-cooked meals. Children see up to 10,000 food commercials every
year; most of these are for fast food,
candy, soft drinks, and sugared cereals. Also, a survey by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found
that teens whose families ate together frequently were less likely to use
alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, something that provides myriad other benefits
besides better physical and mental health.
Unfortunately,
as people go up the career ladder; they have little or no time to take homemade
food because of the call of duty and frequent travels. However, the zeal to be
healthy such not be traded on the platter of career because at retirement, you
might have to nurture illnesses with your pension (if you are not in Nigeria
because pensioners here rarely get paid).
Like a
healthy life at all times with good homemade meal; such is my preference.
References: