Lunchtime has come. The almighty feeling of hunger falls over students as the lunch bell rings. For many students the typical fast food restaurant is the first place in mind. Why? Because it’s quick and cheap, and you can get back to school without being disciplined by the teacher. But for every ideal meal, there are unintended consequences.

This issue we take a look at the habit of fast food eating and the harmful effects it brings. We all know that fast food is unhealthy and over time can do serious damage to a healthy lifestyle. However, students still go to fast food restaurants on a regular basis. Why is this the case when the message of fast food being so terrible has been pushed into our heads from a young age? Sometimes it lies beyond the veil of self-control.

In a 2003 study by Dr. John Hoebel at Princeton University, the chemicals in fast food were tested on rats who were given a diet of 25 percent sugar. Then they took the sugar out of the food supply. The way the rats reacted after the sugar was removed was similar to the way a person reacts when nicotine or tobacco are withdrawn from them. This included symptoms of chattering teeth and shakes.  Dr. Hoebel believed that the fast food stimulated opioids, or “pleasure chemicals” in the brain, similar to the ones that are released during tobacco, drug and alcohol use. “The implication is that some animals— and by extension some people— can become overly dependent on sweet food,” Hoebel said. These reports were later backed up by a study at the University of Wisconsin Medical School by neurologist Ann Kelly, who found a link between the brain’s pleasure chemicals and a craving for this type of food.

To some, the addiction traits that fast food supposedly cause, may seem widely exaggerated.  And maybe this kind of addiction isn’t as dangerous as that of drugs and alcohol, but it can do its fair share of damage over time. For this reason, students must know that eating fast food almost every day is not a wise choice and self discipline must come into play.

With more recent events in mind, the “pink slime”  problem has brought a lot of attention to the kind of products that go into the beef at fast food restaurants. But for many, films like “Super Size Me” and books like “Fast Food Nation,” have already brought attention to cases identical to this. Why was this time so different? The main shocking factor was the amount of pink slime in the meat itself, over 70 percent across all of America’s supermarkets. The news had the ability to fall heavily into the public sector, and many fast food chains said they would no longer be purchasing the product. In this case the public outcry was strong and that made the difference. It was the knowledge of what they were eating that kept the people from stuffing the near fully processed burger into their mouths.    

And that is the defining aspect of fast food as a choice and fast food as a need. Know what you are eating, and know that fast food will never be the most healthy choice, even though it will likely always be around in some form or another. But with the right willpower, one can purchase it in moderation and learn to live with it properly. Remember, think  wisely with your heads, not your stomachs.