The Effects of Fast Food

What is fast food?

The term fast food is a very loose one and includes a huge variety of snacks and meals. There is a significant overlap with what is commonly labelled as "junk food", and indeed some people may categorise the two as being the same. However, "fast" essentially refers to the speed at which the food is available to eat, while it can be argued that "junk" is a more specific reference to the quality.

Fast food tends to be available mostly from quick service restaurants, shops and street traders. If you go to a sandwich bar, you could order something like a chicken and salad sandwich, without butter, on wholemeal bread. This would be regarded by most of us as a healthy choice. However, going to a high street outlet or street van and ordering fried chicken and chips would also see your food prepared and served just as quickly... and this option would be regarded as somewhat less healthy than the sandwich.

There are healthy and not so healthy "fast foods" and as satisfying and appealing as some of them may be, the unhealthy versions are sometimes linked with causing heartburn.

Why can fast food cause heartburn?

Many fast food options can be high in fat and salt and may not always contain the highest quality meat or ingredients. If your fast food is included in the following, you may want to think twice before buying or eating it. Care should be taken, in particular, if you've found that you have previously suffered from heartburn having eaten a certain type of food or ingredient. Here are the most common types of fast food:

Beef Burgers: Fatty meats can cause heartburn and should your beef burger come with bacon, cheese or chilli toppings you may be faced with several other triggers too.

Doner Kebabs: These tend to consist of fatty lamb, although chicken varieties are also popular. However, should you have the ever-popular chilli sauce with your kebab then, like the burger example above, you will be introducing another really well known additional heartburn trigger.

Fish / Sausage / Pie & Chips: The fat content of any deep fried food can cause heartburn so the chips and fish batter may cause heartburn problems due to the frying oil and the batter ingredients. Some sausages can have a very high fat content already. When they're fried, the fat content increases even more. Pies may not only contain fatty meat, the pastry might be high in fat too.

Pizza: Many pizzas come with a tomato sauce as part of the topping. Tomatoes are also a common heartburn trigger, as are the cheese and onions that are popular pizza toppings.

Fried Chicken / Chicken Nuggets: Even though quality chicken on its own is unlikely to be a great cause of heartburn, the way in which it is prepared can lead to heartburn problems. Both these types of chicken-based foods are fried and have a batter and / or spicy coating. This could, again, face you with more than one possible trigger.

Curries: You may or may not regard a curry as fast food, but curries do tend to be oily and often spicy. The quality and type of meat can add to the fat content of the whole dish. The potential combination of high fat (from the meat and oil) and spices or cream-based sauces (for example, in Kormas) can be a heartburn trigger to be reckoned with!

Patterns of eating associated with fast food

Fast foods are thought, by many, to be convenient evening treats. Since so many fast food places are open until late at night, or into the next morning, there are lots of opportunities to tempt you. However, eating late can bring its own particular chance of heartburn, regardless of what food you eat. Choosing the types of food outlined above can simply add to this. If you eat late at night:

• Your stomach could still remain full when you get into bed, because you haven't allowed sufficient time for your food to digest
• You could suffer with disturbed sleep in addition to pain as some trigger foods can cause heartburn during the night
• You could increase your chances of getting heartburn as having a full stomach when going to bed makes acid reflux easier

Remember that alcohol, caffeinated and carbonated drinks are all triggers for heartburn too. Therefore, if you've been out for the evening and have consumed these types of drinks, before eating your fast food, you would be increasing your chances of getting heartburn.

What can I do to reduce heartburn symptoms?

If you feel that when you eat or what you eat - or both - are the cause of your heartburn, try to be more cautious. Think about making some changes.

Lifestyle changes:

• Eat before you go out, then you won't feel so hungry and tempted later on. Also, try not to eat the unhealthy versions of fast food!
• Eat earlier rather than later in the evening - consider eating at the beginning of your evening out instead of having some drinks and then eating. For example, eat before going to the cinema or theatre rather than afterwards.
• Choose a small late night snack in preference to a big meal. It won't be that long until breakfast time, which is a better time to eat, since your metabolism works quicker in the daytime compared to the night time.
• Allow time for your food to digest before going to bed - two hours or so is a reasonable guide.

Dietary changes:

If you need to, or simply want to eat fast food, consider the following:

• Ready-made salad boxes
• Ready-made pasta boxes - but beware of tomato sauces
• Sandwiches, especially with low fat options. If you get them made for you, you'll know exactly what goes into them.
• A small grilled chicken kebab with salad, without onions and the chilli sauce. This is preferable to a large lamb doner, chilli sauce and chips option - but it could still give you the fast food satisfaction!
• Pizza; again, beware of tomato-based and cheese toppings. Perhaps opt for a tuna or ham and pineapple option on a plain wholemeal pizza base.

Fast food? Get quick relief.

Should you find yourself suffering from heartburn symptoms (which include a burning sensation in your chest and / or an acidic taste in your mouth) Gaviscon Extra can help to bring you some fast relief. It neutralises stomach acid and forms a layer on top of your stomach contents. This protective barrier, or raft, physically helps to prevent the stomach acid coming up into your food pipe.

A full range of Gaviscon Extra products are available from pharmacies. You can find details of all the products by following this link.

Hopefully this article will have presented you with some new considerations for those times when you're hungry but pressed for time or lack the inclination to cook. Many typical fast food outlets now offer healthier options too, so you don't have to settle for high fat and fried options. Should you get heartburn, don't simply carry on hoping it won't happen next time. Try to find out what your triggers are - and then make the suggested changes to help avoid them.

 

All information presented is not meant to diagnose or prescribe. Gaviscon Extra oral Suspension and Gaviscon Extra chewable tablets for Heartburn & Indigestion contain sodium alginate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, calcium carbonate. Always read the label. If symptoms are severe or last more than 7 days, consult a doctor or pharmacist.