21:12
Wednesday 14 December 2022
At a time when many people want to eat ready meals in restaurants, usually rich in oils and fats, there are many restaurateurs who manipulate the health of citizens who crave these foods, such as shawarma, hawawshi, hamburgers and others, by adding a large amount of fat instead of meat and giving flavor to the food, which Those who eat these meals may be at risk of developing chronic diseases, the most dangerous of which is cancer.
In this context, Dr. Sayed Hammad, a nutrition consultant at the National Institute of Nutrition, revealed that the manipulation of some caterers by adding fat to food or as a substitute for meat can cause many health risks, explaining that the first of these risks is obesity.
He added to “Masrawy” that these fats contain high calories and are twice as large as protein fats, and therefore when we gain weight in large quantities, the calories will increase significantly, which affects weight and its gain.
The nutrition consultant also said that fats that come from animal sources are always saturated fats and are linked to levels of bad and harmful cholesterol in the body, and therefore will cause a higher than normal cholesterol level.
He pointed out that these fats can also cause heart disease problems, pointing out that they can be linked to the appearance or production of certain types of trans fats, and therefore in the long run have a negative impact on the body’s overall immunity and the possibility of developing some problems and cancerous tumors.
He noted that consuming these foods, even if intermittently or repeatedly, will have a great impact on the cause of obesity, as well as the problems of heart disease in its various forms, such as atherosclerosis.
Regarding the percentage of fat to add to food, the nutrition consultant explained that each person has an average daily calorie intake, which he gets from three sources, which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats, indicating that the healthy percentage of fat in meals it fluctuates between 20 and 30% of daily calories, the total calories, provided that one third of that percentage, i.e. 10%, comes from saturated fats and animal sources, i.e. the fat that is introduced into it.
He noted that most of these foods are added to a large number of artificial enhancers and colors and different flavoring products, pointing out that all are things that should not be consumed continuously, in light of their high fat content, as well as methods of cooking them by exposing them to direct heat and burning parts of them during preparation, such as shawarma, which leads to the formation of hydrocarbons that adversely affect the immune status of the body and lead to cancerous tumors and health problems.
And on the method by which foods made of fat or meat are discovered, Dr. Ahmed Al-Bandari, director of the scientific center at the General Union of Veterinarians, explains that it is difficult to distinguish them except through food, as some people tend to eating foods high in fat and some not, which is according to everyone’s trend.
He added to “Masrawy” that the only way high fat percentage can be detected is in laboratories, not individuals, by measuring fat percentage, noting that some restaurateurs add soy sauce as a flavor substitute for meat, as well as adding onions and vegetables to give more volume to a sandwich or meal.
