Takeaway food, particularly the ever-so-delicious doner kebabs, chicken kormas or garlic bread pizzas, are among modern life's little guilty pleasures. We regard them as dangerous for our weight, but often tell ourselves that if we only have them once or twice every couple of weeks, they are unlikely to cause too much damage. A recent study conducted in Britain is likely to drastically change our rather lenient perspective on takeaway fast food and its impact on our overall state of health. But beware - once you've read this, you're likely to never look at a doner kebab the same way, ever again.
The study in question found that a 400g serving of doner kebab can contain as much fat as a wine glass of cooking oil and usually contains no less than 139.3g of fat - which is twice as much as the recommended daily maximum fat intake for a woman. A chicken korma (a mild curry dish made with yogurt or coconut milk for added creaminess) was shown to contain 95.4g of fat, while a medium pizza with garlic bread contained 81.5g of fat. In fact, about 86% of the meals reviewed by this study were found to be extremely rich in fat and salt, making them extremely serious threats for all of us.
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"If this kebab weighs 400g, the fat content is a quarter of the meal. That, on its own, gives you 1,000 calories - equivalent to a wine glass of cooking oil. The majority of that fat is saturated so it's going to raise your cholesterol and give you thickening of your arteries. If you were eating that meal twice a week on top of your ordinary diet, it's a ticking time bomb of coronary heart disease", said Denise Thomas, head of nutrition and dietetics at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust.
Another danger comes from the fact that the damage caused by the high fat and salt intake builds up over time and does not show immediately, therefore people are unlikely to realize just how bad this type of diet is for them. "The older or more inactive you are, the more likely it is you won't clear it from your system", Denise Thomas explained. If you eat lots of fruit and vegetables, then you're not as exposed as if you were keen on eating lots of calorific fried foods at home, too.
"If you're eating pie and chips and fried breakfasts as well, you're heading towards a heart attack within ten years", Thomas warned. The conclusion is simple: takeaway food is bad news and we should avoid it at all times, or if that's impossible, at least try to balance the occasional kebab with eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables every day to counteract the effects of the saturated fat buildup.
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