When a late night craving strikes, nothing hits like Taco Bell. The fast food chain can offer a number of healthy options if you want to keep your diet on track, and as long as you eat carefully, don’t worry about avoiding this Tex-Mex favorite. But if you’re planning to indulge, be careful because in addition to eating at Taco Bell, come some really unpleasant side effects.
Taco Bell makes their tacos and burritos taste irresistible thanks to the high content of sodium, fat and even sugar in certain foods. When taken to the limit, these added ingredients can punish your body. To find out which side effects to keep an eye out for, we spoke with several dietitians, doctors, nutritionists and other experts to determine what to expect if we go too fast for this classic fast food. chain.
Read on to see what side effects eating Taco Bell can have on your body, and for more healthy tips, check out our list of the 7 Healthiest Foods You Can Eat Right Now.
Some of the most immediate effects that occur after eating a Taco Bell burrito or taco take place in our brains.
“Nitrates in preserved meat and cheese aggravate depression,” Dr. Uma Naidoo, MD, Nutritional Psychiatrist and author ofThis is your brain about food explains. “A fast food diet is a diet that contains processed and ultra-processed ingredients, usually processed vegetable oils, added sodium, added sugars and dyes, dyes, fillers and preservatives. These are all substances that affect the brain and body.”
“Bad food choices feed the bad bugs in our gut, help them thrive, and take over the good bugs (meant to help and protect us),” continued Dr. Naidoo. “Over time, the bad bugs cause inflammation, which can lead to leaky gut and neuro-inflammation (brain). When this develops, it causes new psychological problems or worsens the psychological symptoms that you may already be struggling with.”
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Even after polishing a few tacos or burritos, you probably won’t feel completely satisfied. This feeling comes as a direct result of the ingredients that make up a Taco Bell meal.
“There is little fresh foods with fiber and nutrients in fast foods, so they pass through your digestive system quickly and you often feel hungry,” says Dr. Naidoo.
This lack of fiber creates an endless spiral of hunger that can even lead to overeating, according to a study published in The Nutrition Review. To find out which items in the chain have the best chances of filling you up, check out Healthy Meals at Taco Bell That Are High in Protein.
When we dig into a box of tacos, an increased sense of depression isn’t all we need to worry about.
“With a diet rich in unhealthy trans fats, added sugars and processed foods, the brain struggles to think clearly,” said Dr. Naidoo.
“Diets high in saturated fat can also have an effect on your cognitive abilities,” said Jay Cowin, ASYSTEM’s registered nutritionist and director of formulations. “Encephalitis and insulin resistance, caused by saturated fatty acids, are implicated in cognitive deficits.”
Not all Taco Bell menu items have side effects that affect the way our brains process thoughts. Too much Taco Bell can also lead to brain aneurysms.
“Saturated fats increase the amount of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in the blood,” says Cowin. “A high LDL level increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Saturated fat should contain no more than 10% of your daily calories. The popular Cheesy Gordita Crunch Supreme itself contains 11 g of saturated fat.”
Lower your chances of this deadly side effect and learn which foods to eat in foods that help prevent strokes after 40.
The same saturated fat that can lead to stroke can also have a real number on your heart health.
“Many of the foods at Taco Bell are oversized and also baked, cheesy, or contain beef,” says Dr. Lisa Young, PhD, RDN, and author of Finally full, finally slim. “This combination is full of too many calories and saturated fat that, if consumed regularly over time, can lead to obesity and heart disease.”
Young also mentions how “a diet high in saturated fat can increase unhealthy LDL cholesterol, clogging arteries that contribute to heart disease.”
If you must stick to a healthy eating plan, make sure to balance your Taco Bell runs with more healthy eating options to gather the best nutrition from both worlds. If you decide to overdo it on the chain, don’t be surprised if you come across any of these ugly side effects.
Do you want to eat healthier at the doorbell instead of going overboard? Here are the best and worst tacos at Taco Bell.