This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mizzou chapter.
McDonald’s drive-thru on your mind? Here’s what really goes down after you eat a Big Mac:
- Brains prefer high calorie foods. The brain rewards itself within ten minutes of digesting a Big Mac by releasing ‘feel good’ chemicals that explain the attachment to fast food.
- After 20 minutes of consuming a Big Mac, high-fructose corn syrup and sodium are absorbed by the body (both highly addictive).
- 970 milligrams of sodium is in a Big Mac. After thirty minutes, your body becomes dehydrated. Deyhydration mimics some of the feelings of hunger, which can cause you to over-eat. Your blood pressure increases due to your heart working harder to process these high levels of sodium.
- Cravings kick in again within 20 minutes. Your insulin is forced to spike and create even bigger hunger pains.
- Digestion is the last step. The body usually takes 24 – 74 hours to digest food, but not the Big Mac! Your food should be digested in about three days, as terrifying as that is.
Despite the deliciousness, we should probably keep our Big Mac consumption at a minimum. We already knew this, but who’s going to stop us?