Analyzing Hamburger's Effects on Health: A Detailed Research Report

This report investigates the impact of hamburgers on human health, focusing on their nutritional value, the effects of food processing, and potential strategies for improvement. The research explores the primary and secondary components of hamburgers, including beef, cheese, and bread, and discusses how processing methods, such as the addition of preservatives and cooking techniques, affect the nutritional content. The study highlights the importance of lean meat, proper cooking temperatures, and the inclusion of fiber-rich toppings to enhance the health profile of hamburgers. It also examines the use of natural versus synthetic preservatives, their effects on food safety and human health, and the implications of consuming processed foods. The report concludes by emphasizing the potential for hamburgers to be a healthier food option through careful ingredient selection and preparation methods.

Running Head: EFFECTS OF HAMBURGER ON HEALTH
EFFECTS OF HAMBURGER ON HEALTH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Summary of the research:
The research question here will talk about processed food and its nutritional value.
This question also states the effects of processed food on human health and steps to be taken
in order to improve the nutritional value of the food. The processed food concerned here is
hamburger. The main factor which influenced me to research this topic was to understand the
reason for the over intake of processed foods among human beings. I found that processed
food was cheaper and tastier than self or own made food. For example, hamburger
preparation would cost more time and money than processed hamburger. My key finding here
is to state that processed foods are harmful to people, and this situation needs current
attention. However, it is tough to make everyone believe in the above statement. This study is
mainly done by interviewing the staffs of “The Burger Bar”.

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In this paper, the research question is “ How do processed food affect your health
and how can they be made healthier ?". This study will mainly focus on the effects of
hamburger on human health and the ways by which the food can be made healthier.
On an introductory note, it can be stated that this study will talk about processed
food and its effects on human health. People are found to be consuming food without
knowing their main constituents. Most of them do not know about the impact the food is
having on their health. I focused on this topic because it mainly concerns the primary fast
food in most of the countries. The key findings of this study will include the principal
components of the food (hamburger), the secondary components of the food after processing,
ways in which food processing affects the human health (addition of preservatives) and the
techniques to make the food healthier than its former state.
The discussion is written in accordance with the thesis statement provided above.
During an interview with the cooks of “The Burger Bar”, I asked them about how they
prepare a healthy hamburger. People know that hamburger is one of the most common junk
foods of all times. However, the above-stated restaurant, cooked nutritious hamburger while
maintaining its taste. Other brands, which make hamburger, are KFC, McDonald and many
more. The secrets of food being good at nutrient and taste lies in its ingredients. The primary
components of a hamburger are beef and cheese with bread. This brand uses specific organic
chemicals which do not harm the fundamental constituents of the food. Preserving the
primary components of the food makes it healthy for human health. After taking the
interview, I devised my conclusion for healthy food. The human body needs six primary
components to maintain a healthy body. Water, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, fat and
minerals are these primary constituents for the human body. Healthy food must always
consist of the above stated fundamental biomolecules. However, people always foods to be
low in fat content and high in proteins. The main bimolecular components of hamburger

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include proteins (supplied by beef), carbohydrates (provided by the bread used), fibres and
vitamins (provided by vegetables and other constituents) (Dominiczak & Logue, 2018).
However, processing food means to change it from its natural state to an artificial state. At
most of the times, processing foods include cutting the materials, drying and cooking them.
No specific nutrient is added to them or is being removed from them. It has been found that
there are many foods which require artificial sugars, oils and preservatives added to them.
Adding these chemicals into the food changes its natural composition. Cooking food material
already destroys its natural form (Nongmaithem et al., 2018). The above statement can be
justified by the fact that proteins get denatured and thus, the body can not use them at its full
potential. Here the food concerned is hamburger, and the production of hamburger requires
the use of beef meat. The use of beef requires artificial processing. Processing of meat
requires the removal of fat, traces of carbohydrates and other elements from it, so that overall
taste, along with quality, can be maintained. However, these constituents are the natural
components of meat and removal of these constituents destroys the nutritional value of meat.
During hamburger preparation, a specific amount of synthetic oil is added to the preparation
(Silva & Lidon, 2016). Low amounts of alcohol are used to preserve these kinds of food in
order to preserve them. This alcohol dissolves lipid content of meat and destroys the
nutritional value of the meat. In this way, the addition of preservatives destroys the food
material (Langroodi, Tajik & Mehdizadeh, 2018).
Quality of hamburger can be improved by using lean meat for the preparation. Lean
meat does not contain fat, and thus the artificial procedures for fat removal can be avoided.
Fat removal procedures are already stated in the previous section, which destroys the
nutritional quality of hamburger. Cooking must be done at one sixty degrees Fahrenheit (160°
F) so that complete denaturation of the protein content can be avoided (Jones et al., 2016).
The better the burger is, the lower is its calorie content. Toppings should include moistures

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and flavourings of onion, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms which will increase the fibre content
of the burger. This improvement will be compensation for the destroyed nutrient content by
cooking. Taste maintenance requires the addition of artificial flavouring ingredients. These
ingredients are often harmful to human health, and thus, the use of these materials should be
avoided. Taste has to be compromised for a better nutritional content of the hamburger. Deep
frying should also be avoided for burgers so that the whole protein content does not get
denatured (Wagner & Elmadfa, 2016). Deep frying also causes backfire and deteriorates the
taste of the burger. Hamburgers are mostly processed food in their nature and thus contain a
large amount of seasonings added to it. Seasoning is often not good for health. Seasonings
usually contain high amounts of sodium and potassium in it (Parpia et al., 2018). This factor
causes a significant health problem, including sodium-potassium imbalance, which ultimately
leads to gastrointestinal disorders (Onyon & Dawson, 2018). Addition of preservatives also
plays a significant role in food processing. This statement will be explained in the following
section.
Preservatives are certain chemicals, which are added to food materials in order to
prevent their spoilage. In most of the cases, the deterioration is mainly caused by biological
problems. These problems are mostly associated with the decaying of food by bacterial and
fungal contamination. As a result, preservative addition is very important for food processing.
Preservatives are primarily of two types- Natural and Synthetic preservatives. In most of the
brands or restaurants, hamburgers are finally processed which chemical preservatives
(Sharma, 2015). These are synthetic or artificial preservatives. Non-natural preservatives are
more effective than natural ones. However, they pose severe health impacts on human health.
Synthetic preservatives used in case of hamburger processing includes sodium nitrate, sodium
benzoate and many other chemical compounds, which keeps the food safe from
microorganism contamination. These preservatives also add to the flavour and looks of

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hamburger. Sauces are also used as preservatives along with its efficiency as a food colour.
However, these chemicals pose severe side effects on the human body. Having a non-
nutritionally balanced hamburger not only increases the body's cholesterol level but also
harms the body with its added chemicals. Sodium benzoate, when it enters the human body,
combines with Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and finally converts to benzene. Benzene is
detrimental to human health because it affects the haematopoietic stem cells and also
misbalances the central nervous system. Allergies, diarrhoea, liver problems, abdominal pain
and rashes may occur as a side effect of benzene incorporation into the body. Sometimes
allergies are accompanied by high protein content of the meat used. This protein content is
combined with the impact of benzene, resulting in a high trigger of the immune system in
human beings (Mohamed et al., 2018). Natural preservatives include the use of compounds
like oil and pickles. These preservatives contain antioxidants in them and thus destroys the
reactive oxygen species generated in the human body. Antioxidants also destroy
microorganisms by disabling their metabolic processes (Bondi et al., 2017). Marinating the
meat before incorporating them between the burger bread keeps the meat safe from
microorganism spoilage (Manhani et al., 2018).
Although people have understood the sound effects of having healthy foods,
however, the intake of junk foods are still higher for people all over the world. Hamburgers
are not only prepared by well known brands but also by roadside stalls. These stalls do not
focus on the nutritious value of hamburger. They even fail to process the food properly and
add unnecessary flavouring substances to attract customers. According to Australian
statistics, 75% of people are taking roadside foods as their snacks (Mondin et al., 2019). This
condition is causing obesity and other health disorders related to high blood cholesterol
levels. Therefore it can be stated that hamburger can be a healthier food provided the brands
take care of its nutritional value.

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On a concluding note it can be stated that, hamburger can be a healthy food for
people all over the world. Keeping aside the disadvantages of processing the food, use of
natural preservatives will help in making the food more nutritious in future.

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