5 Weird Ways Fast Food Negatively Affects Your Brain
By: Rachael Stuart
Published: December 3, 2013

After a recent study found that exposure to fast food can impair your appreciation of life and artistic experiences, Men’s Health assembled this list of ways fast food can negatively affect your brain. Read up, and if you’ve experienced any of the weird effects, share with us in the comments below!
 Difficulty savoring enjoyable experiences
	Fast food equals instant gratification, and in a world of faster and faster satisfaction, it’s hard to stop and appreciate the more beautiful moments. And think about how long it takes you to eat that cheeseburger and fries.
 Impatient financial decisions
	Simply walking near a fast food restaurant can heavily impair your ability to wait for a larger financial reward. This might also be the cause for impulsively buying fast food when you hadn’t planned to spend any money.
 Hunger response to colors
	Fast food chains like McDonald’s and Hardee’s use similar colors in their logos. According to other studies, the combination of red and yellow supposedly helps kickstart your hunger cravings without you even noticing.
 Depressed chemical activity
	A high-fat diet can lead to more anxious feelings, as well as symptoms of withdrawal and depression after you stop consuming those foods.
 Compulsive overeating similar to drug addiction
	Fast food can lead to compulsive overeating because it activates the same pleasure centers in our brain that are affected by addictive drugs.