Street Food: What Those Deliciously Evil Things Do To Your Heart

By Swadha Bharpilania:

My senses seemed hyperaware of my surroundings as I caught a whiff of the smell coming off the cart parked smack in front of me, and then that delicious smell tried tingling me further by bringing into my visual proximity their source. What I saw tormented my taste buds to no extent, with my salivary glands being more active than usual. There they were, those luscious golden puffed things filled with a generous helping of mashed potatoes soaked in spicy, tangy water. My feet automatically turned towards the cart, my tongue telling me to go faster, but then all of a sudden, good sense prevailed. I stopped to think “What does that oil soaked thing do to the most valuable muscle in my body?”

Unfortunately, most of us do not stop to comprehend the situation before popping one of those glorious things into our mouths. Street food in our country is immensely popular, with vendors present at almost every nook and corner. But are we aware of the after effects of the bombardment of taste on our tongue? Once the unhygienically prepared thing goes down our throats, it wrecks havoc in our body, adversely affecting every part, especially the heart.

Research proves that when we eat something that is so polluted, it not only gives us an upset stomach, but also interferes in the normal working of the heart. The stomach being upset draws a lot of blood from the heart, it also (in most cases) leads to dehydration, which again, hinders the proper functioning of the human heart.

I am not saying that our tongue should be betrayed altogether, because in limited amounts street food prevents us from being too partial towards our health thereby ignoring something that characterizes food culture in our country. Also I will not seek to put all the blame on street food, as nowadays, the contamination in the basic raw materials for cooking causes health problems for all of us.

Our country is waking up to conserving health; in this scenario food sold on the streets should not be ignored all together. We could always introduce cleaner ways of making our indulgences easier. The puchkawala bhaiya can always wear gloves while preparing those blobs of sheer bliss, the traditional aloo chat can be made using freshly boiled and chopped potatoes instead of the ones with flies hovering all over them and last of all our beloved street food vendors could do with frying their food in a better quality of oil.

So even though I love eating on the street, I would advise everyone not to binge on these deliciously evil things, after all you know (at the risk of sounding clichéd) Health Is Wealth.

Photo Credit: kkalyan via Compfight cc