This is How Your Body Reacts After Eating a Big Mac

By Cheri Cheng - 24 Sep '15 10:39AM

The McDonald's Big Mac is probably one of the most delicious items on the menu. Even though this burger might make you feel satisfied in the moment, it is actually wreaking havoc inside of your body.

Here is how your body reacts the hour after eating a big mac as detailed by Fastfoodmenuprice.com:

In the first 10 minutes, your mind is simply happy that you just ate a Big Mac. Since the brain prefers high-calorie foods, eating them will cause the brain to release "feel-good" chemicals (neurotransmitter dopamine). This feeling is usually what causes people to continue to eat high-calorie foods, which can then lead to compulsive eating.

After 20 Minutes, the sugars from the Big Mac start to get processed. The sugars (9 grams), which come from the bun (high fructose corn syrup) and the condiments in combination with the sodium, are also very addictive and can make your body crave more. Too much sugar and sodium, in general, can lead to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

In 30 Minutes, the high levels of sodium (970 milligrams) start to dehydrate the body. Since you might not know the difference between dehydration and hunger, you might be tempted to eat something else even though you just chowed down half an hour ago. This can lead to overeating, which can then cause several healthy problems.

If you have not satisfied your craving, you will definitely be more tempted to in 10 more minutes - 40 minutes from when you ate the burger. At this point, your body has lost control of your blood sugar, which will then make you crave more fast food.

Finally, after a full 60 minutes since eating the burger, your body has not begun digesting. Typically, the body will digest food within 24 to 72 hours. Since a Big Mac is very greasy, it can take the body 51 days just to digest the trans fat (1.5 grams).

A Big Mac contains 540 calories - not including the cheese and special sauce and 29 grams of fat (10 grams is saturated fat). In order to avoid increasing your risk of several diseases and chronic health condition, you are better off skipping the Big Mac. However, if you do eat one, try to keep your intake very low.