No, Junk Food is not good for our health but in recent decades, junk food, fast food and convenience food consumption in the world have increased dramatically, with 25 percent of people now consuming predominantly junk food diets. This trend has occurred concurrently with rising epidemics of numerous chronic diseases and accounts for a long list of reasons why eating junk food is bad.
Junk food has forever been known for their harmful effects on the body-the most widely discussed effect being obesity. What goes unnoticed, however, are the other ill effects of junk food such as the onslaught of exhaustion, heart diseases, liver damage, diabetes etc. Junk food are not packed with any nutrients that the body needs, but harmful carbohydrates, cholesterol and fats that do not provide the body with useful nutrients. Therefore, a person consuming junk food will have a reduced amount of essential nutrients in his or her body and therefore, experience weakness.
Junk food plays a major role in the obesity epidemic. Children who eat fast food as a regular part of their diets consume more fat, carbohydrates and processed sugar and less fiber than those who do not eat fast food regularly. Junk food in these children’s diets accounts for 187 extra calories per day, leading to 6 additional pounds of weight gain per year. Obesity increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other chronic health conditions.
When you eat processed sugars, such as those in soft drinks, white flour and other foods devoid of fiber and nutrients necessary to properly metabolize carbohydrates, your insulin levels become elevated when. Eating junk foods throughout the day causes chronically high insulin levels, which eventually prompts your cells to begin to ignore this important hormone, resulting in a condition known as insulin resistance. Ultimately, obesity and Type 2 diabetes may set in. Since the 1980s, Type 2 diabetes, which was minimal in teenagers, has risen to 15 percent.
Junk food may be connected to depression also. A diets that had fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lactose, a sugar that comes from milk and other dairy products, had protective effects against developing depression. As per fitness expert, processing that removes vitamins, minerals and fiber makes junk foods into the sources of empty calories that nutritionists disparage. Children who eat a lot of junk foods may develop nutritional deficiencies that lead to low energy, mood swings, sleep disturbance and poor academic achievement, among other health conditions. High sodium levels are a defining characteristic of many junk foods and one of the contributing factors to the over consumption of salt that typifies the Western diet and contributes to high blood pressure and heart, liver and kidney diseases. Heart diseases have nailed out consumption of junk food as a major cause of their onslaught.
Junk food contains a high amount of fat and oil, which the body finds difficult to digest. Besides, these get deposited on the inner linings of the blood vessels, which form plaques thereby, exerting pressure on the heart to pump blood.
If you are a junk-food addict, here are ways you can fight your urge to have them: Clear your kitchen off junk food and stock the area only with nutritious food. Alternatively, you can pile healthy food within your reach and unhealthy food at the back. This helps reduce craving to a certain level. If however amount of restriction on junk food by way of stocking kitchen space with healthy food doesn’t work and only makes you rush to the store to grab your favourite tummy snackers, you are not at a loss; physical activity will help you burn the undesired calories that you consume through junk food.
Include a lot of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Eat healthy regularly to avoid the urge to eat snacks between meals. If you feel the urge to eat snacks, grab some fruits or prepare an assortment of fruits in a bowl and eat the mixture as a snack.
Drink lots of water. Water not only helps keep the system clean and dehydrated, but also kills the cravings to have junk food. Drink at least six to eight glasses of water every day to increase the rate of metabolism and remove toxins from the body.
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