Junk food is unhealthy food that is high in calories from sugar or fat, with minimal dietary fiber, protein, nutrients, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. Basically, Junk foods are processed foods consisting of high calories, but that is considered only as a broad umbrella. These foods are set up such that they look engaging and are pleasant so you are artificially customized to request more.
It needs to be noted that sometimes all the fast foods are considered as junk food but the fact is that, not all fast foods are junk foods, but a great number of them are. For instance, a salad may be fast food, but is definitely not junk food. According to Dr. Sunali Sharma, Dietician & Nutritionist, ‘Commercial products including but not limited to salted snack foods, gum, candy, sugary desserts, fried fast food, and sweetened carbonated beverages that have little or no nutritional value but are high in calories, salt, and fats may be considered junk foods. (Rana, 2017)
Now from the above stated definition of junk foods, they may sound like something that’s really bad. But as always there are exceptions to it, depending on how the things are being used, bad things can sometime be good and good things can sometime be bad. What people didn’t know is that the diets many people consider to be healthy, most of the time contains junk food. Besides having high calories that make junk foods a good diet meal item and the sugar that can maintain blood sugar level, they also contain many nutrients.
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They are not only providing people with nutrients that the body needs to keep bones, muscles, and the brain strong, but junk food also make a person feel full of energy. Along with these benefits there are also many types of Economic benefits such as helping people save time on their lunch break, save money over a long period of time, while also providing a tasty meal. The high energy that junk food contains it can easily fill a person up, and also the sugar that’s in the junk foods helps maintain a person’s blood sugar level. (Robinson, 2006)
It’s always said that too much of anything is always bad so is the case here, an excessive in-take of such foods increases the in-take of excess fat, simple carbohydrates and processed sugar which may lead to many diseases in the human body ranging from obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and some kinds of cancers to other chronic health problems. Obesity is the most dangerous out of these which may lead to heart- attacks and heart failures, high blood pressure (Hypertension). Studies have also proven that eating junk food affects the brain in the same way as consuming addictive drugs. Scientists and Researchers have also indicated through various studies that junk food can actually cause serious damage to your brain.
The matter of concern is that it’s not just years of poor eating, but regular consumption of junk food even for few days can lead to mental issues. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011 showed that healthy people who ate junk food for only 5 days performed poorly on cognitive tests that measured attention, speed, and mood. It concluded that eating junk food for just five days regularly can deteriorate your memory. This most likely originates from the way that a poor or toxic diet can cause certain chemical reactions that lead to inflammation in the hippocampus area of the brain which is associated with memory and special recognition.
Junk food might be cheaper but its consumption is not appreciable as it causes lot of damage to the body. They are associated with negative implications on human health. They are not good for human health especially when taken frequently. They make human body weak at some point due to lack of nutrients necessary for the body’s immunity. Health risks associated with these foods are severe to mankind. There should be some action regarding this as the consumption and the making could be reduced as it is not giving any kind of benefit to the masses but risking their life more.
With the changing lifestyle one must be aware that one should not risk life on behalf of their eating habits. Good health increases the life expectancy of people. Researches have shown that areas with higher life expectancy observe good eating morals. Human bodies are delicate in nature and need to be taken care of in a proper manner. Junk foods should be taken in small proportions if needed whenever in hurry and not repeatedly in order to maintain a good health.
