Last Updated on January 17, 2021
From the opening of maritime routes to markets engine, addictions are part of human history. Be it tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, Internet, gambling, or junk food. Awareness campaigns against junk food are not common, but these foods work in the same way as drugs like cocaine in stimulating our brain’s reward system.
Not by chance, about 11.3% of the calories consumed daily by Americans originated from junk food, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. But what is junk food? Some examples are gum and fried fast food. But all of them are low in fiber and high in palatability, fat, and sugar.
The thing is that the nutritional composition of junk food has extremely noticeable – and harmful – consequences on your body. So check below the main ones!
1. Obesity
The biggest arguments used by those who claim to eat what is considered junk food are its low price and convenience. In a survey led by AYTM, 32% stated that eat it because it is cheap. The relationship between junk food and obesity is almost straightforward. It is not by chance that the degree of obesity in the American population is large and has grown over the years. Obesity is excessive weight gain, and its increase is a side effect of consuming junk food. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey noticed the prevalence of obesity in 42.4% of American adults. To find out if you are obese, calculate your Body Mass Index, the BMI. You just need to measure your weight and height and divide the first (in kilograms) by the second (in meters) squared. If you have a result greater than 30, then you can consider yourself obese.
2. Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 represents between 90 to 95% of all cases of diabetes disease. Its main factors are excess weight and fat in the body, which are in turn made effects of excessive consumption of junk food. High levels of triglycerides also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is also important to be aware of the nutritional information of processed foods that you eat. Some types of junk food like crackers and chips, cookies, margarine, muffins, and cakes, contain trans-fat. Several scientific articles attest to the negative impact that trans-fat can have on insulin sensitivity and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Henry Finley
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