Exiting A Junk Food Nation

Exiting A Junk Food Nation

You may be the type that likes to have a cabinet full of junk food for when you get a sugary or salty snack craving. Maybe you rarely indulge but enjoy an occasional dive into a chocolate bar, barbecue chip or even a visit to your local fast food joint. Well, whether you are a dabbler or an all out junk foodie you may want to rethink what may seem like an innocent choice.

There is a reason junk food is hard to resist and if you are within a cycle of supporting the purchase of this non-food food you could be a profitable victim that, over time, becomes another profitable commodity, a lifelong member of Big Pharma medicine.

Learn what junk food does to you and how you may be able to exit a junk food nation.

Manipulating Your Brain

Junk food is such a profitable industry and for good reason. Looking at it from a different angle reaps some interesting information.

Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute conducted a study that looked at the effects of junk food on the brain compared to drug addiction. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience it was concluded that,

“In summary, we have shown that over-stimulation of brain reward systems through excessive consumption of palatable energy-dense food [junk food] induces a profound state of reward hyposensitivity and the development of compulsive-like eating….Our findings therefore support the previous work of Hoebel and many others suggesting that obesity and drug addiction may arise from similar neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitries.”

Your Government Junk Food Support

You would think that your government wants a nation of healthy, capable worker bees contributing to the engine of free-enterprise. Well, the so-called democratic process seems to have turned into an ugly cycle of feeding you inexpensive poison.

In a New York Times article (7/19/16), it was revealed that corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, sorghum, milk and meat, the top seven crops and farm foods, are heavily subsidized by the federal government, ensuring that junk foods are cheap and plentiful. This may seem odd given the fact that the government Department of Health advocates consuming more fruits and vegetables yet, according to the Times, “only a small fraction of its subsidies actually support the production of fresh produce”.

In a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) report (7/5/16), it was concluded that,

“Among US adults, higher consumption of calories from subsidized food commodities was associated with a greater probability of some cardiometabolic [heart health] risks. Better alignment of agricultural and nutritional policies may potentially improve population health.”

Fast Food Junk Stats

You may be surprised by some of the above info but you most likely know that junk food is bad for you. However, the junk food health danger goes deeper creating a variety of systemic problems that, as mentioned, could lead to a lifetime of pharmaceutical addiction.

A 15 year study of over 3,000 multi-cultural young adults who consumed fast food showed an overwhelming risk for diabetes.

A study reported in the Journal of Urban Health (9/10) found that neighborhoods with the more fast food restaurants had a higher obesity rate.

Scientists at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada performed a combined study of the diets of 9,000 participants. They found that those who consumer fast food and processed baked goods had a higher incidents of depression which was upwards of 51%.

The University of Minnesota School of Public Health found that in a study of Singapore residents consuming Western-style fast food and snacks two to three times per week increased the risk of dying from coronary artery disease 50 percent.

Statistics will always be there and until they are significantly decreased we will have a nation and a globe of junk food addicts.

Beware of Junk Food Tactics

Once a consumer is addicted to a particular item, Big Food Corp pounces with a variety of junk food tactics. McDonalds offers toys and clowns to budding addicts while catering too their adult fanbase with a current, inexpensive clothing line.

There are monetary incentive giveaways to keep you coming back for more and even their own hospitals for, what some are saying, is treating the very people (or their offspring) that have developed illness as a result of their junk food diet.

Don’t fall prey to these tactics or junk food addiction altogether.

Go Cold Turkey

Yes, yes you constantly hear how you should eat more fruits and vegetables but it seems like time flies by and you are still eating out of a box, can, bag or microwaved meal. It takes time to break a junk food addiction which is estimated at about 21-28 days.

Try giving up all processed food and replacing with fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and clean water for this time period and you may see some significant changes. One change is that people report wakening their taste buds that can no longer go back to junk food that now seems too sweet or salty. It is an experiment that just may save your life.

 

Exiting a junk food nation is not easy, especially when friends, family and even advertising constantly bombard your mind with junk food temptations. See if you can hold your ground and keep reminding yourself of the accumulated dangers of rationalizing your junk food grab. In time, you will be able to rise above this plastic way of eating and enjoy a clear mind and clean body for a future of less illness and more adventures.