Bombarded with unhealthy choices, young people today prefer junk food for a number of reasons. It's not just good to taste but convenient, quick and often quite affordable. The bitter truth for all junk food lovers is no secret. The short-term joy and comfort that you get from such foods are short-lived. However, one can write an essay on harmful effects of junk food.
So, the next time you open the box of cheezy Mexican pizza or reach out for some French fries,think about the high amount of salt and trans fat you take in with every bite. The presence of these health monsters in junk food can have a deadly impact on your health.
Pizza, burgers, momos, ice creams, chips, and chocolates are an open invitation to non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart ailments, etc. There has been a significant increase in such lifestyle diseases in the last few years in India as well, and the world seems to be on the verge of an obesity epidemic. Read on as we discuss the effects of junk food on health.
Why is Junk Food Unhealthy?
Despite being delicious and attractive to the eyes, do you wonder ‘why is junk food unhealthy’? Well, looks can be quite deceptive. Take a look at some of the reasons that make junk so harmful. Let us also understand the ill effects of junk food on health.
10 Harmful Effects of Junk Food
Here are the top 10 harmful effects of junk food. Go through them and understand how an unhealthy treat can affect your health.
1. Calories are the Culprit
The main reason for obesity is the imbalance between calories consumed and calories burned, which results in obesity. Junk food contains more than the prescribed amount of calories, trans fats, sugar, and salts, which are the drivers of body fat and unhealthy metabolism. The hazards of junk food increased weight may lead to health issues like diabetes, heart-related diseases, joint pain, etc.
2. Addiction
You will be surprised to know that your favourite burger, French fries, and instant noodles can affect your brain like cocaine and heroin. They can hijack the dopamine system of your mind and make you addicted to fast food. It is the reason that makes you crave for it.
3. Destroy Appetite
Processed food always fills your stomach instantly for a long time. People can have it once and sustain it for the whole day. Which is, of course, not good for health! These food items have excessive fat, carbohydrates, and calories that negatively affect your digestive system and destroy your appetite. As a result, you start having a deficiency of necessary nutrients in your body.
4. Digestive Disorder
The digestive disorder is also one of the harmful effects of junk food. Your digestive system works to burn the carbohydrates to keep your blood sugar level balanced. If you eat junk food excessively, your digestive system can become non-functional due to an overload of bad carbs and blood sugar. This situation leads to many health risks.
5. Weaken Bones
Your bones can be intensely affected by the bad effects of junk food. Excessive consumption of junk food increases blood sugar level and further causes diabetes, which ultimately weakens your bones. Also, if you eat only junk food, your body lacks the required calcium and vitamins, which also damage your bones.
6. Heart Problems
Heart problems and junk food come hand-in-hand. Enjoying junk food 3 to 4 times a week will increase the cholesterol, fat, and sugar levels in your body and increase the amount of pressure on your heart. They also create a layer of fats around the heart and arteries that create the risk of blockage or even heart attack. Along with heart problems, there is a long list of diseases caused by junk food.
7. Type 2 Diabetes
Jung food contains a huge amount of trans fats and saturated fats that affect your health adversely. This can greatly increase the triglyceride levels and further enhance your risk of Type 2 diabetes. For someone who already has diabetes, eating junk food can increase the tendency to gain weight. An increased fat around the belly is believed to decrease your body’s resistance to insulin.
8. Certain types of Cancer
In the list of diseases caused by junk food, cancer is probably the most scary. In a recent research published by CNN, it was shown that food that is low in nutrition was associated with the risk of cancer. As per the report, Cancer rates were higher among the people who ate junk food regularly than those who did not. It was also seen that the ones who ate junk food quite often showed risks of colorectal, stomach and respiratory tract cancers.
9. Fatty Liver
A fatty liver is a stressed liver. It is a disease that occurs when excess fat is stored in the liver. Non-alcoholic fatty liver can lead to cirrhosis, putting you at the risk of a failed liver or even cancer. Studies show that even modest amounts of fast food every day can hurt your liver.
10. Obesity
One of the 10 harmful effects of junk food that connects with all the others is obesity. Eating fast food is indeed a common option, but we all know that it is low in nutrients. Eating deep-fried food, food that is high in salt and sugar, food that is high in carbs etc., on a daily basis puts you on at an increased risk of excessive weight gain and obesity.
>>Also Read: 15 Tips for Healthy Heart
Over to You!
Junk food is nothing but a clutter of some quick stuff that you can order and consume quickly. While it surely offers instant gratification, there are far too many bad effects of junk food. The more you dump your body with junk, the more it becomes difficult for you to stay healthy.
We hope that this essay on the harmful effects of junk food will help you think about the damage that too much junk food can cause.
Moreover, think about the expenses that you have to bear if you are diagnosed with any lifestyle disease that needs immediate treatment. Your lifetime savings are put at stake during an emergency hospitalisation owing to a lifestyle disease. To avoid this situation, you must consider protecting your finances by a health insurance plan like Care Freedom, which is specially designed for covering lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and high BMI. You can allow our experts to get in touch with you regarding the plan benefits and offerings.
Disclaimer: Underwriting of claims for Lifestyle Diseases is subject to policy terms and conditions.
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