Disadvantages of eating only fruits and vegetables

You can't eat them on their own.

Fruit and vegetables are extremely healthy. The fiber keeps your digestive system in check, cleans out toxins and feeds good gut bacteria. Spinach, lettuce, blueberries, peaches, bananas, lemons, grapes, and avocado are super foods.

These plant foods have almost all of the vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, antioxidants and other plant compounds that you need to be healthy.

In fact, a fruit-only diet helps you to lose unhealthy weight in a matter of days. Any balanced diet is incomplete without fruit and vegetables. They are the opposite of junk food.

There isn't a single food that you can eat outside of moderation, though. Even too much water will damage your health. Green leafy vegetables like bok choy and even fruit salad have their own disadvantages if you eat too much of them.

If fruit and vegetables are so good for you, how can they damage your health if you eat too much of them? Is your health negatively affected when you don't balance fruit and vegetables with other healthy food?

Disadvantages of eating only fruits and vegetables

1. Low in fat, protein, iron and zinc

2. Low in calories

3. Decreases appetite

4. Digestive issues like diarrhea, bloating and gas

5. Should not be eaten before, during or after exercise

6. Limited mineral (calcium and iron) absorption

7. Risk of disease contamination and pesticide residues

8. Increased risk of kidney stones

Eat other foods for balance.

1. Low in fat, protein, iron and zinc

Fruit and vegetables are low in fat

You need 44 - 77 grams of fat per day. 

That equates to 13.3 kilograms (or over 29 pounds) of bananas, 26 kilograms (or over 57 pounds) of apples, 49 kilograms (over 108 pounds) of potatoes, or over 18 kilograms (over 39 pounds) of carrots. This would be needed to reach the bare minimum of 44 grams of fat.

Compare that to less than 83 grams (under 3 ounces) of nuts, 414 grams (under 15 ounces) of eggs, or 327 grams (under 12 ounces) of salmon.

It is clear to see that you will run into a fat deficiency if you eat fruit and vegetables without another good source of fat.

Fat deficiency can lead to the following health problems:

1. Hunger

2. Dry skin

3. Hormonal imbalances

4. Poor temperature regulation

5. Extreme mental fatigue

6. Mental decline

7. Depression

Eat enough fat every day.

Low in protein

You have a minimum requirement of 46 - 56 grams of protein per day.

That equates to 4.6 kilograms (over 10 pounds) of bananas, 17 kilograms (over 37 pounds) of apples, 2.2 kilograms (over 4 pounds) of potatoes or more than 4.4 kilograms (over 9 pounds) of carrots. This is the bare minimum of protein intake per day.

Compare that to 220 grams (under 8 ounces) of nuts, 365 grams (under 13 ounces) of eggs or 225 grams (under 8 ounces) of salmon.

Protein deficiency can lead to:

1. Edema (swollen, puffy skin)
2. Fatty liver
3. Brittle skin, hair and nails
4. Muscle loss and muscle weakness
5. Bone fractures
6. Stunted growth
7. Increased frequency and severity of infections
8. Increased appetite (despite increased food intake)

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Low in iron and zinc

Key minerals like iron and zinc are extremely important for your overall health. They are most common in protein-rich foods like meat, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, beans, legumes, seeds and lentils. Notice that fruit and vegetables are not the best sources of iron and zinc.

Iron deficiency can lead to:

1. Extreme tiredness and fatigue

2. Paleness

3. Shortness of breath

4. Headaches and dizziness

5. Heart palpitations

6. Skin and hair issues

7. Tongue and mouth issues

8. Restless legs

9. Brittle, spoon-shaped nails

10. Unusual cravings

11. Anxiety

12. Cold hands and feet

13. Frequent infections

Eat enough protein-rich food.

Zinc deficiency can lead to:

1. Growth retardation

2. Loss of appetite

3. Impaired immune function

4. Hair loss

5. Diarrhea

6. Delayed sexual maturation

7. Impotence

8. Eye and skin diseases

Get enough zinc.

2. Low in calories

Fruit and vegetables are surprisingly low in calories. This is great for people who need to massively reduce their caloric intake, but it isn't so good for a healthy, long term diet.

A healthy individual should eat around 1 600 - 3 000 calories per day.

Bananas are 75% water. Apples are 86% water. Potatoes are 79% water. Carrots are 88% water. This doesn't leave much room for calories.

Severe calorie restriction can lead to:

1. Weak bones

2. Low metabolism

3. Moodiness and depression

4. Infertility

5. Weight gain

6. Low energy levels

7. Weak immune system

8. Mental decline

9. Lack of motivation

10. Constant hunger cravings

11. Addictive behavior

12. Hormonal imbalances

13. Overall weakness

Eat enough calories.

3. Fruit and vegetables decrease appetite

If you eat too many calories every day (as most of us do), fruit and vegetables can help. They will decrease your appetite. If you eat too many of them (and not enough of other foods), though, you risk decreasing your appetite too much.

This will make it harder to stomach the idea of food.

Fruit and vegetables decrease appetite because of their high water and fiber content. Fiber cannot be digested. Your digestive system takes a long time to process fiber. The high water content adds a lot of nutrient-free bulk to the hard-to-digest fiber. This keeps your digestive busy.

You won't feel hungry for food because your digestive system will still be busy processing your last meal. This is why fruit and vegetables lead to such rapid weight loss.

Never overdo it.

4. Fruit and vegetables can cause digestive issues like diarrhea, bloating and gas

This is especially true if you eat a lot a fruit and vegetables at once after you've avoided them for a long period of time.

We've already discussed how fruit and vegetables are harder for your digestive system to process than unhealthy, processed food. You can run into digestive issues if your digestive system isn't adept at digesting the fiber in fruit and vegetables. This can lead to bloating, diarrhea and gas.

The solution is quite simple. Eat less fruit and vegetables, but eat them consistently, so that your digestive system can to adapt to the new food.

Look after your digestive health.

5. Fruit and vegetables should not be eaten before, during or after exercise

This point relates very closely to the last two points. Your digestive system works hard to process the fiber in fruit and vegetables. This requires blood flow.

The fact that blood redirects to the digestive system after eating food is the reason behind fatigue, sleepiness or lethargy after a large meal.

This will decrease energy levels and, therefore, exercise performance.

Opt for foods that give you quick energy and digest faster. This will give you immediate energy for your workout, sustainable energy during your workout and better recovery after your workout.

Timing is everything.

6. Fruit and vegetables limit mineral absorption

Important minerals include calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, magnesium, iron, cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, molybdenum, iodine, and selenium.

Oxalates are anti-nutrients that are found in plant foods. They block the absorption of minerals. Oxalates are very common in green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, fruit, cocoa, seeds and nuts. They bind to minerals and escort them out of the system via urination or defecation.

Your body makes oxalate on its own. Vitamin C is also converted into oxalate.

Spinach might be high in calcium, but the high oxalate content in spinach blocks the majority of the calcium from being absorbed.

This study found that when woman drank milk and ate spinach at the same time, the calcium from milk was absorbed without hindrance.

The point of this study is to show that while the oxalates in certain food might stop us from absorbing the minerals in that specific food; it won't stop us from absorbing the minerals from other foods.

To prevent nutrient deficiencies (and mineral deficiencies in this case), eat a variety of different foods so that your body can get all of the nutrients that it needs.

Strive for balance.

7. Risk of disease contamination and pesticide residues from fruit and vegetables

The fruit and vegetables themselves aren't the only things that increase the health risks associated with a fruit and vegetable-only diet.

Food-borne diseases spread most rapidly through fruit and vegetables. Bacteria, parasites, chemicals and viruses cause over 200 different diseases. This includes diarrhea and cancer (click the link for more information).

Healthy foods are good for our bodies, but they are good for germs as well. This is why healthy food is more likely to go off compared to unhealthy food. The wholesomeness of food directly impacts its germ-spreading potential.

Plants fight against harmful germs right from the time that their seeds germinate. This battle doesn't end after harvest time. Diseases have a chance to inhabit natural food along every step of the growing, harvesting, transportation, selling, buying and storage process.

Pesticides are used to try and negate some of the risks of disease, but the pesticides themselves can cause us harm (in the same way that they kill off germs).

Avoid this disadvantage of fruit and vegetables by cleaning all of your fresh produce regularly. Don't buy more than what you can eat before it starts to spoil.

Eat clean.

8. Risk of kidney stones from fruit and vegetables

This relates to the point about how fruit and vegetables may limit mineral absorption. Oxalates bind to minerals and escort them out of the body. Oxalates can bind to calcium, for example, to form calcium oxalate. They may also bind to iron to form iron oxalate.

When mineral oxalates aren't successfully eliminated thought defecation or urination, they can form kidney stones.

Oxalates and minerals are natural compounds - there is no need to try and avoid these things altogether. You are more likely to die from the absence of minerals than from kidney stones.

Oxalates are already present in the urinary tract. They usually remain dissolved and don't cause any issues. The problem comes in when they don't stay dissolved and therefore cause kidney stones.

In some cases, oxalates and minerals form crystals that turn into kidney stones. This usually happens when oxalates are high (and when urination frequency or volume is low).

80% of kidney stones come from calcium oxalate. A low-oxalate diet may help to prevent kidney stones.

The best advice to prevent a variety of health complications is to eat a variety of different foods. You can't rely on one type of food exclusively for the various reasons listed above. Stay Strong!

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Disadvantages of bok choy

Don't eat too much bok choy.

Bok choy is a super food. It is low in calories and high in fiber and water. Bok choy gives your body almost all of the micro nutrients that it needs. Everybody should eat green leafy vegetables like bok choy.

This doesn't mean, though, that you can have as much as you want or eat it exclusively instead of other foods. Just like with any food group, green leafy vegetables become unhealthy when you eat too much of them. This can lead to serious health problems.

Disadvantages of bok choy

1. Low in key nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates and calories
2. Diminished appetite when eaten in excess
3. Diarrhea, bloating and gas and other digestive issues when introduced into the diet
4. One of the worst foods to eat before, during or after exercise
5. Contamination, toxic pesticide residue and disease risk

Make it a part of a balanced diet.

Nutritional content of bok choy

100 grams of bok choy contains:

1. 95.32 grams of water
2. 13 kilo-calories (or 55 kilo-joules of energy)
3. 1.5 grams of protein
4. 0.2 grams of fat
5. 0.8 grams of ash
6. 2.18 grams of carbohydrates
7. 1 gram of fiber
8. 1.18 grams of sugar
9. 105 milligrams of calcium
10. 0.8 milligrams of iron
11. 19 milligrams of magnesium
12. 37 milligrams of phosphorus
13. 252 milligrams of potassium
14. 65 milligrams of sodium
15. 0.19 milligrams of zinc
16. 0.021 milligrams of copper
17. 0.159 milligrams of manganese
18. 0.5 micrograms of selenium
19. 45 milligrams of vitamin c
20. 0.04 micrograms of thiamine
21. 0.07 milligrams of riboflavin
22. 0.5 milligrams of niacin
23. 0.088 milligrams of pantothenic acid
24. 0.194 milligrams of vitamin b 6
25. 66 micrograms of folate
26. 6.4 milligrams of choline
27. 0.3 milligrams of betaine
28. 0 micrograms of vitamin b 12
29. 223 micrograms of vitamin A
30. 0 micrograms of retinol
31. 2 681 micrograms of carotene
32. 0 micrograms of lycopene
33. 40 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin
34. 0.09 milligrams of vitamin e
35. 0 micrograms of vitamin D
36. 45.5 micrograms of vitamin k

You get almost all your micro nutrients.

1. Low in protein, fat, carbohydrates and calories

Bok choy (and other green leafy vegetables) is a great source of micro nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber). Due to the fact that they are over 95% water, they aren't very good sources of macro nutrients.

Low in protein

You need protein to make new tissue (brain, muscle, joint and heart, lung, skin, hair and nail tissue), antibodies, enzymes and blood. Low protein can diminish the quality of any of these parts of your body. In fact, low protein leads to many diseases, frequent infections, brittle nails, hair loss and depression.

The minimum daily protein intake protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram or 0.36 grams per pound. There are about 1.5 grams of protein for every 100 grams of bok choy.

If you weighted 70 kilograms (or 154 pounds), you would need to eat 5.8 kilograms (or 13 pounds) of bok choy to get your minimum daily protein requirement. This figure would increase if you weighed more or if you exercise regularly.

Compare that to 438 grams (or 15 ounces) of nuts or 302 grams of chicken for your daily, minimal protein requirement.

Bok choy just doesn't cut it as far as what you need regarding protein.

Don't miss out on key nutrients.

Low in fat

Fat is extremely important to your health. It is a stable from of energy. Fats give us essential fatty acids that can't be produced within the body. It is an important component of cell walls and gives us the means to absorb fat-specific nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K.

Fat regulates your hormones and provides you with energy when you aren't eating food. It prevents energy burnout, insulates your body and protects your organs from damage.

You should eat 44 - 77 grams of fat per day, on average.

There are 0.2 grams of fat per 100 grams of bok choy. You would need to eat 22 kilograms (or 48.5 pounds) to 38.5 kilograms (or 85 pounds) of bok choy to get your daily fat requirement.

Avocado will give you 15 grams of fat per 100 grams. You would only need to eat 293 grams (or 10 ounces) to get your daily fat intake.

Learn about the types of fat - and which ones you should eat.

Eating too little fat can lead to excess hunger, dry skin, poor temperature regulation, mental fatigue and hormonal disruptions (loss of menstrual cycle in woman and low testosterone in men).

Good sources of healthy fats include avocado, cheese, dark chocolate, eggs, fatty fish, nuts, chia seeds, extra virgin olive oil, coconuts, coconut oil and full-fat yogurt.

Good fat foods come with other nutrients.

Low in carbohydrates

Bok choy is an extremely low carbohydrate food at 2.18 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. This makes it a great option for people who want to eat a low carbohydrate diet or follow the keto diet.

It is not a good source of carbohydrates, however, for people who want to follow the health dietary recommendations.

This is how you can work out how many carbs you should eat. A moderate carb intake would be 75 to 150 grams per day.

Bok choy simply doesn't have enough carbohydrates to meet this carbohydrate goal. You would need to eat 2.78 kilograms (6.1 pounds) - 6.88 kilograms (15.2 pounds) of bok choy to meet the above goal.

Good sources of carbohydrates include vegetables, fruit, legumes, nut, seeds, whole grains and tubers.

You would only need to eat 429 grams (15 ounces) to 857 grams (30 ounces) of potatoes to get the right amount of carbohydrates.

Eat the healthiest type of carbs.

Low in calories

Bok choy does not have enough calories to fulfill your daily caloric (energy) requirements, either.

100 grams of bok choy has 13 calories. If you plan to consume the recommended 2000 calories per day, you would need to eat over 15 kilograms (more than 33 pounds) of bok choy!

While this makes it a great food to reduce your caloric intake and feel full, relying too much on bok choy has the disadvantage of starving your body of the energy that it needs.

Low calorie diets can be dangerous. They can cause fatigue, mental decline, muscle loss, diarrhea and constipation, eating disorders, depression, hormonal imbalances and gallstones.

Unhealthy diets that limit calories too much lead to more weight gain in the future. Your body will adapt by increasing appetite and lowering metabolism. This will cause greater weight gain as soon as you stop your unhealthy diet.

A good weight loss diet should make you feel more energized - not lacking for energy. It should improve your health so much that you never want to go back to unhealthy eating.

The best diets are sustainable.

2. Diminished appetite when eaten in access

One of the disadvantages of bok choy is the fact that it can reduce your appetite. This might be great for people who want to lose weight, but it is not so good for people who struggle to eat enough as it is.

The large water content of bok choy adds bulk to the food without any nutritional value. Fiber takes longer to break down and sits in your gut for longer. This will prolong the time that it takes before you feel the need to eat again.

If you eat too many low-calorie, high-fiber foods; you won't feel hungry often enough to eat all of the nutrients that you need. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies and a weaker, undernourished body.

My appetite plummets as soon as I have my daily 5 fruit and vegetables (which are so important for all of the micro nutrients). To overcome this disadvantage, I eat my calorie-dense foods (that are high in proteins, fats and carbohydrates) first. I save my fibrous foods for the end of the day so that they don't stop me from eating all of the foods that my body needs.

Bok choy, as we have already seen, is high in so many beneficial nutrients. This doesn't mean that you can rely on it as your primary food source. Always choose a variety of different foods from different food groups so that your body gets all of the important nutrients.

Too much of any food can hurt you.

3. Digestive issues caused by bok choy

Green leafy vegetables like bok choy are actually very good for your digestive system. The fiber feed good gut bacteria that regulate your immune system, turn food into nutrients and produce important chemicals that we can't get without them.

Fiber is hard to digest. It takes more work to break it down to access the nutrients. In the long run, this improves your digestive health.

Junk food is easily digestible and leaves you craving more in a short space of time.

If you have only recently started eating more healthy foods, green leafy vegetables like bok choy can be harder to digest than it should be because your digestive system is used to breaking down easily-digested nutrients.

This can lead to numerous digestive issues like bloating, diarrhea, gas, constipation and cramps.

Don't change your diet too dramatically in a short space of time. Give your body time to adapt. Eat smaller portions of fibrous food, at first, so that your digestive system has time to rediscover how to break it down.

Implementing dietary changes incrementally can negate the risk of digestive issues that big changes can cause.

Small changes are good for you.

4. Bok choy is not good before or after exercise

Fiber and other food that is hard to digest causes blood to pool in your digestive system. This isn't a bad thing - this is a vital part of your digestive process. 

The problem is the fact that your body will have less blood (with nutrients like energy and oxygen) for movement when it focuses on digestion. This is why we feel lethargic after a large meal.

Less blood flow will decrease the amount of exercise that you can do if you eat bok choy before exercise. Decreased blood flow will also reduce the amount of recovery that you get from exercise if you eat it afterwards for the same reason.

If you eat right before or after exercise, focus on food with less fiber and more carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Choose foods like peanut butter and bread, pasta, eggs, chocolate milk, yogurt and fruit (like grapes and bananas). Here are great workout snacks for people on keto.

Eat smart.

5. Bok choy may present a contamination and disease risk

Fresh plant produce like bok choy is one of the leading mediums for the spread of food-borne diseases.

One of the disadvantages of healthy food is the fact that bacteria and other pathogens tend to love them just as much as our bodies do.

Healthy food tends to spoil easily. This is not only an inconvenience, but a health risk to you and those around you.

Avoid bok choy that looks a little off at the store. Throw it out when it starts to spoil and wash it before you cook with it. This will help to reduce the risk of contamination.

There is also a risk of toxic ingestion of the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow bok choy. This is another important reason to wash all of your fresh produce.

Eat clean.

Bok choy will remain one of the best healthy foods to eat. The disadvantages show that you can't eat it exclusively, or in too high quantities, because you need to get all of the nutrients that your body needs through a variety of different foods.

Include it as part of a balanced, healthy diet and you are all set to go. Stay Strong!

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Disadvantages of junk food in schools

Junk food has many disadvantages in schools.

We have discussed why junk food is so prevalent in today's school system. It is time to look at the disadvantages that come with junk food - particularly within a school environment.

Disadvantages of junk food in schools

1. Junk food reduces your ability to concentrate
2. Junk food decreases your energy levels
3. Junk food lowers your confidence by damaging your physical appearance
4. Junk food hampers your taste for healthy food
5. Junk food is highly addictive - the more you eat, the more you want
6. Junk food increases your appetite
7. Junk food can cause depression
8. Junk food can cause hormonal imbalances

Junk food destroys your health.

1. Junk food reduces your ability to concentrate

Junk food is high in Omega 6, but low on omega 3

Junk food, or highly processed food, contains a lot of hyper-heated plant oils. These oils have omega 6 fatty acids. We don't eat enough food that has omega 3 (like the oil naturally found in fish).

Omega 6 and omega 3 balance each other out. If you have too much omega 6 from junk food, you will need even more omega 3. This leads to fatty acid imbalances that damage brain, heart and cardiovascular system.

Your brain needs omega 3 to function properly. Every time that you eat something high in fried plant oils that contain a lot of omega 6 (like junk food), the problem gets worse. This leads to reduced concentration, depression, low quality of sleep and the inability to retain new information.

Little actions cause big consequences.

Other ingredients in junk food also destroy concentration in schools

This is not the only way that junk food limits mental function. Preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colorants, flavor enhancers, sodium and sweeteners flood the brain with damaging toxins. Your brain first has to eliminate these toxins before it can function normally.

The sugar from junk food stops your brain from working properly

Junk food is high in simple carbohydrates and sugar. It is low in fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein. Sugars and carbohydrates flood your body with sugar. This puts you on a sugar high that reduces your ability to sit down and focus.

The problem only gets worse from there. Sugar pulls water out of the cells in your body - including your brain. This leads to mental fatigue and lethargy right from the start.

Your body will release insulin to stop this from happening. Insulin takes the sugar from your blood and shuttles it to various parts of the body so that sugar will stop damaging your cells. When insulin does this, your blood sugar drops. This leads to a sugar crash.

The resulting sugar crash will drain your energy levels to a lower point than they started. This creates the cycle of even more mental fatigue and lethargy. You can't concentrate because there is no sugar to give you energy and you crave more sugar to keep going. This is why sugar is so damaging to mental health - and why it becomes so addictive.

Too much sugar is killing us.

If too much sugar is so bad for you, why do companies put so much sugar in their products? 

The addictive nature of sugar is what boosts sales. We instinctively gravitate towards the food that has the most sugar. The more sugar companies can put in their products, the more sales they will make. Companies that don't use a lot of sugar or artificial junk in their products lose out on precious sales.

2. Junk food decreases energy levels

We have already looked at how the sugar in junk food drops your energy levels every time that you eat it.

Artificial sweeteners destroy energy levels

Artificial sweeteners do the same. Sweeteners are more addictive than cocaine (and make you fatter than normal sugar). The addictive nature of artificial sweeteners encourage processed food manufacturers to add as much of it in junk food as possible.

When your tongue tastes something sweet, your brain expects a sugar rush from the fake sugar. It will lower your overall energy so that it doesn't have too much energy when the sugar rush kicks in. The sugar rush never happens. 

This leaves your body in an energy-deficient state. It tries to make up for the loss of energy by craving more sugar to get back to a state of normal. This is why artificial sweeteners lower your energy and become so addictive.

Sweet now, bitter later

Toxins drain your body of energy

Junk food and processed food is loaded with unnatural ingredients. Your body does not know what to do with these chemicals. It spends a lot of energy trying to eliminate them from your body.

The kidneys are overloaded with chemicals that it needs to take out of your blood stream. Beneficial gut bacteria (that turn nutrients into energy) are killed off by these toxins. It takes days to eliminate the toxins from one item of junk food. 

Energy is depleted through the elimination of unnatural chemicals - and this energy could have been put to better use. If you eat more unhealthy food than what your body can eliminate, your energy levels get lower and lower.

We see this in the liver. Your liver has the important role of regulating blood sugar and turning fat into energy. It also has the important role of keeping your blood clean. When you load your body with toxins from unhealthy food, your liver is too preoccupied to produce the right amounts of energy. 

That is how too much sugar leads to a fatty liver and, eventually, liver disease (like liver cirrhosis) and liver failure.

Toxins from junk food also damage the cells throughout your body. They are stored in muscle tissue, fat cells and the skin to prevent them from causing more damage. Your body has to eliminate all of these toxins before it can function normally again - but it can't do this when it is bombarded with more and more toxins.

You are what you eat.

3. Junk food lowers confidence by damaging physical appearance

Confidence is everything. It is easier to learn new things when you are confident in your ability to do so. True confidence is rooted in who you are - and your physical appearance has a large impact on how you see yourself.

Toxins will destroy your skin, the sweeteners will increase your craving for sugar and sugar will be stored as fat whenever you eat too much of it. This is why junk food leads to dramatic weight gain.

Metabolism refers to your body's ability to turn fat into energy. When you are unhealthy, your body does not have the energy to burn fat (which requires complicated biological processes to burn - it is easier for the body to simply crave more sugar for direct energy).

As junk food slowly chips away at your health, your energy levels will drop and you will gain weight at a faster pace. Your skin will display the way that your body feels on the inside. 

Your hormones will be even more imbalanced than usual (because your body has too many unnatural chemicals to regulate your hormones properly). 

Hair, skin and nails become pale and brittle from too much sugar without enough protein. Weak muscles and joints diminish good posture. You get sick more often and you look worse after every episode of illness.

All of this, coupled with the depressing effects of junk food, will obliterate your sense of confidence and self-worth. It is hard to concentrate on other things when the black hole of self-pity begins to consume you.

Junk food is a major contributor to this process.

The danger is real.

4. Junk food hampers your taste for healthy food

Sugar is not bad when it is found in nature. One of the many positive roles that it has is that it tells us what is edible and what is not. 

We gravitate towards food that has the most sugar (ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, burger patties, pasta and rice are also loaded with added sugar to get you to eat more of it).

When you eat a lot of food with high amounts of added sugar, your taste buds adapt to that taste. You regard super sweet food as normal tasting food.

When your brain adapts to the sugar content of junk food, it won't recognize natural food (that has normal amounts of sugar) as edible. That is why it is so hard for people to eat fruit and vegetables when they first start out on a new diet - their brains don't think that it is real food!

The good news is that your taste buds renew themselves every 2 weeks. If you can tolerate a new eating plan for 14 days, your brain will recognize that as the new normal. If you stick to natural foods exclusively, junk food will taste so sweet that it actually puts you off.

I can't stomach the idea of more than a small piece of cake at social gatherings, for example. It's too sweet for me. I also actually enjoy the taste of fruit and vegetables now. At first, I hated it - but forced myself to get used to it because of the health benefits of fruit and vegetables.

Choose goodness.

5. Junk food is highly addictive

We've already covered how the more artificial sweeteners you eat, the more you will crave.

You have also read about the fact that the more you flood your system with the sugar in junk food, the more your body will crave sugar for energy instead of making its own energy from fat.

The fat in junk food is also highly addictive. There are different types of fat. Some are good for you, some are not. Saturated fat is found in meats like fish, beef, port and fish. Monounsaturated fat is good for you. It comes from avocados and olives. Polyunsaturated fats are also healthy. Flax seeds and chia seeds are great sources of this kind of fat.

Trans fat is the worst kind of fat. It is the one that we should avoid at all costs. This kind of fat is chemically produced by adding hydrogen to plant oils. Despite its horrible health effects, it is highly addictive. You will find this fat in junk food.

Flavor enhancers and sodium (salt) are other ingredients in junk food that are extremely addictive while destroying your health.

Choose what builds you.

Why is the unhealthy stuff addictive in junk food?

Healthy ingredients are typically not addictive because they strengthen the body. When your body is strengthened, it is better able to perform vital functions on its own. It's like the age-old saying: The mark of great leaders is how well their followers cope when they are not around.

Unhealthy food does the opposite. It takes your body into a worsened state of health. Your body will try to revert back to its previous state by adding back what the unhealthy food has taken away. 

Added sugar lowers energy. Your body tries to get more energy with more sugar. Flavor enhancers take away the natural taste of food. Your body will crave more flavor enhancers to experience a sense of taste again. This is why poisons like alcohol and nicotine are so addictive.

6. Junk food increases your appetite

Junk food and processed food will make your body crave more food in a shorter period of time. Here's how:

Processed food is made to give you a fast sense of satisfaction. This helps it to sell more because people will learn to associate that food with a sense of fulfillment. Junk food fills you up quickly. It makes you feel like you've eaten a lot of good nutrients in a short amount of time. Think about how long it will take you to feel fulfilled from eating apples and pears.

You feel more satisfied because the nutrients move from your digestive system into your blood stream more quickly. That means that it does not last in your digestive system very long. Simple carbohydrates like processed grains, sugar, bread and pastries are absorbed very quickly. 

The sooner food enters into your bloodstream, the shorter the amount of time that you digestive system feels empty again. Healthy foods contain fiber, resistant starch (carbohydrates that take longer to digest) and protein. These ingredients take longer to break down. This means that they sit in your digestive system for a longer period of time.

Your blood stream is not flooded with sugar (which prevents a sugar rush and the following sugar crash), but nutrients are consistently delivered into the blood over a long period of time. 

This is why fruit and vegetables may not feel too fulfilling at first, but reduce hunger cravings for hours to come.

You will end up eating more when you eat junk food. Healthy food will keep you satisfied and give you the energy to go about your day for longer before you need to eat you next meal.

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7. Junk food can cause depression

The addictive roller coaster ride of junk food will take its toll on your mental health. 

It is mentally draining to feel full of energy at one moment, but have nothing left within the space of a few hours. 

The toxins from junk food stop the brain from dealing with its own emotions or memories because it spends too much of its time dealing with chemicals that shouldn't be there in the first place.

Most of your serotonin (a happiness hormone) is made by good gut bacteria. The preservatives in junk food kill good gut bacteria.

8. Junk food cases hormonal imbalances

The brain relies on hormones like cortisol (stress and energy), dopamine (pleasure and reward), melanin (rest and sleep), serotonin (happiness and comfort), endorphins (elation and pain relief), testosterone (energy and determination) and estrogen (energy storage) to balance its own mental state.

Omega 6 (and a lack of omega 3) stops the brain from regulating the body's hormone levels.

Too much or too little of any of these hormones can lead to disastrous mental health problems. Junk food messes with this balance in a variety of ways.

Hormones are used to farm animals so that they grow faster, sooner. They typically use the hormone estrogen to fatten them up, among other hormones.

When we consume a lot of estrogen, our brain stops producing its own estrogen to try to counteract it, or it lands up with too much estrogen.

Estrogen from food decreases the amount of testosterone that we produce (and women also need testosterone to function properly).

Mental health matters.

Conclusion

If we want to give students the best future possible, we need to replace junk food with healthier alternatives. Stay Strong!

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