Definition of healthy food and junk food

Know the difference.

Definition of junk food and healthy food

Junk food is any type of food that is hyper-processed (like fast food, cereals and condiments). Healthy food is any type of food that is as close to its natural state as possible (like fruit, eggs and yogurt). Natural food loses its health value at every step along the manufacturing process.

Whole food is unprocessed.

Junk food and healthy food

Junk foods include fast food, cereal, soda, artificial sweeteners, condiments, sweets, candy bars, crisps and fried food. Healthy foods include fruit, vegetables, eggs, diary, meat, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains and other legumes.

Examples of junk food

1. Fast food (from restaurants with a drive-through window)
2. Cereals
3. Soda (causes dehydration)
4. Food with artificial sweeteners (Which are worse than normal sugar)
5. Condiments (Ketchup has more sugar than actual tomatoes)
6. Sweets and candy bars
7. Potato crisps
8. Processed meat
9. Fried food

Examples of healthy food

1. Fruit
2. Vegetables
3. Eggs
4. Diary (like milk, cheese and yogurt)
5. Meat (see the benefits of chicken and pork, for example)
6. Beans
7. Nuts
8. Seeds
9. Whole grains
10. Legumes

Choose healthy.

Why is fast food convenient?

Why is the food that we should avoid so much more convenient? Here's why:

1. Fast food is cheaper to produce
2. Preservatives and extreme temperatures prevent food loss
3. Junk food can be stored for much longer before being spoiled
4. Simple, cheap and unhealthy ingredients can be added to improve the taste
5. It is easy to make exact copies of fast food recipes when you don't rely on natural ingredients
6. Addictive qualities make it more popular and, therefore, more profitable
7. Since most people eat fast food, there are more stores that will meet the demand

Learn more about the advantages of junk food - and how we can overcome them.

Cheap ingredients are unhealthy.

What makes junk food so unhealthy?

1. Hormones, selective breeding, fertilizers and antibiotics in agriculture damage our health
2. Too much omega 6 and too little omega 3
3. High levels of fat, sugar and salt
4. Other ingredients like preservatives, artificial flavors and chemicals hurt our health

Our bodies were made to eat food as it is found in nature. Human interventions changed the availability, price and taste of food - without respect to the health effects (which were relatively unknown many years ago).

1. The difference between organic and free range food for your health

The health effects of human intervention on food have reached as far as natural foods like plant and animal produce.

Hormones, selective breeding, antibiotics, cheap foods (which are usually unwanted by-products of other agricultural processes), tight spaces and other medicines have diminished the healthy nutrients that we should find in animal products.

Fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, selective breeding, low soil quality and unnatural lighting have also changed the beneficial nutrient profiles of plant foods.

For these reasons (and more), the healthy nutrients in commercial foods have diminished by almost half.

It is better to buy organic (for plant food) and free-range (for animal products) when you can. If not, a commercial, whole food is still healthier than junk food (which takes processing to a whole new level).

The closer to nature, the better it is.

2. Imbalanced omega fatty acid profiles

Omega 6 mostly comes from plant oils. Omega 3 mostly comes from animal fat. Most junk food is processed with plant oils because it is cheaper than animal fat. This has created in imbalance in our omega fatty acids profile. We have too much omega 6 and we have a severe omega 3 essential fatty acid deficiency.

This deficiency is the reason why fish oil (which is high in omega 3) helps with exercise performance, concentration, joint health, heart health, balanced hormones, blood pressure and mental health disorders. It's not that omega 3 boosts our health. It is more about the fact that we are finally giving our bodies the nutrients that they have been lacking.

Healthy food naturally contains a lot of Omega 3 (like fish, meat, nuts and seeds). We wouldn't have this deficiency in the first place if we ate healthy from the start.

Prevention is better than cure.

3. Too much sugar, salt and fat

Sugar is a precious nutrient. Our cells need sugar for energy. Sugar is not as prevalent in the natural environment as it is in our modern diet.

Since sugar was crucial but rare, our brains have developed a mechanism to ensure that we get enough of it to survive. Dopamine, the happiness or pleasure hormone that triggers learning is released every time that we eat something with sugar in it.

This helped us to remember where we found a good source of sugar so that we can eat as much of it as possible before the food source ran out. The sugar content of food also indicated what plants we could eat and which ones we should avoid.

Food manufacturers have taken advantage of our biological, mental connection to sugar. They load their products with as much sugar as possible so that we subconsciously go back to that specific product.

Loading a product with as much sugar as possible before it loses its taste is called the bliss point. Products are designed with the right sugar, salt and fat profile to make them as addictive as possible. Since all three of these ingredients are cheap, companies will use as much of them as they want.

The over-consumption of sugar (more than we would ever eat in a natural environment) leads to junk food addiction, depression, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, lethargy, imbalanced hormones and other health complications.

Salt plays a very similar role. Too much salt can lead to excessive thirst, dehydration, bloating, headaches, a reduced tolerance for healthy food and other health complications.

There are different kinds of fats. Saturated fats are mostly animal fats. Unsaturated fats are super healthy fats (like the ones you find in avocados, nuts, olives, salmon and flax seeds).

Trans fats are extremely unhealthy. They are mechanically produced fats. Food manufacturers make trans fats by adding hydrogen to plant oil. This makes them unnatural and extremely unhealthy - although dirt cheap.

Trans fats are extremely addictive and can be found in almost all hyper-processed, junk food.

Damage causes addiction.

4. Other unhealthy ingredients in junk food

Artificial sweeteners, preservatives, flavor enhancers, artificial colors, artificial flavors and other chemicals wreak havoc on your health.

They are so dangerous because they aren't found in their processed forms in nature. Your body, therefore, has no mechanisms in place to remove these toxins efficiently. This can lead to a build-up of toxins that are stored in your fat cells, blood circulation, muscles and other organs.

Preservatives kill germs. They kill us too. They just take longer to do so because we are much larger then germs.

The good news is that our bodies can, eventually, eliminate these toxins through the four channels or detoxification (sweating, urination, defecation and exhalation). This can take a relatively long time because these chemicals aren't natural.

If we eat more unnatural chemicals than what our bodies can eliminate, our health gets worse over time.

Nature does it best.

What makes healthy food so good for you?

1. No unhealthy toxins from junk food
2. Packed with important nutrients
3. Keeps you fuller for longer
4. Feeds good gut bacteria

Our bodies were made to eat healthy food.

1. Healthy food doesn't contain the unhealthy chemicals that are in junk food

You don't need to worry about artificial flavors, sweeteners, salt and too much sugar when you eat healthy food. The simple elimination of these dangerous toxins will improve your health dramatically.

2. Healthy food has a lot of important nutrients

Healthy food is healthy because it nourishes your body with the nutrients that it desperately needs. These nutrients include vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, healthy fats and protein.

3. It keeps you fuller for longer

Healthy food (plants and animals) weren't designed to be as tasty as possible. They were designed with their own survival in mind. Junk food is designed to make you feel good with chemicals that make you eat more of a manufacturer's products.

This is one of the reasons why healthy food is not addictive - it was designed for survival, not consumption.

The fiber in plant foods take longer to digest and keep your gut fuller for longer. The protein in animal food also takes longer to digest. This means that you don't need to satisfy a hunger craving every 2 hours. Your blood sugar (and energy levels) won't rise and fall so quickly. You will feel a more stable kind of energy.

4. Healthy food feeds good gut bacteria

You need good gut bacteria to be healthy. The majority of your serotonin (a happiness hormone that regulates mental health) is produced by your gut bacteria. Good gut bacteria keep bad, illness-causing bacteria away. They also produce important chemicals that we can't make on our own.

The preservatives from junk food kill off good gut bacteria in the same way that it stops food from spoiling before it is eaten. Bad gut bacteria thrive on the sugar in junk food. Good gut bacteria live on the fiber from natural plant foods.

Eat right. Live well.

How do I start eating a healthy diet?

A good, healthy diet will give your body all of the nutrients that it needs. It will also cut out all of the unhealthy food items that damage your health at the same time. You feel a notable difference in your health, mood and energy levels within a few days of a healthy diet.

Here are some great diets that you can try:

For beginners who have never followed a diet before

The basic diet is a one-size-fits-all diet that helps you to stay healthy. It is really simple to follow and doesn't require a lot of learning or adjustment. This diet will teach you to enjoy healthy food and forget about junk food.

Ketogenic diet for weight loss

The ketogenic diet reduces carbohydrates so that your body starts to use its own fat for energy. You will lose weight on any good diet if you have too much fat to begin with (because unhealthy food causes unnatural weight gain), but this diet is a good option if your primary goals is weight loss.

For younger females

The 25 year-old female diet is great for women in their 20's. It will establish healthy eating habits that you can follow for the rest of your life.

For younger males

The young male diet is a great diet that is specifically formulated for the modern man's lifestyle.

Diet for Eastern eaters

Western foods are usually foreign to people living in the eastern parts of the world. This Indian diet is great for people who are more familiar with eastern foods.

Find what works for you.

Conclusion

You can make a massive impact on your health when you simply avoid junk food and opt for healthier choices. Learn to enjoy fruit as a snack. Pack your own lunch to work instead of buying from the store. Plan your meals in advance.

Exercise, sleep well, take time to enjoy a hobby and spend time with friends and family. In fact, there are 7 habits that contribute to your health.

You don't have to start out in full swing, either. Small changes really add up. If you can't bring yourself to go for a run, do a single squat every day for a week as soon as you get out of bed. It is better than nothing. Before you know it, you'll be doing 50 every day.

You don't have to make the healthiest decisions all of the time, either. Feel proud of the times that you do make smarter choices. Don't feel bad about the times that you mess up (we all do from time to time - and that's okay).

Keep learning about the differences between healthy practices and unhealthy ones. Stay Strong!

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Advantages of junk food in schools

Address the need to solve the problem.

If we're going to tackle the issue of junk food within schools, we need to understand the advantages that junk food and processed food has over healthy food.

By now, we know that processed food elimination is one of the most important preventative health measures and that any healthy diet should avoid it. Healthy food is extremely important for the mental health of students.

If all of this is common knowledge, why is junk food still so prevalent? The reason is that junk food has many advantages that healthy food does not meet in its current form.

Let's look at the ways the junk food benefits students in schools so that we can devise smarter to ways to meet these needs with better food options.

What needs does junk food meet?

Advantages of junk food in schools

1. Junk food fills you up quickly
2. Junk food is cheap and easy to produce
3. There are millions of dollars invested into the marketing of junk food
4. Junk food tastes good (addictive substances like sugar, sodium and sweeteners)
5. Junk food is tightly ingrained into modern culture
6. Junk food is convenient (does not spoil, is not easily damaged, easily carried in bags)
7. The packaging is designed to make you crave junk food

1. Junk food fills you up quickly

Time is a precious resource. Students are quickly introduced to a rushed lifestyle as they shuttle from one class to another. They have a limited time to satisfy their hunger during a lunch break before their next class begins.

You could finish an entire burger and fries in the time that it takes to peel an orange. The fact that you need to chew on an apple or carrot for longer than you need to eat a bag of chips is one of the reasons why we don't like eating fruit. 

Fruit is mostly made up of water and fiber. This provides fewer calories per bite and causes you to chew more for fewer nutrients. The weight loss and nutritional benefits of healthy food are negated by the fact that you feel fuller for less consumption time with processed, junk food.

The fiber in fruit, ironically, will keep you fuller for longer - It just takes more time to get to that point when you consume it. Chewing food for longer also gives you a sexy jawline.

How to overcome the fact that junk food feels more filling

The easiest way to overcome the time-saving advantage of junk food is to recognize the fact that you will feel less hungry in the hours to come when you eat whole food instead of junk food. Why save a few moments of chew time when you can save an entire hour or two of hunger later down the line?

Another key element is to focus on what you are filling up on. Fill up on the stuff that improves brain function. Don't fill up on the stuff that lowers your energy levels in the long run.

Enjoy health.

2. Junk food is cheap and easy to produce

Processed food is often made from the unwanted by-products of agriculture. Cheap ingredients like sugar and sodium are used to enhance taste. Chemicals can be made on a massive scale to reduce their cost. An enhanced shelf life means that products don't need to be transported, shelved or sold at a certain time.

The cost of delivery is reduced when it can be prioritized over time of delivery. Foods that don't require refrigeration, for example, are cheaper to move from one location to another.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true when it comes to whole, natural foods. Fresh produce incurs loss at every step of the process. A certain portion of fresh produce is lost during the growing phase. More is lost when it is picked and sorted. There are greater losses between transportation and shelving.

This dramatically increases the cost of unprocessed food.

Hormones, antibiotics, fertilizers and pesticides reduce the rate of food loss. This is why organic and free-range food is so much more expensive (even though it can have double the beneficial value).

Processed food also lasts longer after it has been purchased. You can buy a month's supply of instant noodles in bulk. You don't have to worry about the fact that it will spoil. You can't do the same of most fruit and vegetables. You'd have to buy them a week in advance or else they will spoil.

How do you overcome the cheap price of processed food?

You can freeze fresh produce to prolong its shelf live. This will enable you to buy healthy food in bulk.

It is also a good idea to buy locally produced food. You get to support local farmers (who probably use fewer chemicals than large companies who produce food to scale). This greatly reduces transportation costs - along with the costs of food loss along every step of the delivery process.

You can also save money by purchasing selected fruit and vegetables within their season.

Another great idea is to look into growing your own food at home. Start with a single herb and take it from there.

Smart health can save you money.

3. Billions Of dollars are poured into the marketing of junk food

Junk food is extremely desirable. A large part of its desirability is owed to the extensive marketing campaigns that junk food companies promote. McDonald's, for example, spent over 470 million dollars on advertising in 2018. Coca-Cola spent around 5.8 billion dollars on advertising in the same year.

These adverts program the viewer (or listener) to view junk food as pleasurable. The products are seen as one of the ways that you can achieve happiness or a sense of rest from your daily grind.

To test the results of extensive product advertising, try to name 5 fast food brands. Now try to name 5 producers of fruit, vegetables or whole meat. The only 'health' products we can name are also processed foods like supplement companies.

A large part of this is the fact that whole food companies do not rely on advertising to sell their products. They rely on price to provide their products to retailers and, therefore, consumers. Since they rely so heavily on price, advertising budgets are greatly limited.

It is hard to differentiate one apple from another through advertising, but is it easy to do so for beverages with different taste profiles.

If the same level of marketing for junk food was used for healthy food, our internal perspective about healthy food would be a lot different. We would consume more healthy food automatically because we'd be programmed to do so.

How to overcome the mass marketing of junk food

Health bloggers, YouTube influences and other online personalities have changed health culture in the past few years. We used to get our health advice from our doctors once a year - if they made any health recommendations at all.

The rise of online health communities has changed the way that people perceive a healthy lifestyle. This may give rise to extremism (taking a certain health principle too far or promoting a health benefit that does not exist), but health sources that point to reputable studies can usually be trusted.

People who expose themselves to these health sources on a regular basis are more likely to choose healthier alternatives.

Choose your influence.

4. Junk food tastes good

Plants and animals weren't designed to taste good. They were designed with to survive and flourish as much as possible.

Junk food, on the other hand, is specifically designed to taste as good as possible. Researchers take advantage of our natural inclination towards certain flavors and use them to sell more products. They are designed to be addictive.

Sugar is rare in nature. Our brains release dopamine when we eat it to ensure that we can remember where to find that source of food when food is scarce. Sugar has the role of telling us what is edible and what is not.

Processed food takes advantage of our natural inclination towards sugar. Food with more sugar than its alternative will have greater sales. Companies now add as much sugar as possible to processed food to help it outsell its competitors.

The maximum amount of sugar that a food can take before its taste is negatively affected is called the bliss point. This is also done in foods we don't even think about - like bread, pasta, ketchup and peanut butter.

Sugar is not the only addictive substance that makes food taste better than it should. Manufacturers use salt, MSG, fat and oil for the same reason.

Anecdotal evidence has linked MSG to a variety of health complications, but companies still use the chemical because it gives them an edge over the products that don't.

Artificial sweeteners are proven to be more addictive than cocaine. This is another ingredient that improves the taste and desirability of junk food over natural food.

How do we overcome the good tasting effects of junk food?

It takes 10-14 days to renew your taste buds. You don't need to wait too long to change your flavor profile. 

The power of association can also trump the addictive qualities of junk food. It is good to associate junk food with bad things like health complications and associate healthy food with good things like an improved appearance, better energy or enhanced concentration. 

There more you know about something, the more likely you are to make the smarter choice. Knowledge is power.

Know more. Be better.

5. Junk food is tightly ingrained into modern culture

This is one of the biggest obstacles to living a healthy lifestyle. Burgers, chocolate brownies and apple pie would be the national food of America. Let's not forget about hot dogs (although processed meat is known to cause cancer and heart disease).

We have learned to associate hot dogs or potato chips with sporting events, alcohol with social occasions and beer with manliness (although beer increases estrogen, reduces testosterone and gives you man boobs).

It is culturally acceptable to flood little children with sugar and artificial flavors before they can make up their own minds about whether they want to live a healthy lifestyle or not. This pre-disposes them to cancer, diabetes, obesity and sugar addiction.

One of the biggest disadvantages of a healthy lifestyle is that you will look weird as soon as you make healthy life choices that don't follow the social norm.

An unhealthy diet causes one in every five deaths, globally.

Who is to blame?

Who do we blame for this? It is the large companies that profit from this culture and have poured billions of dollars into shaping the way we see their products? Do we blame medical practitioners for their silence on how our lifestyle is causing disease? Should we blame our parents for the way that they brought us up? Do we blame ourselves for following the crowd?

How to overcome the cultural connection to junk food

Health culture has become a popular movement of its own. Vegans aren't weird anymore. Keto is more popular than ever. Here are the most popular diets at the moment. Health culture is redefining what we call normal.

The easiest way to escape the unhealthy trends of the day is to find some good, healthy influences that you respect. Join an online community or follow the healthy habits of your favorite celebrity.

Surround yourself with goodness.

6. Junk food is convenient

Junk food does not spoil. People can grab a bag of chips or a candy bar and keep it in their bags for an extremely long period of time.

It doesn't damage as fast as healthy food, either. You have to be careful not to bruise an apple or bend a banana.

This adds to the inconvenience of healthy food and makes us opt for unhealthy food instead.

Another advantage about the convenience of junk food is the fact that it is available almost everywhere. The nearest store will almost always have a large selection of junk food. Healthy foods are limited to supermarkets, wholefood stores and specialty outlets.

You don't have a large selection of healthy food at smaller convenience stores. There aren't many people selling fresh fruit and vegetables at sports games.

Almost everybody works close to a food stand that provides junk food without healthy alternatives.

How to overcome the convenience of junk food

It is important to plan ahead. You won't have to choose junk food when you bring your own lunch. You can place fruit in larger boxes to stop them from bruising.

Meal prep is a great way to turn healthy food into the most convenient option out there. You only need to cook a meal once, freeze it, and warm it up in the same way that you would with junk food.

This doesn't necessarily diminish your options throughout the week, either. You can prep a week's supply of chicken breasts (which are very healthy) and mix it up by eating it with different toppings on different days. Who feels like a delicious Chicken avocado salad?

No plan, no success

7. The packaging is designed to make you crave junk food

If companies collectively spend billions of dollars on marketing, you can bet that they've optimized their packaging to be as enticing as possible. Warmer colors are used to induce a sense of hunger and craving.

When you see an empty Coke bottle on the ground, your subconscious mind imagines that somebody else enjoyed it. This could make you want a Coke. It works like a form of subliminal messaging.

Have you ever seen someone eat junk food and wish that you were eating it as well? Every time you buy a food product, you advertise it to the people around you through its packaging.

How to overcome the persuasive packaging of junk food

You can train your brain to want different things. Junk food companies sell a sense of enjoyment or fulfillment. What if you wanted health or long-term success (through mental improvement from good nutrition) more than momentary gain?

The pleasure of junk food will be less desirable when you aim for something greater.

Your focus determines your direction.

These are the advantages of junk food and the best ways to overcome them. Did you enjoy this article? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Stay Strong!

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