Eating Junk Food is a Bad Habit

Junk food has been part of our daily life. When we hungry and on the run for food, we will like resort to fast food. In this way, fried chicken, pizza, burgers, sodas, among others, have replaced nutritious food in our diet. Eating junk food continuously without control is a bad habit. Doctors suggested junk food consumption must be controlled and medically there will be bad consequences for our health if we consume it out of hand because it is fatty, lack of protein and fiber. Maybe not all people really know the bad consequences of junk food. So here, we have to know that there are three bad consequences of junk food for our health: stroke risk, weight gain and gastrointestinal problems.

The greater impact of junk food is stroke risk. One of the causes of stroke is sodium. Health Ministry of Republic of Indonesia suggested we should not consume more than 2,000-milligrams (5 gram or 1 teaspoon) of sodium each day. Sodium is very important to normalize the fluid balance in our body, but too much sodium increases blood pressure and stroke risk. Snacks like potato chips, cassava chips, french fries, pepperoni, and the like is high of sodium that can increase stroke risk. A study by researchers in the Northern Manhattan Study edition of “Dietary Sodium and Risk of Stroke in the Northern Manhattan Study” results showed that for every 500-milligrams increase of sodium per day, the risk of ischemic stroke (the most common type of stroke) increased 18 percent.  If you want to snack, best prefer for low-sodium or salt-free varieties, to lessen your sodium intake.

Eating to much junk food may lead to weight gain. Junk foods contain high sugar and calories. Along these lines are burger, hot dog, fried chicken, cake, candy, cookie, chocolate, ice cream, also sweetened beverages like soda, and others. According to American Heart Association (AHA) the maximum amount of added sugars in a day are 150-calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons) for men and 100-calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons) for women. For maximum calorie necessaries, in a National Health Service (NHS) showed that men need around 2,500-calories a day and women need around 2,000-calories a day. Sugar and calories are very important for our energy, but if consuming it excessively and uncontrolly it may lead to overweight or obesity and if it happends, it may cause another problem like depression. A study by Anu Ruusunen at University of Eastern Finland participated by 2,000 men were followed-up for an average of 13-20 years found that some of the participants have a poor quality of diet and decreased intake of nutrients causing rapid weight gain and prompt to depression. Avoiding the junk food is the best way to avoid the weight gain. Before go to work, it would be better to pack healthy snacks like fruit, wheat crackers, baby carrots, and so on with fat-free the night before because those snacks provide fewer calories than junk food, so you are less likely to gain weight.

Another trouble caused by junk food is gastrointestinal problem. Junk food is very poor of fiber. Our body needs fiber to keep our bowels moving. Besides, Christine M. Esters said “Fiber moves toxins, excess hormones, and mucus” (adventureinwellbeing.com). When the fiber digested by bowel, it will remove toxins in our body, increasing hormones to make the specific cells work normally, and increasing mucus in our digestive system for digestion. If our body does not get enough fiber, our body may suffer from constipation. Fiber can get from fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains. Put down your junk food and replace it with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables like apple, orange, broccoli, and others. Now, love your bowels with fibers.