Studies show what junk food does to the body

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The term junk food refers to highly processed foods that contain a lot of sugar, fat, and salt. In other words, those foods and drinks that we can’t keep our hands off. Yet there are many good reasons why we should resist.

The term junk food originates from the USA and means “waste food. “So it makes it unmistakably clear that we are talking about unhealthy food. The range is broad and includes many foods. Most of them have been heavily processed industrially and contain a nasty mixture of lots of fat, sugar, salt, and flavor enhancers. Mean that we humans love these essential ingredients and cannot resist them. In addition, typical junk food contains many empty calories, so it has a high energy density but few nutrients. Specific junk foods are:

Frozen Pizza / Ready Meals
Burger
Doner kebab
French fries
Curry Sausage
Chips / Snacks
Sweets
Soft drinks / sugary drinks

But what makes junk food so unhealthy? And what does it do to our bodies? We have taken a look at the studies on this subject.

1. lack of fiber leads to inflammation

One of the main reasons junk food is unhealthy is the lack of fiber. This leads to an imbalance of bacteria in the intestines, with harmful bacteria spreading more and hurting health.

This is what a sizeable Dutch study of 1425 subjects found. The scientists found that highly processed foods are linked to harmful bacteria in the intestine. In particular, they cite fatty foods of animal origin and soft drinks as the cause of harmful bacteria that produce toxins and thus trigger inflammation in the gut.

At the same time, however, the scientists name foods that have a positive influence on the intestinal flora according to their research results:

Legumes

Bread

Fish

Nuts

2. damages bone development in children

Children love sweets and snacks. Many consume up to 70 percent of their daily calories from highly processed foods. About 50 percent of children and adults eat fast food every day in the US. But excessive consumption can have serious consequences. This was shown in an Israeli study. According to the researchers, highly processed foods can inhibit skeletal growth and weaker bones in children.

To do this, the researchers studied rodents whose skeletons were in the post-embryonic growth stages. Those rodents exposed to ultra-processed foods suffered from growth retardation and showed lower bone density. During tissue examination, the researchers discovered strong cartilage formation in the rodents’ growth plates, the “engine” of bone growth. Subsequently, in further investigations, they found that the genetic RNA profiles of cartilage cells showed impaired bone development.

In the end, the researchers concluded that even small amounts of processed foods could hurt skeletal growth.

3. affects brain development

Adolescents are more sensitive to highly processed foods high in fat and sugar than any other age group. And this hurts brain development, researchers found in an extensive study review.

According to Canadian researchers who reviewed more than 100 studies on the topic, junk food can impair the ability to think, learn and remember in the adolescent brain (between the ages of 10 and 19). It also makes it harder to control impulsive behavior, a particular problem in teenagers. And it can even increase the risk of depression and anxiety.

The researchers cite three reasons for this: because adolescents’ brains are not fully formed, they still develop the ability to assess risks and control actions. In addition, adolescent brains have a higher sense of happiness (than adult brains) when they are “rewarded” by junk food, drugs, affirmation, and learning success. And young people are more influenced by their environment. This includes the way they eat. On the one hand, this combination makes it harder for young people to resist junk food. On the other hand, food also has a strong influence on the development of the brain. Thus, junk food is incredibly unhealthy for adolescents.

4. increases the risk of depression

It simply has to be said: people love fried foods. It doesn’t matter whether it’s chips, crisps, chicken nuggets, or vegetables in tempura batter. Everything tastes better deep-fried. When you become aware of the health consequences, you quickly lose your appetite for it.

According to a Japanese study, eating fried food increases developing depression. This was the result of a survey of 715 employees in Japan. They were first asked about their eating habits. Then they were examined for symptoms that indicate depression. Their psychological resistance (resilience) was also determined. In the end, the researchers found that those subjects who ate more fried foods were more likely to develop depression in the course of their lives.

The researchers explain that traditional Japanese eating habits with high fish consumption lower developing depression. But Westernised diets with a high intake of vegetable oils, commonly used in frying food, increase the risk of depression.

5 Hidden sugar is not only responsible for obesity

The fact that junk food is so unhealthy is mainly due to sugar, one of the main ingredients in its readily available forms as sucrose, glucose, and fructose. Sugar manipulates our metabolism by stimulating insulin release, increasing our appetite, and making us unable to stop eating.

Unfortunately, the insulin secretion ensures that these excess calories, which we consume through sweets, snacks, and fast food, are stored in our fat cells. A process that can quickly lead to obesity. The nasty thing about sugar as an ingredient is that it’s pretty much everywhere in highly processed foods. So not only in soft drinks, juices, chocolate, and jelly beans, but also in tomato sauces, ready-to-eat pizza, mustard pickles, and salad dressings. If you want to reduce your sugar consumption, you have to check practically every ingredient list of food.

The damage to health caused by too much sugar is very diverse and well researched. A German study evaluation names excessive sugar consumption as partly responsible for:

Caries

Obesity

metabolic syndrome with impaired glucose tolerance

Diabetes mellitus

Blood lipid disorders

hypertension

increased mortality from cardiovascular disease

6. junk food can lead to cancer

A large-scale US study by Boston’s Tufts University has shown how harmful junk food can be. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2016 were analyzed. Nutritional factors that also apply to junk food were classified as unhealthy:

too few vegetables and fruit in the diet

Too little consumption of whole grain and dairy products

a high intake of red meat and sausages

sugary drinks

After analyzing the data, the scientists found that about 80,000 new cancer cases in the USA within one year alone were due to an unhealthy diet. Colorectal cancer was the most frequent cause, accounting for 38.3 percent of all topics.

The researchers also found the leading cause of cancer: the diet’s lack of whole-grain products. The second dietary factor that can lead to cancer is too little consumption of dairy products. And the third factor is too much consumption of processed meat. By the way, most cancers caused by malnutrition were found in middle-aged men between 45 and 64 years of age.