The Disadvantages of Junk Food
If you're a junk-food junkie, your eating habits may be sabotaging your overall health. While junk foods are often tasty to eat, they provide very few vitamins and minerals and they tend to pack in the calories. Over time, eating a high junk-food diet may increase your risk of developing nutritional deficiencies and chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.
Junk food is a term most often applied to highly processed foods high in calories, fats, sugars or salt and low in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Most junk food is enjoyable and easy to eat and comes in convenient, ready-to-use packaging. It takes some willpower and a little planning to break a junk-food habit. Examples of junk foods include most chips, candies, chocolates, deep-fried foods and snacks, sodas and packaged desserts.
One major disadvantage of eating junk food is it may lead to weight gain. Junk foods are easy to overeat quickly. Because they're high in calories and contain added fats and sugars, they may cause you to pack on the pounds. For example, from just 1 ounce of potato chips, roughly 10 to 12 chips, you'll get 154 calories. If you overeat these foods and become overweight or obese, you're at increased risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, elevated cholesterol, certain forms of cancer, reproductive problems and osteoarthritis, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Junk foods are comprised mainly of empty calories. This means a majority of their calories come from added sugars and fats, and they contain very few nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and fiber. In the same 1-ounce serving of potato chips, 58 percent of the total calories come from added fats. Eating a diet high in these empty calories may lead to nutritional deficiencies over time. MayoClinic.com notes that added sugars in junk foods may also result in tooth decay and elevated triglyceride levels, which may increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. To get a well-balanced nutrient intake, limit your junk foods and fill up on healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, instead.
To enhance the flavor, texture, appearance or shelf life of junk foods, many companies add artificial ingredients to their products. While some of these ingredients are mostly harmless, others may have unwanted health side effects. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, additives such as sodium nitrate, certain artificial colorings, artificial sweeteners and potassium bromate, may cause side effects, including thyroid problems and cancer. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils -- additives commonly found in fried foods, crackers, doughnuts, cakes and cookies -- may promote heart disease. Eating more whole foods and fewer processed foods protects you against these potentially harmful food additives.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: What Are The Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity?
- MayoClinic.com: Added Sugar: Don't Get Sabotaged By Sweetners
- ChooseMyPlate.Gov: What Are Empty Calories?
- Center for Science in the Public Interest: Chemical Cuisine: Learn About Food Additives
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Nutrient Data For 19411, Snacks, Potato Chip, Plain, Salted
- MayoClinic: Triglycerides: Why Do They Matter?
- Ciaran Griffin/Stockbyte/Getty Images