What Would Happen If We Stopped Eating Healthy Foods?
Unhealthy eating habits can stand in the way of successfully living a healthy lifestyle. If you stop eating healthy foods, you will miss out on valuable nutrients that your body needs during different stages of your life to continue working well. Unhealthy foods can contain more calories and fat than you think. Knowing the consequences of not eating healthy can motivate you to make positive changes to your diet, resulting in better health.
Increased Diabetes Risk
Evidence suggests that diets rich in refined carbohydrates, such as mashed potatoes, bagels, breakfast cereals and donuts, increase the risk of diabetes, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. These refined foods have a high glycemic index and glycemic load, meaning they cause sudden spikes in your insulin and blood sugar levels, which, in turn, may lead to higher risk of diabetes. Likewise, drinking sugary beverages, which also have a high glycemic load, is linked to increased risk of diabetes. A study published in the March 2010 issue of the journal “Circulation” found that consuming sugary drinks raises your blood triglycerides, decreases your high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, increases insulin resistance and fuels chronic inflammation, all of which are risk factors for diabetes.
Eating foods that make your blood sugar and insulin levels go up very high and then crash may cause weight gain, reports the Harvard School of Public Health. Examples of such foods include white rice, white bread and other highly processed grain products. Similarly, you can easily pack on unwanted pounds by indulging in foods that are high in saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are found in beef, pork, lamb, butter and cream, while trans fats are found in French fries, crackers, muffins, pies and cakes. A study published in the journal “Lancet” in January 2005 disclosed that people who eat fast food more than twice a week are more likely to gain weight and show early symptoms of diabetes than those who occasionally indulge in this unhealthy fare.
The high salt content of fast foods can pose threats to your health. A study presented at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco in June 2013 found that women who consumed a high-salt diet increased their risk of fracturing a bone after menopause irrespective of their bone density. According to the study's lead author, Dr. Kiyoko Nawata, high sodium consumption seems to be a risk factor for bone fragility. Moreover, when you consume too much sodium, your body expels sodium in your urine and takes calcium with it. This exhausts your body’s calcium stores. Low calcium levels in your body lead to weak bones and osteoporosis, says Todd Alexander, a Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry researcher at the University of Alberta.
Coronary Heart Disease
In coronary heart disease, or CHD, a waxy substance known as plaque builds up in your heart’s arteries, which supply blood to your heart muscle. Atherosclerosis is the building up of plaque in the arteries. An unhealthy diet can elevate your risk for CHD. Eating foods high in added sugars, salt, refined grains and solid fats, such as trans and saturated fats, can make other risk factors for CHD worse, reports the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Examples of these risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and abnormal blood cholesterol levels.
- Harvard School of Public Health: Simple Steps to Preventing Diabetes
- Circulation: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk
- Harvard School of Public Health: How to Get to Your Healthy Weight
- American Heart Association: Know Your Fats
- Lancet: Fast-Food Habits, Weight Gain, and Insulin Resistance (The CARDIA Study): 15-Year Prospective Analysis
- Stony Brook University: The Dangers of Eating Fast Food
- Science Daily: Excessive Salt Consumption Appears to Be Bad for Your Bones
- Science Daily: Diets High in Salt Could Deplete Calcium in the Body
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: What Is Coronary Heart Disease?
Mala Srivastava covers health and business for several online publications. She holds a Master of Science in microbiology from India's HNB Garhwal University and a Master of Pharmaceutical Business Management from ICFAI University.