Junk Foods and GMO Foods Hurting Your Health?

Any food that compensates taste for nutritional value or has been altered from its natural form is doing damage to your health. This can include all types of fast food options as well as GMO foods which can have the following negative impact on your health.

High in Sugar and Fat

Junk foods have a lot of added sugar and fat to give them their “taste”. So for the most part, sugar when consumed in excess is seriously harmful and comes with empty calories; meaning no essential nutrients but lots of calories.

Too much sugar and fat in the system can lead to insulin resistance, dangerous levels of bad cholesterol and fats collecting in the liver and around vital organs. All of these factors can translate into health problems.

High in Sodium

The other big concern with fast food consumption is the amount of sodium used in these foods. Like its sugar and fat counterpart, sodium is added to foods to make them taste better. But too much sodium in the body can lead to water retention, making you feel bloated, puffy or swollen after eating. Salt is also a major concern for people with high blood pressure.

Low in Fiber and Nutrients

Many of the ingredients in junk foods are not even real foods but a collection of artificial chemicals added for different purposes. Most of these will be included as preservatives, colorants, flavor enhancers or texturants to give the food a specific texture.

As a result, the nutritional value of junk foods is considerably lower than real, whole foods. They also have a number of synthetic nutrients which are not a good replacement for real nutrients.

Likewise, junk foods are a poor source of dietary fiber, which is needed for the proper functioning of many bodily functions.

Leads to Overconsumption and Addiction

Since the entire focus of junk foods is to taste good, it is only expected that these foods taste as desirable as possible. As a result, most people tend to overeat and they know it, but few have the will to stop when full.

The rewarding nature of these foods also make them highly addictive and yield a rewarding sense so great that they can actually affect our behavior and thought, hence the term “comfort food”.

GMO Foods

Genetically modified foods can be equally hazardous to health. For instance, such foods are believed to hold the potential for bringing about possible food allergies, have increased toxicity in some varieties and a decreased nutritional value in others.

If you want to start cooking healthier and do not know where to start, click here.  Cooking at home is the best choice for having a consistently healthy, budget-friendly diet!

Source: http://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body