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What is junk food exactly and why I shouldn’t eat it?

Junk foods are high calorie, low or no nutrition foods, usually in the form of biscuits, milkshake, chips, soft drinks cakes, ready-made sauces and some yogurts. Fast foods are also categorized under junk food, include burgers and pizza. These foods are highly addictive because of its direct opiate affect on the brain often compared to painkillers not to mention incredibly delicious taste.

Direct link between junk food and obesity.

All fast and junk foods are high in carbohydrates and fat to the extent that researchers have found a direct link between all these unhealthy foods and obesity as well as other illnesses such as heart and liver disease, Diabetes and high blood pressure. Your body is also deprived from all the vitamins and minerals your body requires on a daily basis sourced mainly from your diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables are absolutely essential to keep your body functioning the way it should.

Forbidden fruitThe greatest attraction to junk food is often the huge fuss made around the prohibition of the food. We are only human after all with our curiosity being tickled when we are warned to steer clear from a specific something. There is absolutely no need to hide junk food from yourself or anybody especially children. It will just creates the illusion of the food being forbidden fruit. Everything in moderation is fine. The secret is to fit the food into your or the children’s diet in small portions and on a irregular basis.

Junk Food benefits.

The junk food coin has two sides, the other being beneficial. Some studies have shown that by totally eliminating fats and sugars from your diet you will stop the conversion process of these ingredients into essential energy. High sugar foods also increase concentration.

Stress and high blood pressure. People speak of them in the same sentence as if one leads to the other. Is it really so straight forward as that? In this article, I’ll tell you why if you want to avoid the higher risk of premature death from high blood pressure that stress is just one aspect of your life that you cannot afford to ignore.

What Is Stress Anyway?

The word “stress” has become commonplace without people really understanding what exactly it is and what happens in your body during a stressful moment.

It is a reaction of anxiety to some external event or thought. The body thinks it is in a life threatening situation and releases chemicals like adrenaline into the body.

The heart rate and sweating increases – all to make the body prepared for action.

So why is this bad?

Side Effects

The problem is that we all get stressed simply during moments of ordinary life. But when it happens, we don’t normally react physically.

This leads to various stress hormones remaining in the blood that can lead to high blood pressure.

Also, having a lot of these moments, or having them all day long will lead to increased blood pressure anyway.

How To Reduce Stress

To reduce it and help yourself, you need to stop yourself reacting. Anxiety is not inevitable, it is a product of a person rather than the situation. This is why some people get stressed and others do not.

Other Factors

Addressing this alone might be enough to get rid of your hypertension but you will likely also have to look at other areas of your lifestyle such as what you eat, especially.

Sufficient amounts of calcium are required for bone strength. The body uses calcium for the heart, blood, muscles and nerves. Without the proper amount of calcium intake, the body will strip calcium from the bones where it is stored, causing the bones to get weaker.

This is pretty much common knowledge…but did you know that vitamin D is necessary in helping with absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract into the body and with re-absorption of calcium in the kidneys that would otherwise have been excreted?

Men and women need between 1,000 and 1500 mg of calcium a day, children ages 4 – 8, 800 mg/day and those 9 – 18, 1300 mg/day.

Milk is the best source of calcium. Three 8 oz. glasses a day easily meets a child’s need, with soy and rice milk fortified with calcium and vitamin D being acceptable.

Below are some of the foods rich in calcium:

Dairy products: milk, yogurt, cheese
Leafy green vegetables: broccoli, kale, spinach
Fruits: oranges
Beans and peas: tofu, peanuts, peas, black beans, baked beans
Fish: salmon, sardines
Miscellaneous: sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, corn tortillas,almonds, brown sugar

In the US, milk is fortified with vitamin D, and a few other foods are sometimes also vitamin D-fortified (such as some types of cereal and bread). This vitamin occurs naturally in only a few foods, such as fatty fish (salmon, sardines) and egg yolks. In addition to dietary sources, sunlight can provide the body with vitamin D as it is synthesized through the skin. Fifteen minutes of sunshine two to three times a week primarily on hands, arms,face will satisfy the body’s needs for vitamin D, but sunscreen reduces the body’s ability to absorb sunlight … needed to manufacture vitamin D.

Eating a diet rich in vitamin D is more challenging than calcium as vitamin D is found naturally in only a few foods, like fatty fish (e.g., salmon), liver and cod liver oil, and egg yolks. However, vitamin D fortified foods, such as many types of milk, cereal, bread, and orange juice, are widely available.

Also, there are vitamin D supplements. Calcium supplements and multivitamins also can contain vitamin D, so those using them are advised to read all labels carefully, and if necessary, to discuss intake with their physician or pharmacist. Since excessive doses of vitamin D can be harmful, people are advised to talk with their doctor about the right intake for their particular situation if you don’t think you are taking in enough in your daily routine.

Importantly, recent research has pointed to phosphorus and carbonated beverages (which contain phosphoric acid) as having a negative impact on bone density.

Theoretically, the equilibrium between phosphorus and calcium causes the latter to be replaced in bone by the former. While this has yet to be proven as a significant cause of calcium loss, milk is still considered the preferred drink when compared with carbonated drinks of any sort.

So…when you hear someone say those familiar words… drink all of your milk…. you now know the true meaning of those words…. and why that milk is Vitamin D fortified.

As parents, we always want to protect our children and make them love us. We don’t want them to ever hate us because they mean far too much to us. All we want is for them to have the best lives possible and we want to help them as much as we can.

Sometimes though, a parent’s love can go to far and the balance between love and toughness is gone. If your child wants sweets, you want them to be happy so you give them a few cookies. Then before you know it, your habits have turned your child into an obese kid. How could you let this happen and what are you to do now?

Childhood obesity is something that children do not grow out of. It is not like the terrible twos, which pass over time. If your child is overweight or at risk of becoming overweight you need to make changes in both of your lives now.

Your child can’t get sweets and fatty foods if you don’t buy them. You need to make your house a healthy house and introduce your child to delicious fruits such as apples, bananas, oranges and peaches. These fruits are sweet enough to mistaken for candy but they are filled with nutrients. You also need to get your child to exercise so instead of letting them watch movies and play with toys, the park is a great alternative. Kids can burn all sorts of calories at the park by running, lifting and doing all sorts of activities.

You are very protective of your child and you would do anything to make them better. You can’t stand to look at your overweight child and know that it is all your fault. You were the one allowing this to happen. Although you can’t take what you did back, you certainly can treat and prevent it from happening again.