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6 Reasons Why You Should Stop Eating Junk

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pastry-cakeI have a blogging friend, Mr. Mitch over at I’m Just Sharing, who decided to eat vegetarian for one week. I am happy that he is doing this because Mitch has told me many times, “I don’t like vegetables and that’s just the way it is.”

I say to Mitch and to anyone who does not like eating vegetables, “The best medicine is food and these foods will not tickle our taste buds, they tickle our over all health, which is better than anything you could ever imagine.”

One day Mitch shared a link with me on Twitter. The link was to the documentary Forks Over Knives. I received a few more tweets from Mitch about eating vegetarian and that he would try eating vegetarian for a week. Mitch wants to see if he feels better after a vegetarian diet.

Well, my friend, I don’t know if you will feel better after just one week, but I hope you do and that it will motivate you to eat more plant-based foods. I do know that if you make little changes over time, those little changes add up to bigger changes with big results and I know you will feel better doing that.

I am happy that Mitch decided to eat healthier than he usually does. He has shared on his blog that he is diabetic and I hope that he does feel better and that he continues eating more plant-based foods.

Today, I will give you some reasons you should consider giving up eating junk. But before I share with you those reasons, here’s something I want you to always keep in mind.

Healthy in, healthy out: Junk in, junk out. This means that if you put healthy food in your body, you will feel better, inside and it radiates to the outside. But if you put junk food in your body, you will feel like junk inside and that too radiates to the outside.

Okay, here are some reasons why you should consider giving up the junk:

  1. It is devitalized. Devitalized means that there is nothing vital or living in the food that is beneficial for your body. Junk food doesn’t have much in it to keep your body running like a well oiled engine. Over time eating junk food will cause you to sputter and fizzle out. You will be wondering why you don’t have energy and why you don’t feel good. Eat more whole and fresh foods that have little processing, the foods that give you vitality or life.

2. It has a lot of stuff. I say a lot of stuff, because much of what is in the ingredient list is stuff. I can hardly pronounce the stuff and I studied organic chemistry and biochemistry in college. Make a pact with yourself to read the ingredient labels on all the food you buy and if you see stuff that you cannot pronounce, then you should  not eat it.

  1. It is high in sugar. On your next trip to the market, read the ingredient labels. When you read those labels you will see and notice that almost everything has sugar in it. I have to warn you that you probably will not see sugar listed. You will probably see words that you do not know that are disguised as sugar (there’s the stuff again). Learn what those words are.

4. It can make you sick. Eating a little junk food every now and then will probably not make you sick. It’s when you eat junk food over a long period and that is mostly all you ea that makes you sick. There are many people who eat like this and look pretty good, but as they get older it begins telling on them.

  1. It can make you look older than you really are. I’m sure some of you have probably heard about Annette Larkin, the 70-year-old woman who looks like she is 40. Well, she looks younger because of what she eats. I have met a few other people who have blown me away, because they do not look their age. It is all because of what they choose to feed their bodies. Talk about aging gracefully, these people are doing it. Seeing people like this helps me keep on keeping on, even when when I stumble.

  2. It is cheaper. Think of it like this, the less junk you eat the better you feel. Yes, the junk may be cheaper, but in the long run it can end up costing you, your most valuable asset, your health.

There are so many reasons why you should consider cutting out the junk food, I only touched the surface. The next time you are in the market, read the label and ask yourself, “Do I need to put this in my body and will it help my body?” If you answer no, then don’t waste your money.

Got anything to share?  Speak on it below in the comment section!

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Comments

  1. Well, how the heck did I miss this, especially since I’m the subject? lol

    As we both know, I didn’t stick to it beyond the week. The problem with deciding to switch to a different way is that you have to have something else to go to that you actually like. Turns out I didn’t have that much because I don’t like almost any vegetables and only one fruit on its own. I ended up eating a lot of the same stuff over and over; that doesn’t bode well for a long term change.

    I see this as a metaphor for why change in general is hard; wanting to do something isn’t enough, you need to like whatever the change is to succeed. Still, at least I tried. 🙂

    • Hey Mr. Mitch!

      Yeah, at least you gave it a try. I can’t believe that you only like one fruit on it’s own. The veggies are no surprise. It takes some getting used too and for the taste buds to adjust. Eating a variety is key to sticking with the long-term change. It’s hard when you only have a few food items that you actually like…it gets old quick.

      Yeah, change is hard and change starts in the mind; the rest follows. I agree, with change you have to like it, because if you don’t you’re not sticking to anything.

      I am glad you gave it a try, some people won’t even do that. 😉

  2. Hi Evelyn
    I read some research not too long ago that eating junk food can actually change your DNA – now that is extremely scary. If you think about all the kids and even adults now who live on junk food, they are changing their DNA and having kids. Passing on weaker and weaker DNA with each generation.

    I used to be a teacher from 1979-1989 and I taught in very low socio-economic areas for 9 of those years. The families were on low incomes with not a lot of money and I know that sometimes the kids didn’t have enough to eat, but we didn’t have one kid with ADD or ADHD and not a single kid with allergies! I can’t help but feel that a lot of the stuff that is going on today is because of our diet and the poor nutrition along with the degraded food chain.

    • Hi Jan,

      Wow, that’s very interesting and very scary. I am so glad you shared this information!

      Yeah, you’re right, I grew up during this time span and graduated high school in 1989. I don’t recall ADD or ADHD or too much of anything being a problem, but not it is a common thing. These are things that make you go hmmmm???

      Thanks for chiming in, Jan!

  3. I know I’ll never completely give up junk food but I do get what you are saying. When I first started weight watchers I kicked cookies and cake to the curb for a while and I felt more energetic.

    Plus, when I eat junk food a lot, the next morning I find it more difficult to wake up. It takes me longer. I think I’m crashing off of the sugar at night.

    If I have just 1 item of junk food like pretzels or popcorn, my body does fine. I can even eat A cookie. Problem is if I have 1 I want more so I am working on trying to kick the habit so I only eat junk in moderation.

    • Hey Michelle!

      Thanks for sharing! I find the difficulty in waking the next morning, quite interesting.

      You know, pretzels is one I try giving up, but I always find myself eating them. Oh, well, that’s one that I don’t feel too bad eating.

      That’s a good way to deal with a junk food habit (moderation)

      Evelyn

      • Yes girl. Especially if it’s something like donuts. Not so much salty snacks but sugary stuff is the worst. That’s why I’m trying my best to kick it. IT’s hard though.

        • Hi Michelle
          If I have a sugar binge – which isn’t even a lot as sugar binges go – I will feel tired within 30-60 minutes and want to sleep! And then I will feel extremely sluggish until it is all out of my system.

          If you are having trouble staying off sugar, try using chromium picolinate. It’s a mineral that helps to control blood sugar levels and it is truly amazing. You should be able to get it at chemists or your local health food store. It is not very expensive and it works and will hopefully get you over that hump.

          I stopped eating sugar when I went to Weight Watchers as well and if you stop eating it, you really stop desiring it. The people at work thought I was amazing saying no to all the shop bought cakes but it wasn’t will power, I just didn’t want any – pluse they are all made with about 50 ingredients. However if somebody brings in a nice home made cake I will definitely have a bit if I feel like it!!

  4. Junk foods is what that our body doesn’t need. Junk foods contain lots of chemicals and harmful ingredients. They are not only bad for physical health but also foe mental health. Many studies have found that junk foods cause depression.

    A very good article indeed!

  5. Actually, I have already stopped eating junk but there are time that something is pushing me to eat them.. I hope this can help me Evelyn..

  6. I agree dieting and exercising is a must with any weight loss goal. Its what help me to lose inner thigh fat.

  10. Great list! Can I also add, junk food is bad for the environment? Too much packaging, much of which ends up as road-side litter or in a landfill, never produced locally, costs us too much in fuel to distribute and wastes precious resources to create.
    Can’t say the same about an apple 😉