For all we know, consuming junk food is very unhealthy at all. It's poor nutrition could lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and other hosts to health ailments. Eating junk foods has been linked to increase in depression. We know it's bad. But why do we still keep on doing it? Here's why and how junk food works in our body.
Why We Crave Junk Food
Steven Witherly is a food scientist who has spent the last 20 years studying what makes certain foods more addictive (and tasty) than others. Much of the science that follows is from his excellent report, Why Humans Like Junk Food. According to Witherly, when you eat tasty food, there are two factors that make the experience pleasurable.
First, there is the sensation of eating the food. This includes what it tastes like (salty, sweet, umami, etc.), what it smells like, and how it feels in your mouth. This last quality— known as "orosensation"—can be particularly important.
Food companies will spend millions of dollars to discover the most satisfying level of crunch in a potato chip. Their scientists will test for the perfect amount of fizzle in a soda. These factors all combine to create the sensation that your brain associates with a particular food or drink.
The second factor is the actual macro nutrient makeup of the food—the blend of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that it contains. In the case of junk food, food manufacturers are looking for a perfect combination of salt, sugar, and fat that excites your brain and gets you coming back for more.
How Science Creates Cravings
Dynamic Contrast
Dynamic contrast refers to a combination of different sensations in the same food.
Salivary Response
Salivation is part of the experience of eating food and the more that a food causes you to salivate, the more it will swim throughout your mouth and cover your taste buds.
Rapid Food Meltdown and Vanishing Caloric Density
Foods that rapidly vanish or "melt in your mouth" signal to your brain that you're not eating as much as you actually are. In other words, these foods literally tell your brain that you're not full, even though you're eating a lot of calories. The result: you tend to overeat.
Sensory Specific Response
Your brain likes variety. When it comes to food, if you experience the same taste over and over again, then you start to get less pleasure from it. In other words, the sensitivity of that specific sensor will decrease over time. This can happen in just minutes. Junk foods, however, are designed to avoid this sensory specific response. They provide enough taste to be interesting (your brain doesn't get tired of eating them), but it's not so stimulating that your sensory response is dulled. This is why you can swallow an entire bag of potato chips and still be ready to eat another. To your brain, the crunch and sensation of eating Doritos is novel and interesting every time.
Calorie Density
Junk foods are designed to convince your brain that it is getting nutrition, but to not fill you up. Receptors in your mouth and stomach tell your brain about the mixture of proteins, fats, carbohydrates in a particular food, and how filling that food is for your body.
How to Stop Eating Junk Food
Junk foods like potato chips, candy, cookies, and soda may make you feel momentarily happy, but they are not so good for your health. Kicking the junk food habit is easier said than done for many people, but there are some steps that will move you along the path to better eating habits.
Stop buying junk food. Keeping junk food around when you are trying to avoid it is a recipe for failure. If you have lots of junk food on hand, you will be much more likely to eat it. Stop buying junk food! Buy healthy food only. Buy whole foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, milk, eggs, and whole grains.
Make Healthy Choices
Keep plenty of healthy snacks on hand.The more healthy food that is readily available for you to choose from, the easier it will be for you to keep yourself from chowing down on junk.Keep granola bars, fresh fruit, almonds, and low-fat yogurt in your refrigerator and always stash a couple of snacks in your car or purse.
Keep healthy convenience foods on hand.Stock your freezer with frozen vegetables. Stock your pantry with canned beans, tomatoes, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and other healthy staples so that you can easily throw together a pasta primavera or pot of rice and beans. Avoid snacking in settings that cause you to make bad choices. Some environments have been shown to increase your likelihood for turning to junk food.
Eat plenty of healthy food early in the day.The more healthy food you eat early on in the day, the less chance you will binge on junk food later on in the day when your willpower is lower. Start your day with a big healthy breakfast, have a healthy snack like fruit and yogurt mid-morning, and eat a healthy, hearty lunch.
Chew sugar-free mint gum when you get a craving for junk food. Chewing on a piece of mint gum will distract you from your craving. As an added bonus, chewing a piece of mint gum will also make anything that you eat after chewing the gum taste kind of weird, so you will be less likely to continue eating it.
Drink plenty of water. Water helps you to feel full and helps balance your blood sugar. Drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep yourself from reaching for junk food. Staying hydrated with water will also make you less likely to reach for a can of soda or some other type of unhealthy sugary beverage.
Distract yourself when a craving hits.Developing other ways to deal with your junk food cravings is also important to kicking your habit. Go for a walk, play with your pet, call a friend, or work on a creative project. Cravings will usually go away if you distract yourself for about 20-30 minutes.
Treat yourself on special occasions. Just because you want to stop eating junk food, does not mean that you won’t be placed in situations where you may want to allow yourself to indulge. If you attend a wedding or birthday party, let yourself have a piece of cake. It’s okay to give yourself a treat now and then! You might even consider designating one day of each week as a “cheat day” so that you can eat some of your favorite foods on that day.
Gathering this article reveals just how complex poor eating habits can be. Junk food has always been designed to keep you coming back for more. Understanding the science behind junk food is an important step.
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