5 Effects Of Junk Food

You all know that sugar, bad fats and processed carbs are not good for you. But did you know that all this junk food can also cause physical symptoms and conditions that make you feel like crap? At ProFitness we firmly believe you are what you eat. And eating crap food does more than making you fatter.

1. Bloating –  I’m sure you have all suffered from bloating at some stage and usually after a crappy meal. A lot of times this can be down to sodium levels. There is loads of sodium in junk food and sodium pulls water from your cells which means your bodies way of reacting is to hold onto more water. Cut the sodium and you will lose that unwanted bloated look

2. You age quicker – Every woman’s worst nightmare, aging!! Sugars, trans fats  and starches can cause insulin to surge and trigger an inflammatory response in your body. When this happens we get what is known as glycation which is when you have plenty of sugar in your system it bombards the body’s cells by gripping onto fats and proteins in a process known as glycation. This speeds up the aging process by switching of the age fighting anti oxidants!

Avoiding white sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—which studies have shown increases the rate of glycation by 10 times, compared with glucose—and simple carbs is a definitely a no-brainer!!
 

3. Constipation – Processed foods often things like white breads, pastas, rice etc can cause constipation. The main reason for this is that they contain very little fibre. This lack of fibre make it hard to move everything through your body. Add lack of water (dehydration) into the mix with this junk food and you will make things even worse. What to do – cut out the above foods, add more fibre (proper fibre) and make sure you are well hydrated with water.  

4. Heartburn – Many people suffer from heartburn in Ireland and the usual thing to do is to reach for the Rennies!! But what if you knew that certain foods were contributing to this heartburn, often foods high in bad fats. These crappy fats take longer to digest; and when you haven’t fully digested last night’s pizza the things going on inside your body the next time you eat, can be a big reason for heartburn.

5. Depression – There have been many studies done to show that people who eat a lot of junk food are more likely to suffer from depression. Think back to times when you have felt really low, what foods did you eat at that time? My guess would be junk food. It’s at times like this, although hard to do that we must understand what we are putting into our bodies is making things a lot worse. 

So I guess the take home point is – Give up the junk food!!