Junk food is often generally described as food that is high in calories from sugar or fat, with little dietary fibre, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. 
With all its vices, people still enjoy eating it on a daily.
For some people, they just take it as a quick snack, while others it is their breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So if you are not entirely sure about whether or not to stop eating junk food, then we would let you know the pros and cons of eating these foods to help you reach a decision.
Let’s start with the good stuff. What is are some of the advantages or pros of eating junk food?
1. It is yummy and hard to resist
Junk food tastes good. Whether it’s Pizzas, burgers, fried chicken, fries, hot dogs etc, It’s all sweet, salty, full of flavour, and coated in delicious sauces.
They often taste so good that it s hard to resist. You just have to perceive a hot meat pie in the oven, the burgers grilling, and the pizzas cooking for sweet saliva to flood your mouth.
2. Its fast food
In a world where everyone is busy hustling and trying to meet up with their daily routine, junk food is simply convenient.
Consider lunch breaks. With 30 minutes away from the job to relax and reboot, nobody wants to spend time munching on a big bowl of a homemade meal. They would rather have a pizza they can snack on while working.
You can also order these meals which you get in minutes, eat them, and then get back to work.
3. Always available
The availability of junk food is a huge advantage. Junk food restaurants are everywhere, around every corner, and are open at all times.
That’s good news when you want a midnight snack or if you’ve stayed late at the office and need a last-minute meal to take home. Or if you’re on a tight schedule and can’t go far to find food, you can just make an order from your house and you have a full stomach in no time.
4. Pocket friendly
Junk food will never put a hole in your pocket because they are usually cheaper than organic food.
We live in incredibly difficult financial times. People are living under financial pressure and can’t afford to overspend. Making ends meet is a real issue for many.
The truth is healthy food is more expensive. This makes junk food a better way to save money for other expenses.
5. Children love eating it
Children love snacks. You can tell from the way they love eating biscuits, candies, cakes and pizzas. Parents find these foods very convenient to feed their kids when they have a very busy schedule.
Now, here are cons.
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1. It is very unhealthy
This is the number one reason people run away from junk foods. Junk food has masses of fat, salt, and sugar not to mention preservatives, additives, and a host of other questionable ingredients. Your physical health suffers when this foods are eaten in excess.
Eat it every once in a while and you’ve got less to worry about (as long as the rest of your diet is well-balanced and nutritious). Eat it all the time, though, and you can do lasting damage.
Your heart suffers, your cholesterol spikes, your skin suffers, your energy levels suffer, and so on. You’re more susceptible to serious health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Junk food might not be entirely to blame for such challenges. Levels of exercise, underlying health conditions, can make a big difference too.
2. Contributes to weight gain and obesity
Obesity is on the increase and as scary as it is, junk food plays its part in that. Junk food is filled with calories. Eat junk food and you will gain weight with greater ease than consuming healthier foodstuffs.
Obesity is no joke, but being overweight in general isn’t great. Aside from the impact on self-esteem, it also has damaging effects on all aspects of health. Almost 3 million adults die annually from being overweight or obese.
3. When eaten in large quantities, it can make you feel sick
Junk food isn’t as filling as more nutritional alternatives. You have to eat more to feel full. The trouble is that doing so, aside from being very unhealthy, makes you feel sick.
How often have you eaten so much cake only to feel awful afterward? It’s hard to stop when something tastes so good, yet nothing good comes from it, as the name suggests, you are eating “junk” and the body does not like junk.
4. It affects your mental health
Junk food has a huge impact on your mental health. There is a direct link to physical and mental health. If your body feels good, then so does the mind; and vice versa.
If you become overweight or obese or feel sick after overeating junk food, then you will not be in a good state of mind. Eat a junk meal and the sugar, saturated fats, and carbs spike your blood sugar levels. You get a rush of energy that crashes soon after. Your mood drops in the process. Depression, low mood, anxiety, irritability, and other negative states may occur with increasing frequency.
5. It is super addictive
Finally, junk food is highly addictive. All the fat, sugar, salt, and energy-dense ingredients in it are what our brains and bodies think they want. Most of us have access to sufficient food at all times. But we’ll still happily consume burgers, fries because that’s what our brains say we need.
Junk food triggers the pleasure centre of the brain. We get a kick when we consume it, which makes us think it’s good. We eat more and more and more and become hooked on the stuff.
It becomes hard to say no to. We begin associating hunger with eating it. Just the thought of these meals gets our mouths watering. We become addicted. But we suffer, physically and mentally in the process.
So now you know the advantages and disadvantages of eating junk food, choice is yours. Would you feast on them or will you say no?
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