JUNK FOODS IN DISGUISE

Recognizing Disguised Junk Foods

Do you know junk foods can be as addictive as cocaine and heroine?

                              

Testing On rats has indicated negative effects of junk food that may manifest likewise in people. A Scripps Research Institute study in 2008 suggested that junk food consumption alters brain activity in a manner similar to addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin. After many weeks with unlimited access to junk food, the pleasure centers of rat brains became desensitized, requiring more food for pleasure; after the junk food was taken away and replaced with a healthy diet.

"Junk food" generally refers to foods that contribute lots of calories but little nutritional value. Of course, what's considered "junk food" depends on whom you ask. Some might say pizza is junk food, for example. But I personally don't think so, since it contributes real food with nutrients, like cheese and tomato sauce. Add whole-wheat or part whole-wheat crust, plus veggies as a topping, and I'd say pizza completely exits the junk food category.

 But why am i writing this when many of the sites are offering such information? answer is :  because many of us just consider fast food or food high in calories as junk , but truth is every food with high fat,sugar and addictive should be considered as junk. so let me reveal some disguised junk foods or food which are not considered to be junks but they actually are.

  

1. Sauces and Dressings:

                                                    

             

Lot of sauces and salad dressings are included as junk foods, also linked with weight gain, over eating and addiction.so next time whenever you suspect your weight gain reason despite of all strict diets , these salad and dressings could be the culprits. these include:

ketchup

sriracha sauce

mayonnaise

soy sauce

maple sauce

cream cheese

sour cream

honey mustard

tartar sauce

light salad dressing.

2. Refined grains and vegetable oils:

                             

                                   

One of the most important things you can do to eat healthier, is to read labels.It is important to avoid (or at least minimize) foods that contain:

Added sugar (and high fructose corn syrup).

Refined grains like white flour.

Industrial vegetable oils.

Artificial trans fats.

These are some of the unhealthiest (and most common) ingredients in the modern diet.The importance of reading labels can not be overstated, and this applies to all foods, even so-called health foods.

3. Processed Foods:

                         

                                        

The word "processed" often causes some confusion, so let me clarify what I mean.Obviously, most foods we eat are processed in some way. Apples are cut from trees, ground beef has been ground in a machine and butter is cream that has been separated from the milk and churned.But there is a difference between mechanical processing and chemical processing.

However, foods that have been chemically processed and made solely from refined ingredients and artificial substances, are what is generally known as processed food. Tese foods include:

processed cheese

breakfast cereals

breads

ready meals or microwave meals

meat products like salmon, ham, bacon

flavored milks.

4. Ice Cream:          

                                        

Ice cream is one of the most delicious foods on the planet.

Unfortunately, it is also one of the unhealthiest. Most commercial ice cream is loaded with sugar.Ice cream is also high in calories, and it is very easy to eat excessive amounts. Eating it for dessert is even worse, because then you're adding it all on top of your total calorie intake.

Alternatives: It is possible to make your own ice cream using healthier ingredients and significantly less (or no) sugar.

5.Gluten free junk foods:

                        

                                             

Some people choose to take the label “gluten free” to mean the same things as “healthy,” which is not an accurate assessment. The logic goes, for instance, that choosing gluten free cookies is an inherently healthier choice than choosing their regular gluten-containing counterparts. This is faulty logic, of course, because some gluten free cookies contain more calories than regular cookies. The fact that a product is labeled gluten free is in no way an indication that the product is any more or less healthy than any other.

6. Margarine:

                                 

Butter was demonized back in the day, due to the high saturated fat content. Various health experts started promoting margarine instead.

Back in the day, margarine used to be high in Trans fats. These days, it has less Tran’s fats than before but is still loaded with refined vegetable oils. Margarine is not food… it is an assembly of chemicals and refined oils that have been made to look and taste like food.

Not surprisingly, the Birmingham Heart Study showed that people who replace butter with margarine are actually more likely to die from heart disease.

If you want to improve your health, eat real butter (preferably grass-fed) but avoid processed margarine and other fake foods like the plague. Recommending trans-fat laden margarine instead of natural butter may just be the worst nutrition advice in history.

7. Most fruit juices:

                                         

The fruit juice you find at the supermarket may not be what you think it is... even if it's labeled as "100% pure" and "not from concentrate." After being squeezed from the fruit, the juice is usually stored in massive oxygen-depleted holding tanks for up to a year before it is packaged. The main problem with this method is that it tends to remove most of the flavor, so the manufacturers need to add so-called "flavor packs" to the juice, to bring back the flavor that was lost during processing.

So even if you're buying the highest quality juices at the supermarket, they are still far from their original state. Some of the lowest quality ones don't even resemble fresh-squeezed fruit juice at all... they are basically just fruit-flavored sugar water.

8. Instant noodles:

                                     

                                   

Since these instant noodles are made to bear a longer shelf life, they are highly processed. They are low on nutritive content; high on fat, calories and sodium; and are laced with artificial colors, preservatives, additives and flavorings.

"In most cases monosodium glutamate (MSG) as well as tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) - a chemical preservative derived from the petroleum industry - may be present in instant noodles for their taste enhancing and preserving properties. Though dietary intake of these elements is allowed within a limit, regular intake of these can cause severe health issues," said experts.