Junk food may be lurking in your kitchen and you don't even know it. The obvious junk foods include commercially packaged cookies, chips, candy and popcorn. Some foods touted as "healthy" may in fact be full of the same sugars and fats found in cookies and chips. Junk foods have plenty of calories without healthful nutrients and if you eat them too often, you increase your risk of chronic disease.
Obvious Junk Foods
Step 1
Divide a sheet of paper into three columns. Label your first column as "obvious junk foods."
Step 2
List all the foods you perceive as being a junk food including the donut you have with your coffee, the French fries you order with your grilled chicken sandwich, the soda pop you drink as an afternoon pick-me-upper and the pre-packaged blueberry muffin you have to grab as you rush out the door for work.
Step 3
Limit your consumption of these foods as they are high in trans fats, which can raise your bad cholesterol and also lower your good cholesterol. Trans fats are the hydrogenated oils used in commercially-prepared foods to extend their shelf lives and enhance their palatability.
So-Called-Healthy Junk Foods
Step 1
Label the second column as "so-called-healthy junk foods." Include under this heading the cold cereals in your pantry, the granola bars you keep in your desk drawer, the salty pretzels in your lunch bag, the yogurt taking up space in your fridge, the bran muffins you buy at the bakery, and the flavored rice cakes you eat instead of chips.
Step 2
Read the nutritional label and the ingredient list of these types of junk foods because although they may be labeled as "fat free" and "high fiber," these foods come with a significant amount of sugars and salt.
Step 3
Keep your intake of natural sweeteners from your junk foods to a minimum as they cause your blood sugar to rise sharply. These sugars include table sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, honey, malt syrup, molasses, dextrose and barley malt extract, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Such sugars are listed separately and appear throughout the list of ingredients on these so-called healthy junk foods.
Adulterated Junk Foods
Step 1
Name your last column the "adulterated junk food." The foods falling under this column are foods, which if left in their natural state, are healthy.
Step 2
Include under this column your salted nuts, dried fruits, candy or chocolate-coated fresh fruits and fried vegetables.
Step 3
Read the nutrition label of your dried fruits. Choose only the dried fruits that do not have added oils or an excessive amount of sugar. If you have high blood pressure, you must stay away from salted nuts; choose the unsalted variety. Purchase fruits and vegetables at the peak of their ripeness instead of eating them with added sugary and salty coatings.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep a running log of junk foods, adding to your list as you try new or different foods.
- Excessive intake of junk foods increases your risk of obesity, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pencil
References
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
- Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Finding Sugar in Cereals Takes Detective Work
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium
