The world has seen an uptick in the consumption of junk in the last two to three decades. With the rising popularity of McDonald’s and other hotspots of junk food, it’s difficult to see this spike relenting any time soon. There is a horde of problems concomitant with a junk food-infested diet. Let’s look at some of the most pertinent ones in this article.
- Memory and Learning deficiencies: An obvious corollary to a diet with inadequate nutrition, the learning defects in children have become more rampant and parasitic in the last few decades. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children who regularly consume high doses of junk food have been observed to perform poorly in rudimentary cognitive tests. Junk food causes inflammation in the hippocampus, which can singe learning and recognition abilities.
- Causes depression: Junk foods are loaded with fats and sugar that contribute almost nothing to the growth of a human being. These non-nourishing ingredients also cause a number of detrimental chemical reactions in the brain, which could stunt its growth and functioning. When these foods are consumed in large quantities, the body slowly loses vital nutrients and amino acids. Over time, this could render the brain incapable of dealing with moments of stress. This can emasculate your fortitude and mental strength and eventually make you more vulnerable to mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
- Deteriorates appetite and digestion: When alarming levels of junk food are consumed, the brain is left confused. Inordinate sugar consumption can make the blood sugar levels to vacillate like a pendulum, which will perplex the brain. The brain will eventually demand more food, and as a consequence, you will end up overeating. This further exacerbates the situation because the body will now struggle to digest the excess junk food.
- There is a higher risk of getting dementia: If this doesn’t send a shiver down the spine of junk food eaters, I don’t know what will. This is easily one of the most frightening discoveries pertaining to the consumption of junk food. From high school biology, you can recall that insulin is produced in the pancreas, which aids in the passage of glucose to nourish the body.
Insulin is also created in the brain, where it serves the purpose of carrying signals between nerve cells to form memories. According to a study conducted at The Brown University, inordinate levels of fatty food and sweets can significantly increase the insulin levels in the body. Similar to the case of Type 2 Diabetes, with greater levels of insulin, the brain becomes unresponsive to this hormone and then becomes completely numb to it. This can impede a person’s ability to think logically and analytically, and also to recall or create new memories, which will aggravate your ability to combat dementia.
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