Junk Food is the No 1 Killer of this generation due to the diseases it provokes as illustrated by the head made up of Junk FoodJunk Food is a very real threat to this generation. You make healthy choices, or is it actually junk food too? A clever food industry has made it harder than ever, even if you know what is right. Today most foods you buy are processed, and as such ‘junk’ for your body. Processed Foods are a jungle of unquestionable health issues, debates, and alternatives.  To stay healthy you need to understand where Junk Food came from, and why it is in everything we buy today. Staying healthy has become a game we must play.  

Junk Food: Where did it come from? A War Story from Sugar to Health Bars

The history of Junk Food from 1900 to today is a story of generations being asked to do more with less. A story of wars, and marketing tactics by a food industry that created needs to boost profits. Never before in history has dinner tables changed this much in only a few generations. It is also a sad story of health decline that has seen the same generations get increasingly affected by Western Diseases – the No 1 killer today. Let’s look back from our great-grandparents’ generation to the present day – and why Junk Food is such a health issue today.

WW I – Sugar Explosion

WW II – Women and Food

  • After World War II our grandparents were on the move in a rapid growth period. Junk Food History is full of ads that make you smile, like this Man Pleaser Gelatine from 1930s.Women had taken new on new roles during war times, and post-war they joined the workplace like never before. Our grandmothers became models for a food industry that realized they could repeat the sugar boom that had exploded at the beginning of the 1900s. 
  • Fast Food was the solution to a modern new world. Drive Thru’s and Diners served classics like Hamburgers, French Fries, Hot Dogs, Candy, Gum, Salted Snacks, and Soda. The food industry really took off during the 1950s. Food became more processed and cans, packages, and plastic came into our kitchens. The fast food explosion was the same very successful introduction of new products to meet the demands of ‘shortcuts’ for the 1950s Processed Foodsworking woman. Radio and TV were in every house – and advertising of these new wonder foods became part of everyday life. The processed food road was a highway.

Vietnam War – Social Change 

  • In the late 60s, the Vietnam war raged. This was also a period of rapid social change and growth in the Western world. Our parents’ generation was in high gear to work, build lives and push forward in an uncertain world. Fast food was part of everyday life by now, and some were starting to question the effects on our health.
  • A green movement was born, and health issues were becoming apparent in a bigger way. Scientific facts were appearing Junk Food Jungle was reality in the 1970s, illustrutrated by woman in supermarket buying only frozen foodsthat diseases like cancer, heart problems, osteoporosis, and diabetes, were on the increase like never before. Linkages to the change in people’s food and lifestyle were suspected. By the 70’s scientists could prove that we had a generation that was getting sicker from ‘Junk Food’. Junk Food was a word invented by Michael Jacobson, director of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, in 1972. Processed Food was now a road to hell and not the salvation it had once been hailed as.

Iraq and Afghanistan – Dollars…

Junk Food: What Is So Wrong With It? 

Junk Food Jungle is also the busy mother who has no time to cook as illustrated by this octopus mother juggling baby, laptop, food etcTime is the best excuse for not doing what you inherently know is good for you. A busy mother will gladly save time by putting out some crisps to stop hunger pangs, pinging up a dinner in the ‘nuke’, and pouring spaghetti sauce from a can.

The same mother would of course never want to harm her children. She will claim ‘not to have time’ to prepare dishes from scratch, or shop for vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish from over a counter. Does she care about what her family eats? Sure – she does! Is she a bad mother? Of course not! If Mama knew that she was feeding her family additives that are directly linked to a disease she would freak out! Yet – She is like most mothers today: too busy!

Processed Foods

How to get a Healthier Life with Good Food is learning what the body needs. This picture shows what foods are good for certain parts of the body.The problem with processed foods is not only the high content of salt, sugar, fat, and calories. In fact – each processed meal is higher in calories than what is recommended by Medical experts. The real issue is the additives and chemicals, flavor enhancers, conservation enablers, food coloring etc.

If you want real food for thought click on these links: Common Foods in Supermarkets and so-called Health Foods. These additions to our food create hypertension, learning difficulties, blood pressure issues, allergies, asthma, and energy depletion and most of all contribute to the No 1 killer today: Western Diseases.

Western Diseases

Western Diseases were rare before 1900 when most foods were traditionally prepared at home. Today – looking back you can see a clear link between the increase in food processing and the decline in overall health. Despite medical advances, and availability of education — the dependency on convenience food, take-outs, and food shortcuts have made us sicker than ever.  Pedro Carrera-Bastos, Maelan Fontes-Villalba, James H O’Keefe, et al “The western diet and lifestyle and diseases of civilization,” say: 

Good Rest is part of getting a healthier life, and saying stop and setting boundaries is key. Illustrated by a Stop Sign.This mismatch between our ancient physiology and the western diet and lifestyle underlies many so-called diseases of civilization, including coronary heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, epithelial cell cancers, autoimmune disease, and osteoporosis, which are rare or virtually absent in hunter–gatherers and other non-westernized populations. It is therefore proposed that the adoption of diet and lifestyle that mimic the beneficial characteristics of the preagricultural environment is an effective strategy to reduce the risk of chronic degenerative diseases.

Junk Food: We Know It’s Wrong But Why Is It So Hard?

The Food Industry has caught on to the fact that people want ‘healthier’ alternatives, and thus process foods to be ‘fat-free’, ‘zero % cholesterol’, and ‘low-calorie’. We buy these thinking we are being healthy. Instead of fat, you get extra sugar, and to substitute calories we get additives that our bodies cannot handle. The processing of the foods make Junk Food includes all Processed Foods, ilustrated by this Cereal Label them not good for you, and there are real arguments for why you should avoid them. 

Junk Food – How Can You Win? 

In a supermarket today you need to have a chemical engineering degree to understand what is in the food. You think you are making healthier choices, but even salad dressing and fruit yogurt contain ingredients that Mother Nature did not invent. The jungle of junk you have to sort through is astonishing if you want real food. You need Junk Food Jungle Tactics

Check out the next post on The GOODista: 10 Tips with key information on what you should be looking for – and how you can play the Junk Food Jungle Game – and win for your Health. 

If you have some tips on how tricky it is to play the Health Game, please feel free to share in the comment box below. 

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