Life without a burger, can you imagine that? Hypothetically, my lunch and dinner would involve more vegetables and fruits, which is better for my health than a burger. If everyone’s health is better off without a burger, then we expect an increase in the average life expectancy. I would have to assume that everyone would like that to happen, but the question is, why do we still eat burgers almost a couple of times a week? Is it because we do not have a choice, or do we not know how to make a choice? Our answers might be different from each other. However, we do not know how to make better decisions due to firms’ advertisement and marketing strategies. Today’s world is exposed to much higher advertisements for junk food than for healthier food. Over time, it influences our brains in thinking about the consequences of making decisions. Therefore, we intake junk food without thinking of the consequences. To avoid the consequences, people should be more aware of what food they consume because junk food leads to numerous health problems.
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To be aware of what food to eat, we must establish a proper definition. Food is any nutritious substance that people eat or drink. On the other hand, junk food is low in nutritional value and calories. People usually consume junk food without knowing about its nutritional facts of it. To change this behavior, people need to be more aware of the negative effects of consuming junk food. Even though many companies are working on delivering junk food at low prices, it might be challenging for people to fight against it. There are many ways governments and societies can increase public awareness of junk food and minimize the consumption of that market.
First, the governments can take acts in which they increase taxes. Many people consume junk food because it costs less than buying healthy food. By raising the taxes on companies that produce junk food, they would have to consider changing their prices. Of course, the prices of junk food will increase due to taxes, leading to a drop in the quantity demanded by the market. In other words, some people will not buy junk food because the price goes up. When the price goes up, then it means that there is a small gap in the prices of junk food and healthy food. After that, people can make better choices about food and care less about the differences in prices. Second, public organizations can fight against junk food advertisements in the market. We all know that companies manipulate people to get them to buy their products. Marion Nestle. “Supermarket: Prime Real Estate.” Stated that corporations were hiring social scientists to study unconscious human emotions to get them to buy their products. If companies are doing this to manipulate peoples’ decisions, the other corporation can do the same, but for the good of humanity. Finally, individuals can participate in various ways to increase public health awareness. Whether a housewife or an organization president, you can inspire and change people’s behavior. Start by reminding everyone around you of the negative effects of junk food. Alternatively, you can start a campaign in school or on social media websites demonstrating junk food. With this strategy, people will be more exposed to the fact that junk food negatively impacts us.
Unless the government or society acts to increase public awareness and reduce the junk food market, several health problems will occur in our society. The relationship between food and health is really simple. Good and healthy food habits will ensure a better and healthier lifestyle. On the other hand, unhealthy food habits increase the risk of heart disease, damage your liver, cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels, and cause obesity. These are not the only health problems that junk food can cause. However, when eating junk food, those are the problems that are immediately related to our health. Junk food is loaded with fat that increases the cholesterol levels in the blood. High cholesterol levels in the blood can cause unusual behavior within the human body, which leads to unexpected heart disease. Junk food can also cause damage to your liver.
High consumption of junk food over time can cause liver failure due to high fat and salt intake. Junk food can also affect the blood sugar levels in our bodies. When we consume junk food or processed food, we are exposed to high sugar intake, which will increase the sugar level in our blood. After a few hours, there will be a huge drop in sugar levels. This can cause many problems that our current medical technology cannot solve. The solution to avoid these health problems is obvious: Stop eating a western diet. Michael Pollan. “Escape from the Western Diet.”
The solution might be obvious to us but hard to achieve. There are several ways that we can work through to help us in avoiding junk food. First, change the routine. When planning to go for lunch in a fast food restaurant, instead, plan to have a quick healthy meal and attend a meeting or talk a walk around the block. This can take weeks to form a new habit. However, it will kill the desire to have lunch at fast food restaurants. Second, watch unhealthy documentaries or television shows about health in general. Whether you are watching Doctors or Super Size Me, they can help you avoid consuming junk food. Watching shows about healthy and unhealthy food can motivate quitting junk food.
Moreover, Strength, confidence, and control your decision. Sometimes you will be tempted to eat junk food. However, knowing your responsibility towards your body can increase your confidence. When you quit junk food, know your reason behind this decision, and focus on achieving your goal.
As I mentioned before, what stops us from quitting junk food is the fact that people spend so much money on advertising and marketing junk food. Some argue that it is just a business that provides cheap, fast food for the community. Therefore, it is worth advertising. It is their right to run their business and advertise it the way they see it the best. However, It is our responsibility as a community to show the other side of their business. We are responsible for teaching kids about the negative side effects of junk food. By becoming adults and responsible for their decision, they will be much better at dealing with junk food.
To sum up, to avoid junk food and its negative impacts on our health, we need to be more aware and educated about the numerous health problems that junk food can bring. Establishing the definition of junk food is step one for us to understand why we should avoid it. In general, junk food has low nutritional value and high calories. Most people who consume junk food are already aware of its nutritional facts. However, people still consume it on weekly bases.
Moreover, there are several tips or ways to decrease the low-nutritional food market. Governments can raise taxes to reduce the quantity demanded by junk food markets. Communities and organizations can also help promote better public awareness of food and health. If the majority of the community cooperated on reducing the junk food market and increasing public awareness, we would be much healthier and hopefully live longer. Understanding the effects of junk food on our health and seeing the relationship between them can be a primary factor in keeping your healthy lifestyle. Reading books or watching television shows can alter someone’s point of view regarding junk food. Knowing the facts and seeing others’ experiences with junk food can also promote motivation for us to quit junk food. Although, some techniques can be required when deciding to quit junk food. Increasing your confidence, changing your habits, control your decisions can provide strength to avoid junk food. Even though it can be hard for most of us to just quit junk food while we have easy access to it and are exposed to it, we can still survive and keep our healthy lifestyle because it is our responsibility.
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