How on earth do I quit junk food? Part 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on how to quit junk food.  However, there is so much to say on this topic that I decided that another post was necessary - in the hope I can help those of you who are trying to improve your eating habits.

When you quit an un healthy habit like smoking or alcohol, it is actually quite "easy" to avoid those elements in your daily life. However, you can't not eat.  Humans need food so you can't just avoid it and what with busy lifestyles junk food that is readily available, ready to eat and cheap is an easy option to go for.  What's more, the food industry DOESN'T WANT YOU TO STOP eating processed foods and junk food.

Let's just focus on sugar.

Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), dextrose, maltose.... there are over 41 names for sugar on food labelling.  I think Robert H. Lustig, MD explains the sugar dilema very well:

"If 'a calorie is a calorie' were true, and obesity and metabolic syndrome were a result of 'empty calories', the mantra of 'eat less, exercise more' would stand.  But sugar is not 'empty calories'.  The fructose component is a toxin by itself - a chronic one, a dose-dependent one - but a toxin nonetheless.  We know about the ill effects of smoking and prolonged alcohol usage.  Every single disease or condition of metabolic syndrome is driven by fructose,  including hypertension, through increases in uric acid; high triglycerides and insulin resistance, through synthesis of fat in the liver; diabetes, via
increased liver glucose production combined with insulin resistance; accelerated aging, due to damage to lipids and protein; likely cancer, due to DNA damage, high insulin levels, and the fact that some cancers seem to use fructose preferentially for energy; and likely dementia, through insulin resistance in the brain.

Sugar acts on the reward center to encourage subsequent intake.  Whether it fits the criterion for addiction is irrelevant; the stuff is abused.  You get hooked at an early age, and it's harder to kick the habit after years of prolonged usage.  There are now numerous human studies examining the dependence-producing properties of sugar.  By reducing dopamine signaling in the brain's reward center, the pleasure derived from food is reduced (increasing tolerance), compelling the individual to consume more.  And when the sugar is stopped, symptoms of irritability (withdrawal) become apparent."

Fat Chance, Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease

Robert H. Lustig, M.D.

None of us are truly aware of how much sugar is really in the food we eat... but it is harming us every single day.  For example, my 15 year old daughter accompanied me to do the grocery shopping the other day and asked me to buy some Kellogg's Frosties - I refused and told her exactly why - because of the sugar content.  So here you have the ten worst Children's breakfast cereals (from among 275):

1. Kellogg's Honey Smacks: 55.6% sugar by weight.  Ingredients: Sugar, wheat, dextrose, honey, contains 2% or less of vegetable oil (hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean), salt, caramel color, soy lecithin, BHT for freshness.
2. Post Golden Crisp: 51.9% sugar
3. Kellogg's Froot Loops Marshmallow: 48.3% sugar
4. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's OOPS!  All Berries: 46.9% sugar
5. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch Original: 44.4% sugar
6. Quaker Oats Oh!s: 44.4% sugar
7. Kellogg's Smorz: 43.3% sugar
8. Kellogg's Apple Jacks: 42.9% sugar
9. Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries: 42.3% sugar
10. Kellogg's Froot Loops Original: 41.4% sugar

Do you really want your kids eating this stuff?  Do you want to eat this stuff?

Lots of people believe that changing soda for fruit juice is healthier - but it isn't.  There is just as much sugar in juice as there is in sodas.

What makes FRUIT healthier than junk food is it's fiber content.  If you eat the whole fruit, the fiber slows down the release of sugar into the blood stream avoiding the sugar spike and subsequent insulin response.  All the fiber is removed when you make juice - even if you make it at home, so all you have left is fruit flavored sugar water.   

Change your environment:

The "easiest" way to avoid problems is to change your environment.  This means:

1. Clean out your kitchen.  Remove all unhealthy, processed foods from your cabinets and fridge.  If you only stock healthy foods then you won't have the temptation.  Lots of people say, "Oh! But what about my kids?"  What about them?  If you stop them eating unhealthy foods they will be healthy and stay a healthy weight.  What's more, they will learn healthy eating habits from a young age which will stay with them for life.
2. Don't go anywhere near a fast food restaurant.  No one forces you to go inside.  YOU can make that decision.  Plan meals ahead.  You can cook ahead too, a little organization is key and once you get the hang of it, you won't even want to go to the burger joint or pizza place.
3. Take control.  If it has a label on it, it isn't real food.  The only way we can force the food industry into changing it's ways is to refuse to succumb to what they want... and what they want is you to spend your money on their unhealthy food.  Don't let them!

So, what's it going to be?  Only YOU can decide!

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com