There is very old saying that ‘We are what we eat’. What we eat or put into our body gets digested and becomes a part of us. Imagine a building, a new brand house made up of only mud without the use of cement. We may get our house looking good on the outside by painting it bright. But the internal structure is not going to be strong. Very soon it will crumble. The same phenomenon is applied to our body. Put in junk food and low –nutrient and unhealthy foods, the structure of our body will become weak. The constant stress of low or missing nutrients will affect our body. The result will be premature aging, overweight, other health problems. The modern killer diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, heart problem and cancer are definitely related to our diet and life style.
Younger generation is almost mad after the junk food. It is the duty of the parents to show them the harmful effects of the junk food. Some parents try to prevent their children from viewing advertisements which promote junk foods like maggi and soft drinks. But how far they are successful?
From nursery school to college and then to office every where there is a propaganda of junk food .So as parent we will not be able to keep the children away from junk food. But what we can do is to instill the harms of junk food right from the child hood days. Some are as follows:
This kind of food is high in calories but have no nutritional value. For example one slice of pizza or a bottle of soft drink will give us 200 calories mostly from sugared fat. There are no vitamins, minerals and other nutrients and the fats which are present in it are also trans- fats which clog the arteries and the lack of fiber leads to constipation and other related diseases. All the soft drinks and colas are high in caffeine sugar and phosphorous. On the other hand, they in fact cause our body lose calcium from the bones.
The favorite food of the children potato chips and French fries are also unhealthy because they are fried at high temperatures. Any time food is cooked, fried or processed using high heat, a substance called acrylamide is produced. Acrylamide is a known carcinogen and neurotoxin.
Another problem with fast or junk food is that it provides us with ample energy from bad fats and proteins with harmful food additives but lack in vitamins and minerals which are protective food as these help in building up our immunity. This kind of food lack in fibre also. As a result the junk-eating children are obese but not healthy. They are excess in weight but have nutritional deficiencies such as anemia, they get easily fatigued, may perform poorly in studies, lack concentration, are sometimes hyper in nature, and their body is a haven for all adulthood lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart attacks and high blood pressure.
So the only remedy is to modify junk into healthy food. What kind of foods must betaken to stay healthy— this thought may crop up in your mind. Here are some food which must be included in your daily diet.
- Banana—-Bananas may not be included in many diets as it may help in gaining weight but due its rich potassium content it helps in controlling the blood pressure, also helps in strengthening the digestive system and lowers the cholesterol level.
- Grapes—–Red seedless grapes with rich lutein content helps in reducing early atherosclerosis.
- Green Tea——-Drinking just one cup a day will give great antioxident protection. The flavinoids in green tea are known as “polyphenols” – which are powerful antioxidents that may be greater than or equal to that of Vitamin C and vitamin E.
- Lemons.—- They are excellent for detoxifying the liver, which contain high amounts of vitamin C, a vitamin that the body requires to make a substance called glutathione which helps the liver detoxify harmful chemicals.
- Cabbage—-This plant has many virtues against cancer because it contains antioxidants. Also, it can clean the digestive tract and neutralizes some of the harmful compounds found in cigarette smoke.
- Organic Drinks and Shakes ——–Juices, drinks and milkshakes are ideal for freshening up after a long day, or preparing for a work day. Organic drinks and shakes are doubly beneficial. These organic products offer vitamins and minerals, all in an unadulterated, organic form.
