Eliminate Junk Food to Assist Weight Loss

(Article first published as Cut Junk Food Diet to Fuel Weight Loss Efforts on Technorati.)

Our diet has changed significantly over the past half century as the main staples of our diet have quickly shifted from health promoting vegetables and foods eaten in their natural form toward a wide variety of processed foods impregnated with chemicals and created in a food laboratory. Most people eat a diet which consists almost exclusively of refined foods which are nutritionally deficient and packed with sugar, fructose and deadly trans fats which are known to contribute to excess weight.

Packaging Carrots as Junk Food

Junk food has become so prevalent in our diet that the baby carrot industry has begun to package and market their product as junk food in an attempt to increase market share. The industry is spending 25 million dollars to transform their image to a market which thrives on junk food and buys snacks and entire meals from a vending machine.

The industry is packaging baby carrots with artificial preservatives and other unnatural chemical enhancements so they can be sold in school vending machines. While nutritional information is not yet available for prepackaged carrots, calories and nutritional content will likely be similar to eating a candy bar with the same devastating effect on health and body weight.

Healthy Vegetable Consumption Flat the Past Decade

It’s no secret that a diet high in fresh vegetables and leafy greens promotes good health and assists in weight loss. The anemic and outdated USDA food pyramid recommends that we eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, and many nutrition and weight loss experts say those numbers should be doubled. In addition to providing a wide variety of essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, vegetables fill you up quickly with plenty of fiber and minimal calories.

According to the results of a comprehensive nationwide behavioral study issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vegetable and fruit consumption over the past decade, only 26% of adults ate vegetables three or more times per day. The number had not changed over the past ten years, indicating the marketing efforts of the CDC were ineffective compared to the billions spent by fast food and processed junk food companies to promote their unhealthy fare.

Including Vegetables and Natural Foods to Promote Weight Loss

Vegetables are packed with vital nutrients which are known to influence our cells on a genetic level to reduce the risk from many diseases while promoting natural weight loss. Junk food has the opposite effect as the synthetic chemicals which have been used to manufacture these foods are released into the body creating a toxic overload every time you eat.

Chemicals in processed foods are broken down by the body and must be stored in our body fat to prevent the risk of immediate disease. Over the course of many years these chemicals accumulate to dangerous levels and can initiate an array of potentially deadly conditions including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Chemical overload from excessive junk food consumption also provokes metabolic dysfunction leading to uncontrollable blood sugar levels, insulin resistance and weight gain.

Packaged food represents a significant health hazard to the millions of unsuspecting consumers who eat these foods several times each day. They are a significant factor in the explosion of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorder and obesity. Plan your menu to include at least ten servings of fresh vegetables and healthy greens daily, while minimizing or eliminating processed foods, sugar and refined carbs from your diet. Natural weight loss, optimal health and longevity will be your reward.