Why Do We Continuously Choose Junk

3foldchord

When you do get hungry it's just a physical sensation of hunger (that actually feels rather nice) and not some overwhelming feeling like you need to eat right this minute -- you're hungry and you can eat but you can also wait until you make dinner.

The physical sensations of hunger aren't all that nice for me. Extreme dizziness, headaches, blurred vision..... I wish my stomach growled first, to tell me to eat before the blurred vision and headache kick in. But I usually don't crave junk, either, so I guess it all evens out in the end.

pkw58

Junk food is just another bad habit to break. It's our choice. Even the department stores sell breath mints or godiva chocolates at the check out register (really Dillards and Macy's? WTF?).

Just say no to mindless eating. You will be glad you did.

dad106

Maybe because it actually does *GASP* taste good.

When I was in Psychology classes in college, we learned about taste buds/moods and how food is designed to appeal to those taste buds/moods. If you are stressed/tired, most likely you are going to want something sweet/salty.. hence the chips and candy bar. If you are properly rested though, and at a low stress point, then you are more likely to make a good choice.

ilovedeadlifts

We have evolved to derive pleasure from sweet, fatty, and salty foods. This provided an evolutionary advantage when food supplies were limited. The same trait is now disadvantageous to those who have not learned to properly control their food intake, particularly given the ubiquity of cheap, calorie dense "junk" foods.

this.

angiechimpanzee

Its convenient and its addictive.

I REALLY second the addictive factor. It's just overwhelming for the taste buds and throws the body's satiation signals out of wack.

It is possible to not go back to junk food, there are many people who are appalled by just the thought of putting it into their bodies. I know I'm getting to that point (cheeseburgers? BLAH. & i never ever get fries anymore, with anything.) but there are still SOME things I'll make exceptions for (the occasional Butterfinger as a treat for example. Or ChickFilA sandwiches - fried in peanut oil & no preservatives so they're acceptable to me.) But it all comes down to how much attention you're willing to pay to your OWN body, regardless of your surroundings. Treat your body like a heavily-guarded castle, you don't have to allow intruders in if you don't want them there.

AlabasterVerve

When you do get hungry it's just a physical sensation of hunger (that actually feels rather nice) and not some overwhelming feeling like you need to eat right this minute -- you're hungry and you can eat but you can also wait until you make dinner.

The physical sensations of hunger aren't all that nice for me. Extreme dizziness, headaches, blurred vision..... I wish my stomach growled first, to tell me to eat before the blurred vision and headache kick in. But I usually don't crave junk, either, so I guess it all evens out in the end.

I understand where you're coming from but that's not hunger you're experiencing. I used to get occasional bouts of hypoglycemia before I changed my diet to LCHF so I really do understand -- just one more reason I can't see myself ever following what the conventional wisdom of today claims is a healthy diet. A normal appetite is an amazing thing.

angiechimpanzee

My understanding ( and I could be wrong) is the our sense of taste was meant to draw us to food that were beneficial to us. We like sweet because fruit and veggies have vitamins. Salt tastes good to is because we need it. Problem is, the food available today satisfies those senses, even seems to be better, without the nutritional benefit. Once upon a time the sweetest thing we could find had nutritional benefit. Now. Not so much. Same thing with fat.

There could definitely be something to this. It's not so much that our taste has evolved, but that the food manufacturers have exploited said tastes by tricking the mind, so to speak. It would explain a few things.

For example, the reason we always seem to crave more of a ****ty food after eating it, is because the body didn't get the nutrients from it that it was expecting.

I agree with this too.

WinnerVictorious

I feel like this is a valid question to ask. Sure, the answer is probably different for everyone but the excuse that it "tastes better" is a load of BS. I know I'm not alone when I say healthy food can be really really good. Some of the best tasting foods can be considered healthy. So why do we continuously go back to junk food? I think it's a variety of reasons, and some of them aren't all due to human nature.

Firstly, I think easiness is a factor. How many times have you gotten home from work or school and just not felt like making a proper meal, and settled for greasy fast food? And have you noticed that most "snack foods" are bite-sized? Sure, fruits and veggies are great tasting, good choices. But who wants to rinse, chop, peel, and cut when you can just open a bag of chips or a candy bar and it's ready to eat. No one wants to spend all that time preparing something that isn't even going to fill them up.

Another factor I think is cost. Who has been to the grocery store, ready to get some good healthy food, seen the price and just gotten annoyed with how expensive some of the things are? I'm going to be blunt, some people just don't make enough to be able to provide good food for their families constantly so they are forced to go with the 50 cent boxes of mac and cheese and the 5 for a dollar Top Ramen.

Another factor I think is that we don't know how to satisfy our cravings. Have you ever been doing so well, then you just had a hankering for something, and no matter how hard you tried to ignore it, it wouldn't go away? Then you finally just had to succumb to that evil, fat ferry that's been jabbing at your shoulder for hours. I feel like this is one of the biggest reasons we can't stop eating junk food. Once we get a craving, we get into that mindset of "I have to have this, nothing else will do, it has to be this." I will be the first to admit that this goes through my head several times a week, if not more.

The last factor I'm going to mention is that we as humans tend to compare things that should not be compared. A good example of this would be having to choose between a hot, steamy, cheesy delicious pizza, and a salad. I would be one of the many who would choose the pizza. However, if that same pizza were compared to a plate of spaghetti squash with a yummy tomato sauce, I would definitely think twice before choosing the pizza.

Are there more factors? Probably. Feel free to speak your mind about what you think. I would prefer politeness but if that can't happen for some reason I won't be offended by what you say.

maybe it's as simple as this.

we crave junk food because it's high in fats and calories and from an evolutionary perspective, our ancestors would have wanted to eat those foods as much as possible to prepare for the lean times when food was scarce. so we inherited that trait even though food is now much less scarce in most of the world. even if we don't consciously know we are doing that, our bodies may trigger those cravings for that reason.

IIRC, they once did a survey/study on mountaineers trapped on mountains and found that when rescued, the food they most craved was food very high in fats.

AlabasterVerve

The evolutionary argument sounds good and all of that but it's just not true. It can't be -- not when I can change my diet and in a matter of weeks have a normal appetite and no desire for the same foods that seemed hard to resist. It's hormonal, not evolutionary... in my opinion, of course.

nexangelus

Cheap, addictive and laziness...

Amatambi

Maybe because it actually does *GASP* taste good.

I never said it did not taste good. If you read my paragraph again I just say tastes BETTER. Believe me, I know that stuff is really really good, I just refuse to believe that millions of Americans are getting more and more obese and developing health problems simply because the food they choose to eat tastes better than what is better for their bodies.

However, reading what a lot of people have to say about our choices having something to do with our evolutionary background, it does make sense. Our bodies do, to an extent, need sodium and fat and carbs, so of course we would crave those kinds of foods. But where the problem lies is how we've trained our bodies to crave foods that have these in huge supplies and no nutritional value. We are not evolved to want to eat that big bag of potato chips. We are evolved to want the sodium and stuff that our bodies need, but because we OURSELVES choose to satisfy that craving with chips, our bodies get addicted to the other things that are in those chips that wouldn't be in other foods.