Preparing a figure for the summer or how to refuse harmful products. How to give up junk food? How to learn to refuse junk food

Healthy eating means avoiding sugary soda, mayonnaise and sausages and limiting sugary, fatty, starchy foods, salt and meat.

Pure sugar, as well as sugar added during food preparation, is a serious health hazard. Sugar is a source of extra calories, leading to weight gain and crowding out more healthy foods from the diet. Excess sugar consumption is harmful to the circulatory system (due to the increase in blood cholesterol) and to the teeth.

Limit your intake of foods with added sugar - soda and other sugary drinks, condensed milk, syrups, honey, desserts.

At the same time, there is no need to give up sweet fruits that have a high nutritional value.

How to limit your sugar intake

• For women - up to 24 grams per day (6 teaspoons).
• For men - up to 36 grams per day (9 teaspoons).

To do this, it is necessary to significantly reduce the consumption of a number of foods high in added sugar.

Sweet soda

One 0.33 ml can of Coca-Cola contains about 35 grams of sugar, which is close to the maximum daily intake of sugar for men. Being a significant source of calories (consumption of two cans of Coca-Cola per day in terms of calories corresponds to an increase in overweight by 1 kg per month), soda does not provide any nutritional value. It also does not quench, but provokes thirst (due to the high sugar content) and causes an addictive effect.

Eliminate all sugary soda from your diet! To quench your thirst, drink water, not soda or other sugary drinks.

If you happen to eat a can of condensed milk in a day, you should pay attention to its nutritional composition. One 380 gram can of condensed milk contains 170 grams of added sugar (not counting the milk's own sugar). In other words, 2 tablespoons of condensed milk equals 1 tablespoon of pure sugar.

Fats

Fats are an essential part of nutrition. However, saturated fats should be avoided, and the calorie content of foods high in fat should also be monitored.

Saturated fats are considered harmful in their chemical composition: margarine, animal fats (butter, cheese, white fat on meat, subcutaneous chicken fat), palm and coconut oil. They are easily deposited in adipose tissue and cause narrowing of the lumen of the arteries, which leads to diseases such as heart attack and stroke.

You should limit the consumption of foods high in saturated fat: fatty meat products, fast food, confectionery and chocolate, fatty dairy products.

Unsaturated fats found in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, fish and seafood are considered beneficial and essential for health. At the same time, in the modern diet, as a rule, there is not enough omega-3 fats, the main source of which is oily fish and seafood.

In addition to the chemical composition of fats, their calorie content matters. Fats, both saturated and unsaturated, have the highest calorie content of all foods. If you are gaining excess weight, then you should reduce the consumption of vegetable oil, including those used for frying and as a dressing.

Do not eat industrial mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise is a seasoning for food based on vegetable oil, milk powder, lecithin and vinegar, which does not have its own nutritional value. It is harmful due to its high calorie content, the presence of preservatives, and the poor quality of the ingredients. In Russia, mayonnaise is banned for meals in schools, primary and secondary vocational education institutions.

Red meat and sausage

An excess of red meat (beef, lamb and pork) in the diet can lead to an increase in blood cholesterol levels, as well as increase the risk of bowel cancer. At the same time, red meat is a valuable source of protein and trace elements (iron, zinc). Therefore, you should limit your consumption of red meat, but it is not necessary to completely refuse it.

The following rules must be followed:

• Eat no more than 500 grams of red meat per week. This norm is for the weight of meat in cooked form and corresponds to 600-700 g of raw tenderloin.
• Don't eat red meat every day.
• Do not eat layers of fat in meat.

Eliminate sausage, sausages, ham, bacon, and other processed meats entirely.

Their harm is associated with a high content of preservatives and color stabilizers: sodium nitrite (E-250), potassium nitrate (E-252) and others. The presence of these substances increases the risk of bowel cancer. According to the refusal of sausages - one of the 10 main ways to prevent cancer.

Salt is necessary for man. However, people usually consume more salt than they need.

Systematic excess of table salt in food can lead to high blood pressure and stomach cancer.

On average, daily salt intake should not exceed one teaspoon (2.3 g) per day. After 50 years, with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease, salt intake should be reduced to 1.5 g per day.

We get most of our salt from processed foods (cooked food, bread, meat products). About a quarter of the salt is added when cooking or adding salt to food at the table.

To reduce your salt intake:

• Try to avoid prepared foods and processed foods with a high salt content (for example, canned vegetables, meat and fish, sausages).
• Do not salt food at the table.
• Try to add less salt when cooking.

Within a few weeks, your taste buds will adapt to the lower salt content, and you won't perceive low-salt food as tasteless. Also, instead of salt, you can add black and red pepper, garlic, bay leaf, basil, other spices and herbs, lemon to food.

Scientist Stephen Weatherly studied the phenomenon of food and came to a surprising conclusion: junk food makes us consume our own brain.

And food writer and activist Michael Pollan, in his book The Omnivore Dilemma, argues that the reason we love fast food lies in the big contradiction between the logic of nature and industrial food production.

In their books and reports, researchers not only share their observations, but also give advice on how to defeat the craving for forbidden food.

1. Check the composition

Michael Pollan advises avoiding foods with ingredients that a third grader can't pronounce. The surest way to start buying less junk food is to get more information about what you are actually eating. If you dig deeper and find out the composition of your favorite products, it can become uncomfortable.

Chips don't always have potatoes, and chocolate nut butter is more than half sugar. The food additive E320 (butylhydroxyanisole) is often added to sausages and sausages, which acts as an antioxidant and can be a potential carcinogen. And vitamin D3, which can be found on the label of yogurt, is synthesized from sheep fat.

2. More colors

Have you noticed that healthy foods are often colored in the brightest colors, but unhealthy foods are not distinguished by an abundance of color shades (unless dyes are used)? Our vision perceives pastries, chips, croutons and instant noodles almost as one product, and, of course, requires an addition.

Susan Bowerman, a professor of food science and nutrition, says that too many people are on a "beige" diet of crackers, cereals and cookies. But we need to see at least three different colors of food on our plates. So instead of running for another bun, add bright colors like a juicy red apple or a yellow banana.

3. Remember the five ingredient rule

If more than five ingredients are listed on the label, this is a processed product signal. The rule "less is better" in this case works without reservation.

Avoid products that contain ingredients you haven't heard of or wouldn't use at home. Food emulsifier, lecithin, stabilizer - what is it? Many of the additives are used to extend the shelf life of the product, but even in this case, you can always find safe and natural analogues: salt, vinegar, citric acid, honey.

Also avoid foods that list sugar as one of the first three ingredients on the label.

4. Count ten seconds before tossing a harmful product into your shopping cart

Michael Pollan advises before buying to ask the question: “Would your great-grandmother consider this food?” Would she eat, for example, this poison-colored jelly from a plastic package?

Also, during the purchase, try to visualize the composition of this product. How it was prepared, how much sugar, flavor enhancers and preservatives were added, how much fat was used. Now put that bag of sausages back on the shelf.

5. Spend More Time Buying Healthy Foods

While walking through the market or supermarket, replenish your stocks of healthy products. Fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, natural yogurt, fresh herbs - the choice of products for which the body will thank you is quite wide.

If you are used to chewing something, celery sticks will come to the rescue: you will never get better from them. And in order not to feel like a rabbit and get more pleasure from eating, you can prepare a light sauce for chopsticks.

Store healthy foods where you can see them: in the front and center of the refrigerator, in the basket in the kitchen, on the shelves and in the drawers of the desktop. Make sure you always have vegetables and fruits on hand to snack on. For example, dip slices of bell pepper in hummus.

6. Desserts can be healthy

The biggest problem that probably everyone faces is cravings for sweets. It's not easy to give up cake or cupcake. But high-carb foods can be replaced with their dietary counterparts, and Instagram is full of pages about healthy eating with detailed recipes.

Make homemade ice cream. Put the berries in the freezer and then finish your evening meal with them as a sweet dessert. Make muesli bars at home: send two cups of oatmeal, a large apple, pear or banana, a handful of dried fruits and nuts to a blender. Spread this mass in a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake at 180 ° C until lightly browned. Now there will be no need to run for sweet buns.

7. Chew food more thoroughly

More than a hundred years ago, obese Horace Fletcher put forward an amazing concept: chewing food more than 32 times, a person can lose weight. Japanese scientists studied this habit in more detail and concluded that it is indispensable for health and longevity.

Insufficient chewing of food leads to the occurrence of metabolic syndrome: high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. The more attention is paid to the grinding of food, the easier it is for the body to digest it.

If you are able to chew longer and harder, you will eat less. Try to chew your food slowly and mindfully. One bite, 32 chews, swallowing, and only then the next bite.

8. Take More Pictures of Your Diet

Researchers led by Lydia Zepeda from the University of Wisconsin-Madison came to the conclusion ten years ago that photographing food helps to give up unhealthy foods and lose weight.

The results of the experiment with 43 volunteers confirmed that visualization helps to control your diet. Armed with a phone camera and a food diary in which you write down how you feel after eating, researchers believe that you can really get rid of a few extra pounds around your waist.

Therefore, when you see another photo of food on Instagram, do not judge too harshly: perhaps this is how its author struggles with bad eating habits.

Bonus: why do we love junk food so much?

Stephen Weatherly in his report "Why do people like unhealthy food?" says that there are two factors that make you especially enjoy junk food.

Sensation of taste, smell and melting of food in the mouth

To understand what the ideal consistency of a certain product should be, food companies spend millions of dollars. In this they are helped by dynamic contrast (for example, a combination of a crispy shell with a soft filling), foods with hidden calories that quickly melt in your mouth (the brain does not even have time to understand how much you actually ate), and foods that cause active salivation (mayonnaise, various sauces, hot chocolate).

Food composition

Food manufacturers use the perfect combination of salt, sugar, and fat that most excites your brain and keeps you coming back to eating this type of food again and again.

But the good news is, multiple studies show that the less junk food you eat, the less you crave it. Some people call this process "gene reprogramming".

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A frame from the cartoon "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

Various tricky "hooks" in the composition, such as flavor enhancers and high sugar content, make us not only enjoy processed foods, but are also addictive. I want more and more, and as it increases, so does the risk of various health problems - from overweight to diabetes.

Fortunately, you can break this vicious cycle with six easy tricks.

1. Step away from your daily routine

Do you associate three in the afternoon with a trip to the nearest store where you buy a package of sweets or a chocolate bar? Try changing your itinerary and instead of visiting a junk food outlet, just walk around the block.

A 2015 study of 48 people published in the scientific journal PLoS One found that a 15-minute walk temporarily reduced cravings for high-calorie sugary snacks. By the way, the short walk has many others.

2. Take a closer look at what you eat

One of the surest ways to start eating less is to learn more about what you actually eat and how it's made. The truth about the preservatives that are added to processed foods, as well as various additives used in the manufacture of snacks, can make you cringe and think twice before opening the bright package next time.

3. Keep candy out of sight

Photo pixabay.com

It has been scientifically proven that the farther from you are harmful snacks, the less the risk that you will “break loose”. A study published in PLoS One in 2017 found that people were more likely to snack on crackers and chocolate if they were within arm's reach of them, compared to those from whom the tempting snack was more than five meters away. .

4. Put a healthy snack nearby

So, sweets are far and beyond seven locks, but this does not mean at all that when you get hungry, you need to suffer and wait for lunch / dinner. In this case, let there be a healthy alternative to junk food nearby - a muesli bar, a small package of nuts or fruit.

A study published in the journal Health Education & Behavior reported that people who had nothing but fruit on their kitchen counter had a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who had candy, chips, and sodas in front of them all the time.

5. Chew slower

Adam Melonas, celebrity chef and founder of UnReal candy, shared this sound advice: If you can get people to chew longer, they will eat less.”

This idea was confirmed by an experiment published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - the longer the participants chewed food before swallowing it, the less they ended up eating. So the next time you get to your favorite treat, chew it slowly and mindfully.

6. Reduce junk food gradually

The desire to minimize the amount of junk food in the diet is commendable, but the sudden complete rejection of sweets or salty snacks can be quite painful and eventually end in a “breakdown”.

Therefore, it will be more effective and easier to gradually reduce the dose of unhealthy food consumption - a little bit, but every week. According to nutritionist Margaret H., with this approach, after a while you will need very little sugar to satisfy your sugar cravings.

By the way, for additional motivation, we suggest reading what will happen to your body if you.

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Nutritionists have long drawn our attention to the fact that cravings for junk food are more dependent on the habits of our brain than on the habits of the body. Sometimes the flavorings generously supplied by such attractive hazards are addictive, but not to such an extent that it cannot be eliminated by an effort of will. Let's try to train the will and the brain?

We are in website We decided to collect working tips that will help us figure out what we buy in the store and approach the choice more consciously.

1. Read labels

A working way to buy less junk food is to be aware of what we get with it. And this does not mean that you need to completely abandon, for example, cookies. After all, spending a little more time near the shelf in the store to read the composition, you can find a product that will have less sugar, there will be no harmful preservatives and additives.

Finding less than 5 ingredients on a package of sausage is difficult these days, but possible. Please note: if you see more than 5 items on simple products (dairy, pastries, juices), this is an alarming indicator.

Many additives are used to improve the consistency, thicken, increase the weight of the product, and extend the shelf life.

It is worth knowing that:

• Manufacturers also use natural analogues of chemical preservatives, look for them on packages: citric acid, honey, salt, vinegar.
• Is pectin added to sweets instead of gelatin? Great, it is considered more useful, it is not without reason that this ingredient is used in eco-products.
• The E label on products is worrisome, but keep in mind that not all E's are bad. For example, E260 is just acetic acid, E500 is baking soda.
• For example, riboflavin E101, pectin E300, ascorbic acid E440 are the composition of an ordinary apple.
• The addition of E250, or sodium nitrite, in the composition of the sausage suggests that the product is protected from the formidable botulinum toxin. Only this substance can resist him. Sodium nitrite is found in large quantities in spinach.

3. Take pictures of food

Visualization helps you control your diet, which is why nutritionists advise keeping a food diary. If you are in the mood for weight loss or a healthy diet, then you will no longer be able to eat a cake and quickly forget about it. The diary will not forget, but the photo will remind.

You can “summarize” the amount of food eaten per day in the evening, and this will help you adjust your diet and get rid of extra pounds faster.

4. Replace a harmful product with a useful alternative

Who will voluntarily replace a cheeseburger with a carrot?! At first, the prospect of substituting one meal for another does not inspire enthusiasm. Until you notice that your well-being is improving, and the weight is coming off. Such a replacement will sweeten the bitterness of parting and will allow you not to change eating habits drastically and cardinally. Popular alternatives that get used to quickly are:

• milk chocolate - dark chocolate;
• chips - popcorn without oil;
• french fries - baked potatoes;
• ice cream - frozen yogurt;
• sweets for tea - dried fruits;
• cookies - whole grain bread.

5. Diversify your diet

A well-known fact: the craving for harmful substances is due to a lack of useful elements in the body. This is easy to notice in the summer: during the ripening period of your favorite berries, you are no longer drawn to sweets, right?

• If you are irresistibly drawn to eat something fatty, the body lacks calcium and fat-soluble vitamins - add dairy products, cheeses, broccoli to your diet.
• Craving for flour indicates a lack of nitrogen and fat, eat more legumes, meat and nuts.
• Unbearably craving sweets, especially chocolate? The body lacks magnesium - seeds, nuts, buckwheat make up for its deficiency.
• Are you craving coffee? The body needs phosphorus and sulfur - they contain cranberries and seeds.
• If your passion is ice cream, try adding rabbit, chicken and turkey meat to your diet - you lack calcium and tryptophan.

6. Add More Colored Foods

Research has shown that the red color of food makes it more attractive and tasty from the point of view of our brain. We tend to consider red food more nutritious and tasty, while green food, on the contrary, is not very attractive, “immature”.

Have you noticed that junk food often does not have a special color? Baking, chips, cookies, fast food the brain perceives as one. We eat "beige food" and do not monitor saturation, the body requires more and more.

We figure out what exactly prevents us from coping with the desire to eat something harmful and how to get rid of this craving.

If every Monday you make a promise to yourself to eat right and not even look at chocolate and burgers, but the very next day you are holding a “forbidden fruit” in your hands, then you need to look for the reason not in your willpower, but something else. There are 6 factors that can hinder the transition to proper nutrition. Which? Read on!

Reason 1: You are dehydrated

You are probably familiar with this situation: you are actively involved in the workflow, and your hand involuntarily reaches for a cupcake or cookie. Looking at this yummy, you just can’t say categorically “no” to yourself, even if you promised that you would reduce your sugar intake this week. Now remember how much time has passed since you drank water (not tea or coffee). Sometimes simple dehydration can become overeating.

Lack of water in the body is often taken as a sign of hunger. And when this happens, our body is desperately trying to find a source of energy, including in junk food. Dehydration can also make us want to drink sodas that are high in sugar content.

Reason 2: You feel tired

If you stayed at work longer than planned, if you were dragged into the series until late at night or social networks, then do not be surprised that your willpower is not enough the next morning.

Not getting enough sleep can be the main reason you start eating junk food. Lack of sleep interferes with the hormones that regulate our eating behavior.

says nutritionist Kim Pearson.

You are also less likely to feel hungry when you sleep, which in turn keeps you from being tempted to eat something unhealthy.

Sleep regulates how much leptin, the satiety hormone, the body produces. This hormone lets us know when we are full enough and sends signals to the brain that we are hungry. Sleep deprivation lowers leptin levels, which means that messages to stop eating are not effective.

In addition, recent research from Northwestern University has shown that sleep deprivation gives us an "increased" response to junk food, ie. we find the smell of sweet, salty, and fatty foods more enticing when we're tired.

Reason 3: The effect of alcohol

Anyone who has ever stood in line at 3am for shawarma or burgers after a wild party can tell you that alcohol has a big impact on what you want to eat.

Your sense of perception of the environment gets worse when you're drunk, and you're more likely to opt for fast-acting carbohydrates like a greasy slice of pizza or french fries to help balance your blood sugar and satisfy your hunger. Worse, drinking alcohol increases levels of galanin, a brain chemical that causes cravings or cravings for fatty foods.

says nutritionist Alix Woods.

Reason 4: You are addicted to sugar

Excessive consumption of sugar can lead to a number of health problems. A healthy dose of sugar—no more than 30 grams (6 teaspoons) per day—can help address a range of health problems, including diabetes and heart disease.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we know this, it is quite difficult for us to give up sugar. This often leads to loss of control over sugar consumption, as one candy bar causes blood sugar levels to drop, at which time the brain loses all sense of control and craves to restore its "sugar" balance.

Reason 5: Your hormones are out of whack

You know the situation when you have PMS, you immediately want to eat a bar of chocolate or a bucket of ice cream? There is a scientific explanation for this, which has almost nothing to do with your willpower. During the “hormonal surge” of your menstrual cycle, your need for chocolate may increase because levels of the happiness hormone, serotonin, drop. Accordingly, chocolate in "these days" can balance hormone levels.

Chocolate contains a natural “tranquilizer,” magnesium, which can help ease menstrual cramps and promote blood circulation.