When Food Becomes Poison

By Tasleema AbdulMumeen.

Have you ever thought that eating food could be poisonous? It may sound strange to hear that eating can be poisonous but there is a sense in it. If what kills your body kills you then it becomes a poison. Jenkins said every living cell in your body is made from the food you eat. Therefore, it is safe to say that you are what you eat. You see my friends? Then don’t be junk. If you consistently eat junk food then you’ll have a junk body. Nobody likes that. 

What is This Junk Food?

Ironically, to most people, junk food is fast and cheap food, the answer to all of our immediate problems. It tastes so good that people take it every day not minding the consequences. Food like soft drinks, fries, burgers, wafers, etc. are examples of very fast food found in the market. 

Why It Can Become Poisonous 

People do not know that such food can be very poor in terms of nutrition, they are generally high in sugar, salt, saturated fats, and calories. They have a very low amount of balanced diet and they lack so much fiber. Junk food is one of the reasons for the increase in the rate of obesity nowadays. This food only looks and tastes so yummy and delicious but has no benefit to the human body. This can result in long-term illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure which can lead to several health problems like kidney failure. Junk food contains a higher level of carbohydrates which will instantly spike the blood sugar levels. This will result in lethargy, inactiveness, and sleepiness. To make things worse, junk food also clogs your arteries and increases the risk of a heart attack. Are you wondering? Yes! It can be that poisonous. 

For instance, according to National Center for Health Statistics on Health, United States reported that over the past 50 years, the health of Americans has gotten worse, and now 71% of Americans are overweight or obese—not 66%, that means a staggering 100 million people in America are obese. Today, eating processed foods and fast foods may kill more people prematurely than cigarette smoking. This can be applicable to Nigeria as obesity is very common among children aged 2-4 years and causes other chronic diseases.

In the stomach, there are many microbes that help the body cells to fight against obesity, diabetes, cancers, and others. Junk food contains very high calories with little protein or vitamins. 

How We Can Remain Healthy

The main problem with junk food is that people don’t realize the effects now, but later. You can avoid junk food by encouraging your kids, family, and friends from an early age to eat fresh and green vegetables. 

To shine more light on this interesting topic, a study was conducted in Noble Guide Academy among students and the findings showed that junk food is most loved and consumed by over 80% of the sampled scholars. You know that junk food can hurt your health, but you might have not known about the effects of junk food on how your brain functions.

Junk food is very harmful and is slowly eating away the health of the present generation. The term itself denotes how dangerous it is to our bodies. The danger of junk food spreads more than the coronavirus because the absence of nutrients in the body makes you vulnerable to viruses.

Finally, many people believe that junk food is cheap, but ironically, they pay the big price many years after consuming it. That is why Kriata said, keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and the junk food as far as possible.