What is on your mind when you eat junk food?
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All of us know that junk food is bad food.
We know that poor nutrition is related to a host of heart problems, high blood pressure and other health diseases.
You might also be aware that studies show that eating junk food has been linked to an increase in depression.
But if it's so bad for us, why do we keep doing it?
And the science finally it will surprise you.
Steven Witherley is a food scientist who has studied over the past 20 years that makes some foods more addictive (and tasty) than others.
Most of the science is from his best report, When Human Like Junk Food.
According to Witherly, when you eat delicious food, there are two factors that make the experience enjoyable.
This includes what it likes (salty, sweet, ummi, etc.), what it likes, and how it sounds in your mouth.
This last property - known as "orosensation" - may be particularly important.
Food companies will spend millions of dollars to find the most satisfactory level of crunch in a potato chip.
Their scientists will test for the correct amount of fizzle in a soda.
All these factors combine to create the sensation that connects your brain with a particular food or drink.
The second factor is the actual macronutrient makeup of the food - it contains a mixture of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.
In the case of junk food, food manufacturers are looking for a perfect combination of salt, sugar and fat that stimulates your brain and makes you come back for more.
There are many factors that are used by scientists and food manufacturers to make food more addictive.
Dynamic contrast refers to a combination of different sensations in a single meal.
In Witherly's words, foods with dynamic contrast "have a food shell, which is soft or creamy and full of flavor-activating compounds.
This rule applies to a variety of our favorite food formations - a creme brulee.
The caramelized top, a slice of pizza, or an Oreo cookie - the brain finds crunching through something novel and thrilling like this. "
Salt is part of the food eating experience and the more a meal makes you salty, the more it will float throughout your mouth and cover your taste buds.
For example, emulsified foods such as butter, chocolate, salad dressings, ice cream, and mayonnaise promote salivary response which helps to make your taste buds good.
This is one of the reasons why many people enjoy foods that have sauces or glazes on them.
The result is that foods that promote saliva perform a small tap dance on your brain and taste better than those that do not.
Foods that disappear rapidly or "melt away" in your mouth signal your brain that you are not eating as much as you really are.
In other words, these foods literally tell your brain that you are not eating too many calories, even if you are not full.
In his best-selling book, Salt Sugar Fat (audiobook), describes a conversation with author Michael Moss Witherly, which perfectly explains the disappearing calorie density ...
I brought him to taste two shopping bags filled with two kinds of chips.
"This", Vidur said, "is one of the most manufactured foods on the planet, in terms of pure bliss." He tickles a dozen features of Chetos that call the brain more.
But what he focused on most was the unstoppable ability to melt in the mouth.
When it comes to food, if you experience the same taste again and again, you start feeling less happy with it.
In other words, the sensibility of that trait sensor will decrease over time.
Junk foods, however, are designed to avoid this sensory special response.
They provide enough flavor to be interesting (your brain doesn't get tired of eating them), but it's not so stimulating that your sensory response is lethargic.Junk foods are designed to convince your brain that it is receiving nutrition, but not to replenish you.
The receptors in your mouth and stomach tell your brain about the mixture of protein, fat, carbohydrate in a particular food and how to replenish that food for your body.
Junk food only provides enough calories that your brain says "yes, it will give you some energy" but not so many calories that you think "that's enough, I'm full."
The result is that you yearn to start a meal, but it takes some time to feel full.
This is where the psychology of junk food really works against you.
When you eat something delicious (say, a bag of potato chips), your brain registers that feeling.
The next time you see that food, smell that food, or even read about that food, your brain starts triggering those memories and reactions that you ate.
These memories can actually cause physical reactions like making saliva and causing the "mouth-watering" cravings that you get when thinking about your favorite foods.
This brings us to the most important question of all.
Food companies are spending millions of dollars to design foods with addictive sensitivities.
Is there any way to counter the money, science and advertising behind the junk food industry?
How to eat junk food Habit and eat healthy
The good news is that research shows that the less junk food you eat, the less you crave it.
As I have slowly started eating healthier, I have noticed myself wanting less and less pizza and candy and ice cream.
Some people call this transition period "gene reprogramming".
Whatever you want to call it, the lesson is the same: If you can gradually find ways to eat healthier, you will experience less and less junk food.
I have never claimed to have all the answers (or really), but here are three strategies that may help.
1. Use the "outer ring" strategy and "5 ingredient rules" to buy healthy food.
The best course of action is to avoid buying processed and canned foods.
If you do not eat it yourself, you cannot eat it.
Also, if you don't think about it, you can't covet for it.
We have talked about the power of junk food to pull you in and memories of delicious food in the past may cause you to crave more about it in
Obviously, you can never stop yourself from thinking about junk food, but there are ways to reduce your craving.
First, you can use my "outer ring" strategics to aside processed and packaged foods at the grocery store.
If you limit yourself to buying foods that are on the outer ring of the store, you will usually buy whole foods (fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, etc.).
Not everytime on the outer ring is healthy, but you will aside a lot of unhealthy foods.
You can also follow the "5 ingredient rules" when purchasing foods at the store.
If something contains more than 5 ingredients, do not buy it.
Odds are, it is designed to fool you into overeating.
Avoid those products and stick to more natural alternatives.
As we covered earlier, the brain craves innovation.
Although you may not be able to replicate the crunchy / creamy contrast of an Oreo, you can vary your diet enough to keep things interesting.
For example, you can dip the carrots (crunchy) into something moist (creamy) and get a novel sensation.
Similarly, finding ways to add new spices and flavors to your dishes can make eating healthy food a more desirable experience.
Combine your foods to get different sensations and you may find it easier than eating the same foods over and over again.
(At some point, however, you may fall in love with boredom.)
3. Find a better way to deal with your stress.
There is a reason many people eat as a way of coping with stress.
Stress causes certain areas of the brain to release chemicals (specifically, opiates and neuropeptide Y).
These chemicals can trigger network that are similar to the cravings you get from fat and sugar.
In other words, when you are stressed, your brain becomes addicted to fat and sugar and you get junk food back.
My only goal with this article is to explain just how complicated eating habits can be.
It is best to tell people that they "need more willpower" or "just stop eating rubbish".