Health
How to end the junk food battle once and for all
Have ultra-processed foods been slowly creeping into your life for years? You’re not alone. Here’s how to break free from the junk food habit for good.
By Sabrina Rogers-Anderson
Why is a greasy takeaway burger so enticing and how come you keep going back to the pantry for just one more row of chocolate? Spoiler alert: it’s not you, it’s them.
By them, I mean the food companies that are busy engineering foods your brain can’t resist.
“Humans evolved to seek out calories because we lived in environments where they were limited,” says Professor Michael Cowley, Head of the Department of Physiology at Monash University.
“We’ve developed very powerful incentives [in our brains] that tell us we need to find calories wherever we can. And rich sources of calories like protein, fat and sugar are prioritised over less available forms of calories like starches.
“So, food companies trick us by producing foods that mimic rich calorie sources like meat. They use a lot of salt and fat in cheap carbohydrates. They're completely empty calories, but they taste wonderful and we can’t get enough of them.”
Junk food might seem irresistible, but can you be addicted to it? While experts remain divided on this controversial question, Professor Cowley doesn’t believe it qualifies as an addiction.
“If we expose a drug addict to images of their drug of choice, we can see certain neural pathways being activated,” he explains. “When we take a person with uncontrollable eating habits and show them images of food, we don't get that response. There is a small response, but it's been described as technically irrelevant.”
Whether it’s classified as an addiction or not, there’s no question that junk food can be excessively difficult to resist – but not impossible. Here’s how.
4 expert tips to curb your junk food habit
“People need to understand that it's natural to like these foods,” says Professor Cowley. “Our bodies have evolved to want them, they’re engineered for us to want them and they’re marketed to us everywhere. We need to try to reduce our consumption of junk food, but no one is going straight to hell for having a doughnut.”
1. Swap for a satisfying but healthier snack
When you’re craving potato chips, carrot sticks probably aren’t going to cut it. Professor Cowley says your hankerings can be satisfied by replacing your junk food of choice with something healthier but almost as rewarding.
“Try replacing chips with something like salted peanuts, which provide most of the same stimuli and rewards but will make you feel much fuller for much longer,” he says.
“There are also soy snacks that are higher in protein yet still satisfying because they’re salty. A growing number of companies are making high-protein snacks that are healthier than junk foods made from cheap carbohydrates, so these can be a good choice when you have a craving.
Professor Cowley concedes that some addiction medicine doctors say this is “a terrible idea because you're not dealing with the underlying cause, but I think it’s a good alternative for those times where you’re really craving those types of foods.”
2. Keep junk food out of the house
“Eating before you go food shopping is a really helpful strategy,” says Professor Cowley.
“I can guarantee you I buy more snack foods when I'm hungry and those stands on the end of the aisles with discounted chips and chocolate make it so easy.”
3. See a professional
Many people successfully kick their junk food habit by seeing a nutritionist to carve out a healthy eating plan that suits their lifestyle and goals or a psychologist to address the underlying issues that drive their junk food habit.
There are even 12-step programs such as Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous that help people change their relationship with food.
“Anything that helps people understand their drives and helps them make more informed and better decisions is a good thing,” says Professor Cowley.
“Just like there's no perfect diet for everyone in the world, there's probably no perfect strategy for helping you control what you eat, so try different things to find what works for you.”
4. Join an evidence-based program
The CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has developed a free Junk Food Analyser tool that helps you gain a clear picture of how much junk food you’re eating. You can then sign up for CSIRO’s Total Wellbeing Diet program to track what you eat, receive healthy meal plans, create a shopping list and more.
Zing Wellbeing is a holistic health program that includes over 750 delicious recipes catering to various dietary needs, on-demand fitness videos, mental wellbeing programs and expert group coaching.
But do beware of crash diets or online programs that promise lighting-fast weight-loss results.
The program you choose should be evidence-based and have an educational component that teaches you why and how its way of eating is better for your health.
Breaking the cycle of junk food cravings
As a busy working mum of 3 boys, Summer started getting takeaway fast food to ease the pressure on her family’s hectic schedule. But before she knew it, they were swinging into drive-throughs almost daily.
“I’d generally forget breakfast in the morning, so we’d stop off at McDonald’s,” she says. “Then at night, it was McDonald’s or KFC and sometimes Subway.”
Junk food also made its way into the family’s pantry. “There was always an excuse like we’re having a movie night or we’re celebrating something,” says Summer. “It was getting out of control.”
Not only was Summer putting on weight, but her energy levels were plummeting. “I was sooo lethargic, so I went to see the doctor thinking my iron levels were low, like they’d been in the past,” she explains.
“But my blood tests were fine and my doctor basically said, ‘You need to change how you eat.’
“I’d tried so many diet plans in the past, but I always ended up quitting after a few weeks and putting on more weight and then I’d do it all over again. I kept getting heavier and heavier. It was so discouraging.”
By chance, Summer saw an ad for Zing Wellbeing online the day after she saw her doctor. “It was exactly what I needed because it wasn’t about weight loss,” she explains. “It was about how to fuel your body properly, so I signed up.”
That was 8 months ago and Summer’s life has changed for the better on so many levels since then. “I’ve lost about 12 kilos, I have so much more energy, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and people keep commenting on how great my skin looks,” she says.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that if I get enough protein in my day, I feel so much better and fuller. And I always carry around my water bottle because it stops me from snacking all the time.
Her husband and children were supportive as well, which Summer found made it so much easier. “We do two hours of meal prep for the week on Sundays and my boys are even asking for the healthier stuff now,” she says.
“I’m also doing the workouts and the Zing coaching sessions are so helpful. I feel like I’ve had a huge mindset shift and there’s no going back now.”
Feature image: iStock/coldsnowstorm
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