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Another Reason to Trash Junk Food

January 18, 2007 at 12:23 pm | In Food & Drink, Sciences | Send to a friend

Junk food is bad for you. Junk food causes heart problems. Junk food’s full of trans fats. So what’s news? Lovers of juicy burgers, crunchy fries, thin-crust pizza and all other sorts of fatty, highly-processed food don’t need any further reminders.

As if these constant warnings weren’t enough to make us cut down on America’s favorite dishes (or at least feel pangs of guilt), a new report, detailed in an article in the Jerusalem Post, makes me wonder, why all tasty foods must be harmful to our health, in one way or another!

Here’s the scoop. Dr. Aviv Goldbart of Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, together with researchers from the University of Louisville in the US, found that junk food has as much negative effect on memory as sleep apnea.

Lab rats helped the researchers reach that conclusion. The experiment was simple and the results striking. Half of the participating rats were fed a normal diet, and the other half was given junk food. The rats had to recognize colorful signs over a clear plastic platform that would serve as “dry land” in a water-filled aquarium. The ones that were fed a high-fat, highly-refined diet took twice as long to find the platform than those fed a conventional rodent diet. They took a long time to learn where the platform signs were, and the learning process was very slow.

In the article, Dr. Aviv explains: “We learned that the high fat diet alone causes learning disorders. Rats that were fed funk food and were intermittently deprived of oxygen showed the worst results. In rats that were fed a high fat diet, the amount of certain brain protein connected to memory declines. This supports the theory that eating fatty, processed food hurts memory.”

So, junk food affects learning processes as well as physical health. No wonder junk food companies are so desperately marketing healthier versions of our favorite dishes.

27 Comments »

Junk food is maybe bad for you, but what can we do? eat garlic all day? drink olive oil?

Comment by Gay G — January 18, 2007
In the name of health they took all the fun that left in this world.

Thank God for Tasti D·Lite

Comment by Jul — January 18, 2007
I have linked to your blog. I think it is great. I also love Israel and support all Jews around the world. G-d bless you.

Comment by Layla — January 18, 2007
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Comment by law auto texas insurance — March 26, 2007
Interesting info. I referred to your blog in my blog. Hope that’s okay.

Comment by julie — July 20, 2007
That lab-rat conclusion was very poorly determined. I am sorry, but rats’ diet is very different than ours. What junk food causes us to do really has nothing to do with what junk food causes rats to do. So i am really unconvinced. However, i think we all know that junk is bad for you, so whatever.

Comment by leah — July 24, 2007
i love food

Comment by amanda — October 4, 2007
i love food too… its so sad that the stuff that tastes good is bad for u… =(

Comment by ashley — October 13, 2007
can i use the pic for my school coursework thing
i need you to say yes or it is copyright and it is hard to find no copyright pics
plz e-mail me and tell me

Comment by jordan — October 14, 2007
Look if you’re so stupid that you eat tonnes of junk food without realising it’s bad for you then you have a mental problem but still people know it’s bad for them when they eat it so stop being such a damn spoil sport and let people eat what they want obesety is only caused because people either eat a balanced diet and “forget” to excerize or they don’t balance their diet full stop..if you’re fat it’s your generally your own fault and if you yourself are against fast food then don’t eat it.

Comment by amy — October 28, 2007
i dont know why the scientists wasted their time, for once the way the animals reacted was exactly the same to the way humans react, eating junk food slows your motabolism down thus its takes long to do simple things such as learning but all the salt sugar fat and chemicals make you want more thus obesity is started any idot knows that you can watch bloody childrens programs and they tell you what a waste of animal testing which in my opinion is wrong people are not like animals take the penicillin inciodent for example; a small dose of it can kill thousands of gunipigs yet saves the lives of thousands of people everyday its redicolous! (cant spell deal with it=))

Comment by laura — November 5, 2007
I for one enjoyed your article. I realize that rats are different from humans and that we already knew junk food to be detrimental to health in general, but I find it interesting that such un-nutritional diets are being found to have more implications than pure obesity and heart disease. I had no idea that high-fat (bad fat) food was linked to reduced memory and learning, and I feel this is news that most people are unaware of. I do question the statement that seemed to imply that the “junk-food rats” [I assume] were also deprived of oxygen; oxygen deprivation would seem to have a very definitive effect on the brain that I think should have been controlled and separated from the effect of diet alone. The outcome of this study might not necessarily reduce the “obesity epidemic” as it is still essentially personal choice, but I for one was made to stop and think.

(and I am a medical student who was previously contemplating a late-night drive-through visit for a midnight snack as I cram for exams; I have now reconsidered!)

Comment by Kjoy — November 14, 2007
it all the junk food in the world coz lifes 2 short

Comment by Doris — November 21, 2007
i have pic food

Comment by asma — December 25, 2007
So what else is new?
Of course trans fats are bad for you.
We all know that we should be eating more natural and unprocessed foods. As a matter of fact, before Israel became so Westernized the people here ate a fairly healthy, Mediteranean diet. Today, obesity here is getting much more widespread thanks to McDonalds and all the other junk food places.
Yuck.

Comment by Dena — January 18, 2008
What junk food causes us to do really has nothing to do with what junk food causes rats to do. So i am really unconvinced. However, i think we all know that junk is bad for you, so whatever.

Comment by Online marketing advertising — February 9, 2008
I think should have been controlled and separated from the effect of diet alone. The outcome of this study might not necessarily reduce the “obesity epidemic” as it is still essentially personal choice, but I for one was made to stop and think.

Comment by pH Balanced Diet — February 9, 2008
hi my name is hazzel dunn and i was wondering if i could use your picture of the womoan eating the burger for a GCSE project i am currently working on at the moment.
Please email me back

Comment by hazzel — February 11, 2008
you all are lame

Comment by segzi — March 3, 2008
The truth can set you free but is often be very, very painful at first.
Expectations and entitlement. It’s not about what you “should” or “shouldn’t” eat. It’s about your quality of life and who’s really in control of that? Look at it like a savings account - When you invest in it 1 time/year then after 20 years you’ll have accumulated something. If you invest in it monthly or even weekly with consistency over the same period of time, you’ll have something maybe unimaginable! Look at your choices for food/exercise as investments into your health account. What’s yours look like? If not where you want it to be, than simply make some more regular deposits.
Stop “Shoulding” all over yourself - it makes for a mess - for you and others.

Comment by Wade — March 6, 2008
your picture has made me go to the pub and get a burger!!!

Comment by siwmae — March 10, 2008
wow. food is extremely good. it tastes good and is good for you. just do what you want with yerr life and forget what other people sayy. jeezus.

Comment by sarahh hoe. — March 11, 2008
Watch Supersize Me. Junk food is disgusting. Our bodies aren’t made to digest it. It is just plain common sense.

Comment by yael — March 14, 2008
mm..im still unconvinved. I mean who eats purely junk food?

Comment by yuppo Mumma — March 14, 2008
yummm liek teh fat men and women all up ovur my bodeh! i just loves greesy foodzors and apples shoved inside meh va-jay-jay! call me bois! (928) 386-0918

Comment by Sarah Grimes whom sleeps with many people and has STDs — March 20, 2008
The Cookie Diet plan is easy. I was on the Cookie Diet for 40 days and lost 30 lbs.

Comment by Cookie Dieter — March 22, 2008