The Vegan Lifestyle

Junk foods are bad for our health. They are loaded with chemicals that are harmful to our body. They are mixed with food colors and preservatives too.

Almost all junk foods undergo a certain process. Most junk foods are deep-fried in hydrogenated vegetable oils. Vegetables oils that have undergone hydrogenation are harmful to the body. Hydrogenated vegetable oils are originally mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids that are artificially converted into a saturated fatty acid by the addition of hydrogen molecules to it. This process is called hydrogenation.

When hydrogenated vegetable oils are heated, they are converted into trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids are very harmful to the body, and can cause cancer. That is why it is not safe to re-use frying oils that have been used already.

Junk foods are palatable and delicious. They are mixed with flavorings or food  enhancers to make it taste good. That is why most children and even adults like them very much. The most famous food enhancer is the monosodium glutamate or MSG. This is a free glutamic acid produced from hydrolyzed amino acids from proteins by the use of strong acids as catalysts. This substance is sold in the market with various brand names, the most common of which is Ajinomoto or Vetsin. MSG is very harmful to our body. It causes brain cancer and a host of other diseases. It penetrates the blood-brain barrier and affects the normal functioning of the hypothalamus. This organ of the endocrine system is the controlling center of all neuroendocrine regulation, sleep, wake cycles, emotional control, caloric intake regulation, immune system regulation, and the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Please read my previous article “Dangers Of MSG” to know more about this.

This is the reason why people become obese, and wonder why they become so fat when in fact they often skip their breakfast and other meals in a day. This blood-brain barrier disruption can also cause hypertension, diabetes, strokes, brain tumors, lupus, brain infections, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Other additives in junk foods are food colors, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. All these chemicals are toxins that poison our body. Do you not wonder why junk foods remain fresh and crispy even after months or year in the shelves? Consider what harm they can do to your body.

Sugar can harm our body. We do not see its  immediate effects, and so we do not believe that sugar can harm our body. Most of us drink our coffee every morning with one or two teaspoons of sugar mixed to it without knowing that sugar can harm our body.

Sugar can harm our body. Most of these sugars are found in junk foods. Processed foods are loaded with sugars and other artificial sweeteners. These sugars can harm our body.

Our body needs sugar. This sugar comes from the food we eat, such as fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables. We think they have no sugar, and so we add refined or granulated sugar on our food. This kind of sugar can harm our body. Refined sugar undergoes bleaching and sulfonation process where sulfur is used. This is a very toxic chemical, and we ingest traces of this poison whenever we consume sugar or other sugar products.

The carbohydrates in our daily diet has more than enough sugar to supply our body. It is initially converted to glucose and then to energy for our body use. Adding more  sugar than what our body needs can cause a lot of health problems for us.

Indeed sugar can harm our body. Most of our foods today are loaded with sugars. Ice creams, cakes, pastries, carbonated drinks and other soft drinks, energy drinks, and many more processed foods.

We are literally surrounded by lots of sugars. No wonder we have a lot of ailments, and we are always visiting the clinics and hospitals to see our doctors. We have been blind to the fact that sugar can really harm our body. We blame our diseases to bacteria, virus and other pathogens except sugar because we do not immediately see  its ill effects.

If you are still doubting that sugar can harm our body, please see this list and know what sugar can do for you health. The following are the harmful effects of sugar to our body:

• it causes drowsiness and fatigue
• it causes acidic stomach
• it causes tooth decay, cavities, and other dental problems
• it causes food allergies
• it causes headaches
• It causes anxiety, depression, and adversely affects the thinking abilities
• it beclouds the mind, and impairs the memory and other brain functions
• It changes the  mineral balance in body fluids
• it  speeds up the process of aging
• it causes  several vitamin deficiencies
• it increases fasting glucose, and increases the risk of diabetes
• it causes hypoglycemia or low blood sugar
• it over stresses the pancreas
• it increases the risk of pancreatic cancer and other forms of cancer
• it increases the systolic blood pressure
• it causes hypertension or high blood pressure
• it increases the risk of blood clots and strokes
• it increases the amount of radicals in the bloodstream
• it increases the risk of bacterial infections  such as diarrhea
• it causes bacterial infections in the colon
• it increases the adrenaline in the blood
• it decreases the production of insulin in the body
• it can cause osteoporosis
• it increases the risk of ulcer diseases such as Crohn’s and ulcerate colitis
• it increases the number of triglycerides in the blood
• it reduces the good HDL cholesterol and increases the bad LDL cholesterol
• it increases total cholesterol
• it increases the risk of coronary heart diseases
• it causes obesity
• it speeds up the formation of plaques in the arteries
• it causes cardiovascular diseases
• it causes toxemia or poisoning in the body
• it  causes hormonal imbalances in the body
• it increases the amount of fat in the liver
• it increases the size of the liver
• it badly affects the kidneys
• it weakens the body’s immune system

Indeed sugar can harm our body. If it can destroy our teeth, it can surely easily harm the organs and other parts in our body. It causes hyperacidic system that brings many ailments and diseases.