Junk Food, Vegetarian Diet, Weight Loss, Weight Gain
Facts about junk food, weight gain and weigh loss. Information about food addiction and over eaters anonymous.
Question for Savvy Vegetarian:
Ref: Kick the Junk Food Habit, Go Veg, Lose Weight
So if the mice continued to grow fatter and fatter, even after switching back to the plant based low fat diet (aka vegan diet), is there anything we can do to flush out the bad bacteria or something so that when we switch to a low fat plant based (vegan) diet that we won’t continue to get fatter and fatter? - L. D.
Savvy Vegetarian Advice:
Hi L. D. Good question! I don’t know the scientific answer to that - or whether there is one, truthfully. This is just a guess, but I’d imagine that de-toxing through juicing and raw food might help clean up your digestive tract. It helps a lot of other conditions, after all. Just cutting out animal foods and eating a lot more veggies and whole grains will do the same thing slower and easier.
I’ve got 3 points I’d like to make, and more info on weight loss to add:
1. On reading Dr. Mirkin’s article again, I don’t think he was saying that because that happened in mice, it had to be the same for humans. Humans aren’t mice. We’re both mammals, but that’s about it.
2. Human consciousness (though mostly unused) can influence events and bring about change through meditation, will power, attitudes, thoughts, intentions, desires, prayers, or whatever your preference. I don’t know if mice have the same ability.
3. Nothing is forever. All the cells in our bodies are constantly being replaced, right down to the level of our DNA. The human body is capable of amazing feats of rejuvenation when treated well.
Practically speaking, it is hard to lose weight and keep it off once you’re overweight from junk food or other causes. Those fat cells will always be hanging around hoping to be filled. It takes a hard heart to deny your own offspring!
Junk food has also been shown to be addictive. Just as an example, when was the last time you ate the actual serving size of 10 chips and stopped there? So, there’s another dimension to weight loss - food addiction. There’s a 12 Step Program for that, Over Eaters Anonymous, same as for alcohol & drugs, and it doesn’t mean that you can never eat another chip in your whole life. It just means that you are in charge of your food, not the other way around
7 well known facts about weight gain, weight loss and junk food:
- If you eat more calories than you burn, you’ll gain weight, slowly or quickly depending on your constitution, metabolism, age, etc.
- If you consume an amount of calories equal to what you burn, you’ll tend to stay the same weight or gain weight slowly over time (especially after middle age, when body betrayal begins).
- If you consume slightly less calories than you burn you’ll tend to lose weight over time. If you consume a lot less calories than you burn for any length of time, that’s called starvation, and it gives rise to the yo-yo effect.
- Exercising regularly (3x or more per week vigorous, daily moderate exercise), helps you to lose weight, plus get healthier and happier.
- If you eat healthy food including lots of veg & fruit, whole grains and legumes, you’ll tend to reach a healthy weight over time. (think long-term)
- If you eat lots of junk food, you’ll get sick more often (garbage in = garbage out), plus feel yucky and depressed. Which means you’ll need more junk food to make you feel better. And so on until you’re fat.
- The more we have fascinating, absorbing and valuable things to do (e.g. we enjoy our jobs or have rewarding hobbies or do yoga or volunteer), the less time or energy we have for obsessing about food or sitting in front of the TV eating junk food.
All the best, Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian
Medical Disclaimer: Any changes that you make to your diet, and the results of those changes, are your decision and responsibility. Savvy Vegetarian and its employees do not claim to be health care professionals, dietitians, or nutritionists. We do not treat, or recommend treatment, for any illness or health condition.
Tags: calories, Food Blog, healthy food, humans, junk food, mice, vegetarian diet, weight gain, Weight Loss
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My apologies for being flippant about food addiction. I’ve edited the misplaced humor from the post and I’ve add your link to overeaters anonymous. Thanks very much for your support!
Hi Judith,
Yes, there is a 12-step based recovery program for food addiction and compulsive overeating. It is called Overeaters Anonymous, and it has saved thousands upon thousands of lives around the world, including my own. I appreciate that you give credit to food addiction as a true disease, because many people (even those in the medical profession) do not, but please try to refrain from mislabeling our program as “never eating another chip in your whole life.” The recovery program of OA is much more than a food plan, and there are many in recovery who are able to enjoy a wide variety of foods, including chips and other things you or I might think of as being less than healthy. Each person’s recovery is personal to them. Thanks for letting me share.
If you or someone you love has a problem with food, please reach out - OA can help. http://www.oa.org/