A Focus on Not Eating Junk Food May Be Ruining Our Diet, Study Shows

An expansive study suggests it is better to focus on what you should eat, rather than what you should not

Rather than focus on the bad food we may regret eating, it's better to focus on the good food we should try to eat more of. StockSnap

Endless studies and experts tell us that eating a healthy diet is essential for overall health and disease prevention. They warn that consuming too much junk food is a big reason why we often fail to meet this goal.

Yet, a new study published in Lancet points out that “at the population level, a low intake of healthy foods is the most important factor, rather than the high intake of unhealthy [junk] foods.”

In other words, for 20 percent of people around the world who die every year, it’s not that they ate too much junk food. It’s that they didn’t eat enough fruit, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, and they consumed too much sodium.

This was no small study. In fact, the Global Burden of Disease study spanned 27 years and gathered data from 195 countries from adults aged 25 years and older. It examined the relationship between dietary habits (specifically, a suboptimal diet) and preventable non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers.

What the Study Said About a Healthy Diet

The study shifts the focus of dietary recommendations from telling people to stop eating junk food and avoid unhealthy foods, to point out a few foods we should be including more of in our diets.

For example, a lack of whole grains was the No. 1 diet-related risk factor for deaths and morbidity in the United States and several other countries, including India, Germany, Turkey, and Russia. The problem is that many of the foods being sold as whole grains have actually been processed and stripped of their natural nutrients.

Low intake of nuts and seeds was the top risk factor in Mexico. This was followed by low consumption of vegetables, whole grains, and fruit. Mexico also ranked very high in the consumption of sugary drinks. Two factors are believed to be behind this habit: a lack of clean drinking water and a cultural preference for homemade sugary beverages.

How to Stop Eating Junk Food

A man eats junk food on May 23, 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Ironically, the way to help people stop eating junk food or to stop eating sugar or too much salt may be to stop emphasizing all of the “don’ts.” Telling consumers to avoid unhealthy food isn’t productive.

Instead, we would likely get better results if we focused on positive food choices. Once we include more of the foods in our diet that were noted in the study, they should automatically take the place of junk food and other unhealthy choices without specifically avoiding them.

Tips on Junk Food vs. Healthy Food

Choose fruits. Whole (organic when available) fresh fruits are preferred over fruit juices because of their high fiber content. The juicing process also causes most of the water-soluble vitamins to be lost.

If fresh fruit isn’t available, dried fruit is an alternative. In fact, one piece of dried fruit contains nearly the same amount of nutrients as the fresh version. By weight, however, dried fruit contains approximately 3.5 times the fiber, minerals, and vitamins of fresh fruit.

Choose nuts and seeds. Both of these highly portable, snack-worthy foods are nutrient-dense and rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber and protein. When combined with some dried fruit, this natural food combination is a great alternative to junk food.

Choose whole grains. One of the biggest challenges consumers face is choosing real whole grains. According to Andrew Reynolds, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Otago in New Zealand—who wasn’t involved with the dietary study—we need to be aware that “whole grains are being included in ultra-processed products that may be finely milled down and have added sodium, added free sugars, and added saturated fats.”

The "Whole Grain" stamp can be found on foods that contain relatively less processed whole grains. The Impulsive Buy Review/Flickr

These products shouldn’t be confused with those that contain “intact, minimally processed whole grains.” If you want to know whether a product contains real whole grains, look for the “Whole Grain” stamp. This stamp is provided by the Whole Grains Council and available in 61 countries. The stamp certifies the degree of whole grains in a product.

The Bottom Line

It’s time to take a different perspective on junk food and healthy diets. Focus on including more fruits, nuts and seeds, and whole grains and less on worrying about how to stop eating junk food.

Deborah Mitchell is a freelance health writer who has authored, co-authored, and written more than 50 books and thousands of articles on a wide range of topics. This article was originally published on NaturallySavvy.com