There's No Such Thing as "Junk Food” (Really)
What foods come to your mind when you hear the words “junk food”? You may be thinking of potato chips, candy, cookies, desserts in general.
Now, what feelings come to mind when you think about eating “junk food”? Do you feel excited? Giddy? Guilty? Embarrassed? Secretive?
What if I told you that “junk food” isn’t a real thing? Yep. It’s pretend. It’s a made-up category of foods. There’s no one agreed-upon definition for “junk” food. And, really, “junk foods” are not bad for you.
In this article, I’ll show you how all foods can fit into your pattern of eating, and that there is no reason to fear or feel guilty about enjoying any food, even if it’s called a “junk food”.
The history of “junk food”
The term “junk food” is defined as “food that is high in calories but low in nutritional content” and “something that is appealing or enjoyable but of little or no real value”. The word “junk” was apparently an old nautical term used to describe a piece of old cable (who knew!). It was first used to describe food in the 1940’s and 1950’s, and became more popularly used in the 1970’s.
While there is no one standard definition for “junk food”, it generally is meant to describe foods that have few nutrients except for calories, fat, and/or sugar. But, depending on who you ask, “junk food” may include food with artificial flavors or colors, preservatives, or food that isn’t organic.
Nowadays, junk food is prevalent in our modern life. From self-help books, to government and public health messages, even in kids books and TV shows. After my daughter was born, we were gifted an old copy of Berenstain Bears “Too Much Junk Food”. It’s truly horrifying. In a nutshell, the Berenstain kids enjoy sweets and snacks, they are ridiculed and harassed for getting “chubby” which everyone attributes to the food they are eating, and they are punished by being forced to eat “healthy” foods. Like the “junk food” in the book, my copy ended up in the trash.
So, what can we do to move past these labels of food as “junk”?
Food = Food
The inherent flaw in labelling foods as “junk” is that all foods have nutritional value - that’s what makes it a food! I like this definition of food: “material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy” and “something that nourishes, sustains, or supplies”.
Even if a food doesn’t provide as much nutrition as another food, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a food. And that definitely doesn’t mean that it’s “junk”. When I think of the word “junk”, I think of something that is worthless, garbage, having no value. Is that really the way we want to talk about food?
The problem with “junk food”
It seems like the real intention behind the term “junk food” is to highlight foods that have fewer nutrients than other foods. When modern food manufacturing and processes were developed, many foods produced ended up with fewer nutrients than they did in the past. With better technology, producers were able to make white bread instead of whole wheat bread, sweets and soda, and salty snacks. And many of these foods do have less fiber, vitamins and minerals than foods that came before them.
The problem really comes when we start to think so negatively about these foods that we think it’s harmful or bad for our body. This just isn’t true. But when we receive messages that a food is “junk”, it creates an emotional response that makes us both crave it and fear it. These foods become sort of a forbidden fruit, making us want to eat more of it, but feeling guilty or embarrassed when we do eat it.
Take a look at some of the headlines you’ll see today when you search for “junk food”. You see articles like “The 20 Least Unhealthy Junk Foods”, “Treat Yourself! The 20 Best Junk Foods for Cheat Day”, and “The 16 Best Junk Foods for Any Life Crisis”. What messages are we receiving here? Here’s my translation:
“The 20 Least Unhealthy Junk Foods” —> here’s a loophole with your diet, foods that look like they are bad but really they’re not that bad!
“Treat Yourself! The 20 Best Junk Foods for Cheat Day” —> be rebellious and reward yourself by eating things that are extra bad for you!
“The 16 Best Junk Foods for Any Life Crisis” —> you’ve had a hard time recently, so soothe your emotions by eating bad foods and feel guilty about it later!
The science is complicated
Nutrition research is notoriously tricky. For one, to design a good scientific research study, you need to be able to control all the variables. And with human subjects, it can be very difficult to control their diet. Even more difficult to control the other variables that contribute to our health (like exercise, stress, sleep, etc).
That’s why when we see nutrition research, we never see definitive conclusions like “Bacon causes heart disease” (it doesn’t). Because it’s nearly impossible to know. We do know a lot, and we certainly know a lot more about nutrition and health than we did 100 years ago. But most nutrition research will result in associations rather than causations.
For example, we know that eating a diet that is higher in saturated fats and trans fats can raise our blood cholesterol. We also know that bacon is higher in saturated fat. But does that mean that eating bacon will cause you to have high cholesterol?
It depends. On a lot of factors. How often do you eat bacon? How much do you eat at a time? What else do you eat? How often do you exercise? How is your stress? How is your sleep? Do you have a family history of high cholesterol?
It’s easy to demonize bacon and call it a “junk food”, say that it’s “bad” for us. But it’s more nuanced than that.
But since our culture has decided that bacon is “bad” for us, much of the marketing around bacon promotes that idea of rebelliousness, or that bacon is a guilty pleasure food. So, when you think about bacon or see an ad about bacon, it automatically creates an emotional response where you crave it. And then, when you do end up eating some bacon, our messages about bacon as a “bad” or “junk” food creates a feeling of guilt and stress, so you may eat more bacon than you really felt like eating, and feel bad about it afterward.
Next time you see headlines about the latest food research, take them with a grain of salt. The media tries to summarize a research paper as best they can, but they usually end up dramatize the results. If you’re able to, find the full published study (or talk to a professional that reads these kinds of things, like a dietitian or doctor).
It’s a showdown! Comparing “junk food” with “healthy food”
Let’s tackle this myth once and for all, and do some side-by-side comparisons of popular “junk foods” and their healthy counterparts. By comparing some of the nutritional information and the ingredients, we can see how much of a difference there is between foods, and start busting that myth that some foods really are “junk”.
Please note that by choosing foods to compare below I am not promoting or advertising for any specific brand. I picked brands and foods that are popular and available nation-wide.
Strawberry Ice Cream vs Strawberry Yogurt
For our first comparison, I wanted to see the difference between a classic “junk food”, ice cream, and what many consider a “healthier” choice, yogurt. I chose the strawberry flavors of both to keep comparisons easy (and because, yum!).
When you take a look at the side-by-side comparison above, you see that both the ice cream and the yogurt have the same number of calories per serving. The ice cream does have more fat, and it also has less added sugar than the yogurt. The yogurt also has more protein, more Calcium, and is fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D. I certainly wouldn’t say that the ice cream is “junk”, it has many different nutrients in it, and really isn’t so crazy different than the ice cream.
White Bread vs Spinach Wrap
For this next comparison, I wanted to look at a food I hear demonized alllll the time… white bread. But is it really “junk” food? Let’s compare the infamous white bread to a ‘healthy’ swap I see people choosing all the time, spinach wraps!
Looking at the ingredients first (I bolded the main ingredients so it’s easier to read), you see that both the white bread and the spinach wrap contain flour, water, fat (soybean oil), salt, and some raising agent (in the bread it’s yeast, and in the wrap they use baking soda), and some preservatives. The wrap has some additional seasonings and colorings, and the bread has some additional enriching agents. So, not so different.
And then, looking at the nutrition information, it looks like the wrap has a little bit more of everything: more calories, more fat, more carbohydrates, more fiber, and more protein. This is largely because the size of the wrap (70g) is larger than the size of two slices of bread (56g). Once you standardize the sizes and look at the nutrition per ounce, the wrap still does have slightly more calories (12% more), fat (4x more), and protein (20% more) than the bread, and the same amount of carbohydrates.
So, yes, the wrap does have more fiber, protein, and fat than the white bread, but I don’t think you could argue that the bread is completely lacking in nutrients. There are plenty of great things about the white bread, including the energy-giving carbs, protein, and vitamins.
Choose the bread or wrap that you desire based on your own tastes and preferences. Don’t feel like you have to choose the wrap because it’s marketed as a “healthier” choice.
Pringles vs Veggie Straws
On to our third and final “junk food” vs “healthy food” showdown. I’m really excited by this comparison because I happen to love both of these snacks. I hear a lot of parents talk about Veggie Straws as a healthier alternate to Pringles, potato chips, and other salty crunchy snacks. So, let’s see. Are they really all that different?
First, a review of the ingredients. Both snacks contain the same basic ingredients: potatoes, oil, starch, salt. The veggie straws also have some vegetable pastes or powders (spinach, tomato, and beet), and a bit of sugar. But, other than that, the same.
Then a look at the nutritional information. The Pringles do seem to have slightly more calories (150 vs 130) and fat (9g vs 7g). But they also have less sodium (150mg vs 220mg) and a teeny tiny bit of fiber. So, do these differences really matter? Does it make a difference if one food has 20 extra calories and 2 extra grams of fat than another food? Not really.
The winner is?
Now that we’ve done a deep-dive comparing three “junk foods” with three “healthy” options, we’re able to see that there really isn’t much of a difference between the two categories of food. Here are my conclusions
The ingredients used to make the “junk” and the “healthy” foods are practically the same
The typical “junk” foods do tend to have a little more calories, fat, and less fiber
The typical “healthy” foods do tend to have a bit more protein and fiber
The “junk” foods also tended to have a bit less sodium and sugar than the “healthy” foods.
So, really, choose the foods that speak to you. The ones that make you feel good, taste the best, and fit into your budget. And when you do eat some of these foods that others label as “junk”, don’t feel guilty or bad.
All Foods Fit
I hope that by reading this post you’ve been able to learn how the idea of “junk food” is really a myth, and categorizing foods into “healthy vs unhealthy” or “junk vs healthy” does more harm than good. By labeling foods in this way, it makes us desire them, crave them more, and then feel guilty or ashamed when we do eat them.
It also sends the wrong message to our kids. When kids hear grown-ups talk about foods as “junk”, it can make them think that they are “junk” or “bad” because they like that food. It can cause them to feel sad or guilty when they eat that food, because they think they are doing something harmful to their body.
Remember this. No one food has the power to harm our health. The only foods that are truly “bad” to eat are foods you are allergic to, or foods that are spoiled or rotten. (This concludes my Public Service Announcement to not eat foods from the garbage!)
All foods can fit into your healthy and balanced lifestyle. Too much of any food isn’t going to make you feel great, and isn’t going to be healthy. If you were to eat Pringles all day, you’d probably feel nauseous, constipated, and gassy. But, if you were to eat broccoli all day, you’d probably feel tired, gassy, and hangry.
It’s all about finding that mix of foods that you love, and that satisfy you. When you listen to your body, you can choose foods to eat that are nourishing, tasty, and satisfying. But when you listen to external forces to decide what to eat (like media about “healthy” and “junk foods”), you’ll be left feeling unsatisfied because you didn’t really get to choose the foods that you like.
The mix of foods for your body may look different than someone else’s, and may change from day to day. Some days are a Pringles-and-lemonade for snack day, and other days are a Carrots-and-hummus snack day. And both days are delicious!