Socio-Scientific Interaction-Fast & Junk Food Impact and Its Management through Natural Therapeutic Food

Junk foods are foods that lack nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and are high in kilojoule (energy), salts, sugars, and fats. Junk food is so called because it doesn’t play a role in healthy eating, especially if it's eaten to excess. Junk food is also known as discretionary food or optional food. Some examples of junk food include: cakes and biscuits, fast foods (such as hot chips, burgers and pizzas), chocolate and sweets, processed meat, snacks (such as chips), sugary drinks (such as sports, energy and soft drinks), alcoholic drinks. If your diet is high in fats, salt and sugar and is not receiving essential nutrients, your risk of obesity and other chronic (long-term) diseases may well increase. These diseases include: cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a number of cancers. While finding healthy alternatives to junk food can sometimes be difficult, the is a convenient, tool to help you determine how healthy a product is. It provides a quick and easy way to compare similar packaged food. However, it is important to note that this system is very generalized and the nutritional value of some products may not be accurately expressed through the rating they receive. Remember also that the Health Star Rating system is designed only for packaged products sold in shops, so it won’t include some healthy foods — including fresh unpackaged food such as fruit and vegetables. Chose wholefood options such as whole meal and wholegrain carbohydrates like pasta, bread and flour. Choose fresh fruit for dessert instead of junk food to keep away from added salt, sugar and saturated fat. Check your food’s nutritional value using the nutritional information panel on the back of the packet.