2023-12-04 by Khushi Goel
Why do we like junk food so much?
‘Junk food’ (or ‘fast food’ as we often call it) is widely popular among kids. Nowadays even adults enjoy it so much that you can find ‘Pizza day’ listed on a couple’s meal plan.
Nutritional tests conducted on fast food samples revealed that these edible items contain high amounts of salt, sugar and fats - a combination that gives the delicious taste we all cherish so much. The same delicious combination has minimal nutritional value with high calories. But that doesn’t stop us from stepping into a Mc Donald’s or Dominos. So why do we love junk food so much? Let’s try and understand it from a science lens.
Our tongue is super needy, it craves all sorts of tastes: salty, sweet, sour, juicy, buttery. Junk food is the perfect combination of all these tastes produced carefully by food manufacturers with the help of food additives.
Whenever we eat junk food, our brain receives a signal to activate the reward system. The reward system is evolutionarily hardwired to want to engage us in behaviors that we find pleasurable – like eating high calorie, high salt and high sugar foods. Eating junk food gives us pleasure and enters us into the dopamine-release loop. Increased levels of dopamine (the happy hormone) in our brain make us feel good and we seek more of that feeling.
Other factors advocating for the popularity of junk food amongst youngsters are: convenience and affordability. Junk food is affordable and readily available on streets, in cafeterias, everywhere. Eating fast food makes our stomach feel full instantly and gives a happy feeling.
If you’d like to read more on “Why do we crave junk food?” read the blog here: https://www.indiaaskswhy.org/question/003/
References:
- https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/all-news/2016/sep/five-ways-junk-food-changes-your-brain
- https://teenbook.in/why-do-we-like-junk-food-so-much/
- https://www.secondnature.io/guides/nutrition/cant-stop-eating-junk-food
- https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/junk-food-and-your-health#:~:text='Junk%20foods'%20are%20foods%20that,'%20or%20'optional%20food'.