Yes, there is such a thing as a junk food addiction

We’ve all experienced the regret of finishing an entire bag of chips, only to realize the serving size was meant for five or six people. A bag that you finished in a solid five minutes that made you feel immediately guilty.

As satisfying as that bag of chips can be during a stressful homework session, it’s not always worth the feeling of regret and guilt afterwards. Although it might be hard to cut out junk food completely, it’s easy to cut down. The easiest way to start cutting down on junk food is by eating other, healthier, but equally tasty foods as substitutes.

Sophomore Isaac Selby suggests eating fruit as a dessert. Dried fruits are also a common after-dinner or during-homework snack. “There’s lots of [food] that tastes good that’s not bad for you,” Selby said.

Junior Grace Recka shares another tip on eating fruit as a substitute over other, more sugary foods. “Instead of ice cream I like to eat yogurt or açai bowls with a bunch of granola, coconut and dark chocolate,” Recka said.

Dried fruits and nuts both make an easy snack that can satisfy the craving for less healthy sweet or salty foods. Homemade fruit smoothies or yogurt can also be an easy trade out over ice cream. Although at first it might seem hard to stop eating junk food, it gets easier over time. Junior Idalia Kaplan says that the less junk food you eat, the less you’ll crave it. “When you get in a rhythm of eating healthy, you start to crave junk food less,” Kaplan said.

To continue on track with healthy eating, it’s also important to find ways to distract yourself when the cravings are at their worst. Everyone gets stressed out sometimes, which commonly leads to stress eating.

Junior Lily Orth-Smith can attest to wanting to eat more when she has a lot of work. “If I don’t have an outlet for my stress, I eat junk food more” Orth-Smith said.

Ways to distract yourself could include exercise, art, reading, taking a bath or anything that gives you a break from what’s at hand. “If I’m sad I give myself an excuse to splurge,” Recka said.

It’s important to keep in mind that that even the best of us can slip up or occasionally cave in. In the long run, even with the occasional slip up, subtle changes that may not seem like a big deal can make all the difference. Continuing to eat processed foods with little to no nutritional value can lead you on a downward spiral of addiction.

There’s no better place to start on the path to healthy eating then by the process of gradual elimination.

By: Leah Bell