Junk food is too tempting for the taste buds, but it contains too many toxic substances, which can easily accumulate in the body if eaten frequently. How can we reduce the harm of junk food to our bodies? Here are 6 ways to counteract common harmful foods.
Although everyone knows about healthy eating and avoiding junk food, it's sometimes unavoidable to eat less due to limited conditions. But if you do eat these junk foods, you must eat some vegetables and fruits to make up for it.
Harmful Food 1: Fried Dough Sticks
Fried dough sticks are a breakfast choice for many, but most are added with alum. This aluminum-containing inorganic substance can damage brain nerve cells after being absorbed by the human body and is difficult to excrete, gradually accumulating in the body. The long-term harm to the body includes memory loss, depression, and irritability, and in severe cases, it can lead to terrible diseases like "senile dementia".
Antidote: Soy Milk
If you eat fried dough sticks with soy milk, you are unknowingly protecting yourself. Because soy milk is rich in lecithin. Scientists have found that administering a certain dose of lecithin to patients with senile dementia can improve their memory to some extent.
Harmful Food 2: Pickled Fish
Pickled fish is a dish that people love. However, after pickling, the sauerkraut loses all its vitamin C; in addition, sauerkraut contains more oxalic acid and calcium. Due to its high acidity, it is easily absorbed by the intestines and easily forms stones in the urinary system when excreted by the kidneys. Moreover, most pickled foods contain more nitrites, which react with amines in the human body to form nitrosamines, a substance that can easily cause cancer.
Antidote: Kiwi Fruit
Scientific research has found that eating more foods rich in vitamin C can block the synthesis of the strong carcinogen nitrosamine and reduce the incidence of stomach and esophageal cancer. Kiwi fruit is known as the "king of vitamin C," and one kiwi fruit can basically meet the human body's daily vitamin C requirement.
Harmful Food 3: Bacon, Preserved Meat, Sausages, etc.
These things are not only delicious but also have a long shelf life, making them popular. However, these foods contain a lot of salt. When pickled with pork for a long time, they produce nitrosamines, which are converted into dimethylnitrosamine in the human body, a highly carcinogenic substance.
Antidote: Green Tea
Research has found that drinking green tea can decompose the harm of such substances. Drinking a few cups of green tea daily can improve health. If you really can't resist the temptation of cured fish and preserved meat, you can try steaming the meat thoroughly during cooking and adding a little vinegar, which can decompose nitrosamines without losing the delicious flavor.
Harmful Food 4: Hot Pot
For those who are originally prone to "heatiness" or frequently suffer from mouth ulcers, it's like adding fuel to the fire. It not only aggravates the symptoms and increases the chance of recurrence, but long-term recurrence can also induce esophageal cancer. In fact, besides being prone to causing "heatiness," the broth of hot pot contains a high amount of "porphyrin" substances. After digestion and decomposition, it is metabolized into uric acid in the liver, which may also cause gout.
Antidote: Grapefruit
If you eat a grapefruit after a greasy and spicy hot pot, it can help nourish yin, reduce "heatiness," strengthen the spleen, and aid digestion.
Harmful Food 5: Grilled Lamb Skewers
Although the street-side grilled lamb skewers are fragrant and very tempting, let's not even discuss the safety of the meat quality. The benzopyrene contained in the meat after being grilled over an open flame is enough to pose a threat of stomach cancer after entering the human body.
Antidote: Baked Sweet Potato
If you eat grilled meat products in a shop with certain hygiene inspection standards and then eat a baked sweet potato, the large amount of cellulose in the sweet potato can wrap the harmful substances in the grilled meat and excrete them from the body, and it can also prevent the large amount of fat in the grilled meat from being absorbed by the body.
Harmful Food 6: Instant Noodles
When it comes to instant noodles, they are truly living up to their name—you can have a fragrant bowl of noodles ready in three minutes. However, the convenience of instant noodles does not solve the problem of their own nutritional deficiency. Instant noodles belong to the category of high-salt, high-fat, low-vitamin, and low-mineral foods. On one hand, the high salt content increases the load on the kidneys and raises blood pressure; on the other hand, they contain certain artificial fats (trans fatty acids), which have a considerable negative impact on the cardiovascular system. In addition, they contain preservatives and artificial flavors, which may have potential adverse effects on the liver. For all you homebodies out there, if you eat too many instant noodles, remember to eat some detoxifying fruits to expel toxins.
Antidote: Tomatoes and Apples
The vitamin C in tomatoes can prevent the nitrites in sausage from reacting with amines to form carcinogenic nitrosamines. The pectin in apples can reduce the absorption rate of fat and help the body expel toxins. The lycopene in tomatoes and the polyphenols in apples have antioxidant effects, scavenge free radicals, and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. So, if you have no choice but to eat junk food, you might as well have a tomato and apple to neutralize it.