• Question: Why does junk food always taste better than healthy food?:(

    Asked by whjamieandrhys to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Blanka Sengerova

      Blanka Sengerova answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      It usually contains a lot of sugar and fats. We are hard-wired to get positive feelings from them as they contain lots of energy which was very important in caveman daus when food was scarce. Problem now in the Western world is that there is an oversupply of food and we have sedentary lifestyles (too much sitting down) so we don’t use up all the energy in the food.

    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      As Blanka said, we are pretty much programmed to like foods that are high in sugar and fats because eating these foods allows us to store up energy (in the form of fat) that we can then use in times of famine. However, we now don’t really have times when there is little food so we never use up the fat deposits we build.

      There are also some substances put into junk foods that make them even more yummy like MSG (monosodium glutamate).

      I do get cravings for junk food and find it very difficult to resist when I am out but actually, I still think a good healthy meal can taste better (it just doesn’t quite hit the same spot as a portion of fries!)

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