

According to the CDC, about 20% of Americans smoke. If you’re among the 80% who don’t smoke, you may be thinking “Yuck. I would never smoke a cigarette” or “I’d never go back to smoking again.” For a non-smoker, the thought of smoking a cigarette could seem unappealing, even repulsive. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of several health issues. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t know that already. So if something makes you feel better, but tastes bad, smells bad, and increases the risk of disease, it’s easy to look down on it. But what if something makes you feel better, tastes good, but increases the risk of disease. Should that make it more acceptable?

What if cigarettes tasted good? What if junk food tasted bad? Would people look down on junk food but accept smoking as “okay in moderation?” For the 80% of people who don’t smoke, is it easier to shun the idea of smoking because of the smell and the taste? Do we see junk food as more acceptable because it just tastes so good?

Cigarettes and health risks

The Center for Disease control reports that smoking cigarettes increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, certain cancers, decreased bone density and reproductive issues. Of course, it can also lead to undesirable physical changes such as discolored fingers, teeth and bad breath and the smell that clings to clothes. Cigarette smoking causes 90% of lung cancer in the United States, according to the CDC. Sounds alarming doesn’t it? Interestingly, only about one out of four heavy smokers develop lung cancer. They may have bad breath, smell like smoke and end up with discolored teeth and fingers, but the most talked about risk of smoking doesn’t happen as often as people might think. Believe me, I’m not suggesting that means it’s safe, and would never think of the habit in the context of a healthy way of life. The main point for comparison later in this article is that 20% of the population are smokers and of the heavy smokers, a quarter develop lung cancer.

Junk food and health risks

If you were to look into the average person’s diet, you’d probably find 80% of the population satisfies their cravings with more sugar than they should. The average person eats more than 150 pounds of the stuff each year. That’s not even taking into account other processed carbohydrates, trans-fats, and vegetables oils. If you look at junk food the way the average person sees cigarettes, you’re in the minority because the majority of people see these foods as "okay in moderation."

But, when you look at the health risks associated with just sugar, they don’t look that different than the risks of smoking: insulin resistance and diabetes, increased risk of heart and fatty liver disease, increased blood pressure, increased risk of nutrient deficiencies, gestational diabetes, PCOS, increased risk of cancer, excessive body fat, inflammation and more. Sugar and other processed carbohydrates can be addictive just like smoking too.

Is moderation okay?

I don’t think you could find an intelligent person to tell you smoking is okay in moderation even though the likelihood of becoming addicted or diseased might be lowered. Why then, do many "nutrition experts" suggest eating refined, sugary, nutrient-poor processed foods are okay in moderation? For that matter, how is moderation defined when it comes to unhealthy habits?

Is it because food packaging convinces people to eat everything in moderation? Is it because people want to believe they can eat high amounts of fructose, gluten, refined carbohydrates, artificial sweeteners and colors, highly processed dairy and other foods? It’s possible food scientists have done such a good job of enhancing the taste of processed foods that we don’t want to give it up. Once people have grown accustomed to the taste and texture of processed foods, they have a hard time giving them up – kind of like an addiction. If they can hold onto the “everything in moderation” idea, it provides permission to keep these foods in the house.

Dropping a bad habit

You might be at a spot in your healthy way of life journey where you’re just beginning to reflect on your nutrition and lifestyle habits. If you’re just starting out, please don’t jump from one end of the nutrition spectrum to the other overnight. For most people, it doesn’t work. Though some people are able to cut out junk food all at once, just as some people can stop smoking cold turkey, most people require a more structured, long-term plan.

You’ll be more likely to achieve success if you focus on making small changes over time. Each time you make a change to the dietary choices for you and your family, you’ll take one step closer to optimizing your health. As your health improves, your body composition often does too. If you’re ready to drop the habit of eating junk food, here keys to success:

See junk food for what it really is. The short-term satisfaction isn’t worth the long-term risks.

Change your patterns. If Friday nights are when your nutrition plan falls apart, make it a date night at your health club, or get together with some health-conscious friends.

Keep it out of the house. Why try to fight your temptations by keeping junk food in the house? No one in your family needs it, so don’t bring it home.

Ignore those who aren’t as health-conscious. Parents often coach their kids about peer-pressure. Just because “everybody’s doing it” doesn’t mean you should. Most people in the US today are overweight and out of shape, so don’t do what everybody else is doing.

Accept that pursuing health instead of managing disease is counter-cultural. If you’re truly committed to pursuing a healthy way of life, you’ll make decisions every day that are different than most people do. Some people feel threatened by that. Don’t let them talk you out of the healthiest decisions you can make.

Junk food isn’t likely to carry a Surgeon General’s warning anytime soon, but how you perceive it will play a big role in whether you eat it or not.

What do you think? Would junk food be less acceptable if it didn't taste so good? Would cigarettes be more acceptable if they tasted better? Does it make you uncomfortable to consider a comparison between the two? Share your thoughts below.

Written by Tom Nikkola - Director of Nutrition & Weight Management

This article is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations in this and other articles is at the choice and risk of the reader.