8 Ways to Train Your Brain to Hate Junk Food

If unhealthy, processed food, is sabotaging your weight loss efforts, outsmart junk food cravings with these clever tricks.

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There are ways to train your brain to hate junk food
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Why do we crave unhealthy food?

As explained in the New York Times Magazine piece, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” there’s no denying that junk food cravings are powerful, physiological reactions—and, apparently, carefully and strategically developed by food manufacturers. Many of our favourite supermarket snacks are made with the “perfect” amounts of added sugar, salt, fat, and other chemicals designed to make us want more. But you can steer clear of processed food by eating as many healthy, whole foods as possible, and the less junk food you eat, the less you want. Try the following health tips and see if they work for you.

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Pay attention to ingredients to train your brain to hate junk food
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Practice the five-ingredient rule

If there are more than five ingredients on a food label—a red flag for food processing—don’t buy it. (Or if you do, consider it a treat instead of an everyday purchase). This is an easy way to avoid impulse buys like flavour-blasted chips or pre-made cookies when food shopping.

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Aim for three colour on your plate to train your brain to hate junk food
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Aim for three colours

A 2012 Cornell study found that people prefer three food items and three different colours on their plates, compared with more or less of either category. So instead of reaching for a candy bar, snack on nuts (loaded with healthy fats), fruit slices, and a small square of dark chocolate to get a healthy variety of colours, textures, and nutrients.

Here are six reasons why apples are the perfect snack food.

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Change your unhealthy habit to train your brain to hate junk food
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Break your routine

It only takes a few weeks to form a habit. So if you always associate 3 p.m. with a trip to the vending machine, start a tradition to walk around the block for five minutes or call a friend instead. This may kick your craving altogether.

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Choose healthy food treats to train your brain to hate junk food
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Make healthy food your treat

One of the best, easiest desserts? Stash red grapes in the freezer, and cap off dinner with something sweet without kick-starting sugar cravings.

Here are 10 bad health habits you can break.

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Keep healthy foods handy to train your brain to hate junk food
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Keep the healthy stuff handy

Store healthy foods you want to eat more front and centre in your fridge and out on your countertops. Snack foods are so easy to dig into—you just rip open a bag. If you had, say, red peppers all sliced and ready to go, they’re all the more tempting to dip into hummus.

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Know your trigger foods to train your brain to hate junk food
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Know your trigger foods

Whether you’ve got a sweet tooth for chocolate and red velvet anything or love salty treats like pretzels, know the foods that send you down the spiral of junk food binging. You’ve already accomplished half of the battle by identifying them. Keep them out of the house.

But what happens when you eat out? Learn more in How to Survive Eating Out.

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Learn more about what you're really eating to train your brain to hate junk food
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Gross yourself out

One surefire way to consume less processed food is to learn more about what you’re really eating. Here are a few that make us cringe: Those frozen “grilled chicken” breasts get their marks from a machine infused with vegetable oil. The preservative BHA is added to processed food like Tang, Kool Aid, and breakfast sausage, even though Health and Human Services consider it a likely carcinogen. The vitamin D3 added to many yogurt brands is manufactured from sheep’s grease. And the “natural flavour” in BBQ Baked Lays is made with milk and chicken powder. Yuck!

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Chew more and eat less to train your brain to hate junk food
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Chew more than you need

Adam Melonas, renowned chef and founder of UNREAL candy (along with Nicky Bronner, a 15-year-old determined to “unjunk candy”) shared this healthy living tip: “If you can make people chew more, they’ll eat less.” Next time you sneak in a treat, chew slowly and consciously. Wait until you finish one bite to take the next.

Reader's Digest
Originally Published in Reader's Digest

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