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Large corporations spend billions of dollars each year to promote the value of junk food. Loaded with sugars, starches, saturated fats and calories, junk food may make you feel full -- even nourished and satisfied -- but it doesn't deliver the nutrition your body and brain need to perform their functions. A junk food diet could easily cause you to feel dizzy, disoriented and fatigued. To prevent this, its important to understand what healthy food does for your body and brain, and what junk food fails to do.
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Junk Food, the Body and the Brain
The sugars in highly processed junk foods and sweets may give you temporary jolts of energy, but they don’t provide the vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body needs to sustain their internal functions. As a result, these foods don’t provide you with the fuel you need to be active. Junk food also makes your heart work inefficiently by clogging your cardiovascular system with cholesterol and fats, which could prevent blood from getting to your brain fast enough – especially if you engage in rigorous exercise. Blood is your brain’s source of oxygen; if it’s deprived of it, you’ll become dizzy and could even feel faint.
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Iron Deficiency
If you’re not getting enough iron in your diet, you could suffer anemia. Symptoms of anemia include dizziness and lightheadedness, decreased appetite, pale skin and irritability. Lack of iron in the diet is especially dangerous for children, because it makes them more susceptible to absorbing lead into their bloodstreams and developing lead poisoning.
Sugar and Diabetes
A diet high in sweets and empty carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar levels. Over time, junk food diets can lead to diabetes. Symptoms of diabetes may include severe fatigue and dizziness, as well as frequent urination and unusual weight loss. If a steady diet of junk food has led you to experience such systems, see a health-care professional immediately.
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Getting Healthy
In moderate amounts, junk food isn’t ruinous to your health. But if you’re experiencing dizziness or faintness, your body may be telling you it needs healthier fuel. Introduce more fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains into your diet and moderate your portions of sugary or highly processed foods. If the dizziness persists and if it leads to fainting episodes, consult a doctor immediately.
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references
Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol -- Out With the Bad, In With the Good
Nemours: About Iron-deficiency Anemia
American Diabetes Association: Symptoms
Help Guide: Eating to Prevent and Control Diabetes
references
Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol -- Out With the Bad, In With the Good
Nemours: About Iron-deficiency Anemia
American Diabetes Association: Symptoms
Help Guide: Eating to Prevent and Control Diabetes
Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Image Credit: Jupiterimages/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol -- Out With the Bad, In With the Good
Nemours: About Iron-deficiency Anemia
American Diabetes Association: Symptoms
Help Guide: Eating to Prevent and Control Diabetes
